How do you teach principles of flight to your students?

tmccaghren17

tmccaghren17

CFI/CFII
Just curious to how you teach this to your students (new, at a student pilot level)? Could you give me some insite to a solid order or outline to flow in that would clearly connect the dots with a student. I started with the PHAK but its very unorganized and jumps from point to point to much that I believe it would be hard for student to understand. I have a working method so far, but I feel it needs to be improved. Just want to know y'alls opinion.
Thanks
 
Welcome and thanks for asking such a great question. Basic fundamentals are most important to a new student.
The PHAK is mostly knowledge - theory of lift and such.
The book for practical application is the FTH - Flight Training Handbook.
Chapter 3 gives a pretty good lineup of how to start:
Effects of Controls, how they move and feel. How to turn, and so on.
 
nosehair said:
Welcome and thanks for asking such a great question. Basic fundamentals are most important to a new student.
The PHAK is mostly knowledge - theory of lift and such.
The book for practical application is the FTH - Flight Training Handbook.
Chapter 3 gives a pretty good lineup of how to start:
Effects of Controls, how they move and feel. How to turn, and so on.
Click to expand...

Do you mean the Airplane Flying Handbook?
 
Call me old school - I think that "Stick and Rudder" covers actual flying better than anything else I have ever read. I paraphrase from it a lot, and still thumb through it.

The "how to actually fly the airplane" is sadly the most overlooked part of flight instruction. I'm just as guilty as most instructors.
 
There are a lot of really good youtube videos... sounds a bit unethical not using a textbook and model airplane but, seems to work pretty well. (in moderation...)
 
drunkenbeagle said:
The "how to actually fly the airplane" is sadly the most overlooked part of flight instruction.
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Pft if you can do a steep turn, stall, follow a computer line and land without killing your DPE you get a license. Why bother wasting money learning to fly? Silly old school instructors.

In all seriousness, stick and rudder is great book. An instructor who can understand stability and control beyond the scope of that book is even better. If they can connect the two in laymen terminology they are invaluable. AFNA has a great 40-50 pages on stability and control. More geared toward the professional pilot/enthusiast than your average joe student, however.
 
shdw said:
Pft if you can do a steep turn, stall, follow a computer line and land without killing your DPE you get a license. Why bother wasting money learning to fly? Silly old school instructors.

In all seriousness, stick and rudder is great book. An instructor who can understand stability and control beyond the scope of that book is even better. If they can connect the two in laymen terminology they are invaluable. AFNA has a great 40-50 pages on stability and control. More geared toward the professional pilot/enthusiast than your average joe student, however.
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I agree. Stick & Rudder is great. Pardon my ignorance with acronyms...but what is "AFNA"? I'll probably feel real dumb when I find out...I think it might be that I just got to the office and have not had my first cup of coffee!!
 
shdw said:
Aerodynamics for Naval Aviators. My apologies for the confusion. If you didn't know, you can google this and find the PDF available free on FAA.gov's website. I saved it to my iPad this way. :)
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Excellent. I actually have that book also. Ton's of good info but extremely dry.
 
UNDPilot91 said:
There are a lot of really good youtube videos... sounds a bit unethical not using a textbook and model airplane but, seems to work pretty well. (in moderation...)
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Why unethical? If you choose a video that explains it in easy to understand words and pictures, what could be unethical?
 
UIPilot45X said:
Excellent. I actually have that book also. Ton's of good info but extremely dry.
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I found that true, especially if you start with chapter one. Let's face it, learning the background to most any technical subject starts with hour upon hour of mundane material. For a truly solid grasp, it is, however, a necessity. That said, you can skip it and go straight to chapter three without completely paralyzing your ability to gain some useful insights.

