Flight Training - May 2024 - 6

ALWAYS LEARNING BY SARAH DEENER
The FAA certifies some 8,000 new
Editor SARAH DEENER
has flown with at least
a dozen CFIs for training,
flight reviews, demo flights,
and more. Her favorite?
She's not telling.
sarah.deener@aopa.org
instructors each year, but because so
many pilots instruct to build time on their
way to an airline career, new CFIs are
often viewed with skepticism. A 250-hour
instructor doesn't come with a lifetime of
flying experience, but they've just been
through the crucible of a CFI checkride
where their skills and knowledge must be
sharp. I recently flew with a new CFI just
weeks after his checkride. He assigned
me homework, targeted the training to
the skills and procedures I wanted to
review, and offered tactful reminders
when I skipped a memory item. Qualities
like preparation and professionalism are
independent of experience level.
Flight students entrust their instructors
with their lives and their learning,
and most CFIs take that responsibility
seriously. Some don't. If an instructor
ever makes you feel unsafe or unwelcome,
take your business elsewhere.
Sometimes a student-instructor
VOICE IN YOUR HEAD
Shortly after my first solo flight, my instructor took a job at a
regional airline, and I never saw him again. Another setback. I
had already delayed my solo while jumping through hoops for the
FAA's aeromedical division, and now, medical certificate and solo
shirttail in hand, I'd have to get up to speed with a new instructor
before progressing to cross-countries and other requirements.
I needn't have worried. Less than two weeks after my first instructor's departure,
I'd flown day and night cross-countries with my new instructor and was gearing
up for a familiarization flight into the Washington, D.C., Special Flight Rules Area.
My new instructor brought a different perspective to everything from preflight
inspections to cockpit flows, and she stuck with me through my checkride and postcheckride
proficiency flights.
In " Recognizing Excellence in Aviation, " p. 30, Niki Britton and Jill W. Tallman
show us how the nation's best flight schools and instructors welcome pilots into the
family of aviators. Every year after the Flight Training Experience Award winners
are announced, customers flock to these providers, who stand out in areas of
educational quality, customer focus, community, and information sharing. For many
of us, however, instructor choice is limited by geography and availability. Sam Winer
explains important considerations for choosing an instructor in " The Right Fit, "
p. 48, but all that research is moot if you can't find an instructor with the time to
train you. And, even if you find your perfect instructional fit, losing a CFI to the
airlines is an aviation rite of passage.
That doesn't mean we're left with the scraps. Many capable, knowledgeable
instructors around the country can prepare you for your checkride and a fulfilling
flying life. Each taps into a different set of skills and experiences to contribute to your
learning and help you become a safe and competent pilot.
6
FLIGHT TRAINING MAY 2024
pairing just doesn't work. Another
instructor might help certain concepts
click, and the handoff can happen with
no hard feelings. But instructor-hopping
in pursuit of perfect compatibility can
waste time and precious training dollars.
There's no one best fit for a student, and
working with CFIs who see things a little
differently can challenge us to grow.
Years ago, I started my instrument
training with one instructor, took a
break, and returned later to finish the
rating with another instructor. Although
both CFIs covered basic attitude
instrument flying, IFR procedures, and
approaches and we flew in the same
airplane, their philosophies were worlds
apart. The first was methodical, procedurally
minded; the second believed in
bottom line up front. Both were experienced,
knowledgeable instrument
instructors, and neither approach was
wrong. After a moment of instructional
whiplash, I embraced the complementary
approaches and finally got a handle
on flying holds.
An instructor's influence stretches
well beyond the training environment;
we've all heard a CFI's voice in our head
coaching us through a landing or urging
right rudder. Seek out those instructors
who model sound decision making, make
flying fun, and prepare you to tackle your
aviation goals. If they leave for the airlines,
that voice in your head remains. FT

Flight Training - May 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Flight Training - May 2024