Chapter three covers stability and control. I think you will find it far more interesting. Do note that each new section in this chapter still starts with half a page of boring information that you will find little use for. Most of it is there to describe the graphical representations of a stable vs unstable condition followed with some formulas. Have a read through it though and skim the parts you find to be dry. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised how easily the rest of it will grasp your attention.
 
shdw said:
I found that true, especially if you start with chapter one. Let's face it, learning the background to most any technical subject starts with hour upon hour of mundane material. For a truly solid grasp, it is, however, a necessity. That said, you can skip it and go straight to chapter three without completely paralyzing your ability to gain some useful insights.

Chapter three covers stability and control. I think you will find it far more interesting. Do note that each new section in this chapter still starts with half a page of boring information that you will find little use for. Most of it is there to describe the graphical representations of a stable vs unstable condition followed with some formulas. Have a read through it though and skim the parts you find to be dry. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised how easily the rest of it will grasp your attention.
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I found my old copy last night and dusted it off. I'll start paging through it over the weekend. Seems like a great resource I forgot about. I'm trying to reinstate my CFI after an extended period of time off and it seems like this is one of those books that'll knock the cobwebs off.
 
UIPilot45X said:
Seems like a great resource I forgot about --- this is one of those books that'll knock the cobwebs off.
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You had it right the first time. It's a great resource. That section is wonderful and pretty easy to read if you skip the technical aspect. If you're looking to understand it better without being put to sleep see if you can pick up a copy of The Illustrated Guide to Aerodynamics. Probably the best 30 bucks you'll spend if your goal is to get a grasp on this aspect of aviation. Good luck, I'd love to hear some questions after you start your reading!!!!
 
This may seem retardedly simple, but trust me, it's not.

Give your student the following scenario (assume C172, but modify for whatever aircraft):
You are trimmed out, flying straight and level at 5000ft at a constant, stable speed of 105KIAS with a power setting of 2400RPM.

Now ask the student what happens when he does nothing other than pull the power back to 1900RPM.

Ask the student to start by explaining what happens in terms of the 4 basic forces acting upon the aircraft. What happens, in exactly what order, why? Don't let the student confuse power with thrust. If the student can get through explaining the sequence of events in terms of the 4 forces, you can then expand into any number of related areas regarding stability and how and why it works, lift and how and why and where and in which directions it works, trim, CG, CL, excess thrust, etc, etc, etc. This discussion can be almost endless and all starting from that very simple scenario and simple change of power. I ask this on Flight Reviews and am stunned by what some folks have forgotten or never knew.

If you have a new student who doesn't know anything yet, take the same scenario, and explain in terms of the 4 forces what happens, in what order, and why.
 
Crop Duster said:
I ask this on Flight Reviews and am stunned by what some folks have forgotten or never knew.
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What's worse...how many instructors do you know that cannot go through this scenario? The big gotcha I've always come across is how many think power adjustments cause changes in total lift. The brief periods where imbalance is being corrected need not be the focus of this discussion. The point that needs to be driven home is the desire for the aircraft to keep its forces in balance.
 
Crop Duster said:
This may seem retardedly simple, but trust me, it's not.

Give your student the following scenario (assume C172, but modify for whatever aircraft):
You are trimmed out, flying straight and level at 5000ft at a constant, stable speed of 105KIAS with a power setting of 2400RPM.

Now ask the student what happens when he does nothing other than pull the power back to 1900RPM.

Ask the student to start by explaining what happens in terms of the 4 basic forces acting upon the aircraft. What happens, in exactly what order, why? Don't let the student confuse power with thrust. If the student can get through explaining the sequence of events in terms of the 4 forces, you can then expand into any number of related areas regarding stability and how and why it works, lift and how and why and where and in which directions it works, trim, CG, CL, excess thrust, etc, etc, etc. This discussion can be almost endless and all starting from that very simple scenario and simple change of power. I ask this on Flight Reviews and am stunned by what some folks have forgotten or never knew.

If you have a new student who doesn't know anything yet, take the same scenario, and explain in terms of the 4 forces what happens, in what order, and why.
Click to expand...
We go downhill at 105 KIAS, right?
 
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