Why, oh WHYYY??!!

Amen! I am teaching a mechanical engineer. Love the guy but what a nightmare.

Mine is a Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineer- he actually designed the cargo compartment on the 747 and cockpit controls on the Concorde. He's awesome, but over-analyzes simple stuff.

He breaks down the "Region of Reverse Command" into an equation and tries to compute his best power setting......etc etc

Over my head.
 
When I instructed Pt. 61 I did a few BFR's and IPC's. It was amazing that some of these people still were living. One piece of advice I will give to all CFI's is DO NOT, and I repeat DO NOT give an IPC to someone in IMC unless you have seen them under the hood. This one guy got almost every condition of ICEFLAGS after being in the clouds for about 5 min. I immediately took over and headed back to the airport. When we were on the ground, the guy asked me what he needed to work on.:panic::panic:
 
Mine is a Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineer- he actually designed the cargo compartment on the 747 and cockpit controls on the Concorde. He's awesome, but over-analyzes simple stuff.

He breaks down the "Region of Reverse Command" into an equation and tries to compute his best power setting......etc etc

Over my head.

lmao! i just about spit chunks! spin the mf and tell him, 'compute that..' :rawk:

of course he'll probably set to work on it back on the ground.. :D
 
Nope, thats a normal student.

I have noticed a few things that can be a generalization for for the majority of students in my first 80 hours of dual given...

There are two types...

Natural Pilots who don't study vs. Sub-par pilots but great academic-wise.

That's not to say the studious ones can't be good pilots, it just a generalization.

Flying came easier to me but I hated studying...I've got another student who is a smart pilot but can't fly an airplane if his life depended on it...and it does!

I've noticed that to. I'm not some great pilot over here, but it came more natural to me and I HATE studying. I notice that not only in flying to.
 
I've noticed that to. I'm not some great pilot over here, but it came more natural to me and I HATE studying. I notice that not only in flying to.

start likin' it! ;) (studying that is!) the longer and deeper that you get into aviation, the more important all this aeronautical knowledge becomes to you and your passengers. :) i don't know how long you've been a pilot, but i can say that having flown professionally with easily more than a hundred other professional pilots one thing stands out as noticeable - once we get a 'few thousand hours', most of us,in terms of flying skills, tend to fall within about the same range of ability..maybe some guys never are that good and occasionally you fly with someone you feel flies exceptionally, but for the most part we all fall pretty darn close as professionals. where do we differ? areas of aeronautical knowledge - that's the criteria i use now to 'judge' a professional..just how deep his/her aeronautical knowledge, systems, procedures, etc. runs.. :bandit:
 
but isn't that part of the job?

i'll go so far as to say i enjoy doing all three..insofar as the pilot's primary concern is learning and his/her safety. when they just want the 'magic pen', i'm quickly turned off and advise that i'm 'probably not your instructor for this..' :bandit:
 
Usually the engineering students take a bit more time to get things, but are much better at doing their homework and figuring stuff out. But the political science and english majors are better at flying.


I was a (gasp) HISTORY MAJOR!!!!:eek:



Does that count?



Kevin
 
Sometimes I could just strap my parachute on, open my door, and jump the hell out of the airplane when instructing.

Pay attention to your pattern, airspeed, radio, your final approach speed, class B airspace, read back your runway assignments and clearances, dont answer your landing clearance with just "roger", full power on takeoff please, acknowledge me and my suggestions in the plane, remember the discussion on how to manage a constant speed prop?, use your checklist for every phase of flight, fly at TPA not 300' below or above, when I say 75 on final that doesnt mean 60, think before you speak on the radio, dont push the mic button and sit there for 10 seconds, fly with your TAC or sectional available, fly with your AFD available, flare the damn thing, put your flaps up first on a touch and go not last, hit the centerline, hold your crosswind corrections in, dont make 30 degree aileron deflections 30' above the ground...

I could go on.

You forgot to say, "RIGHT RUDDER!!!!"
 
I agree......the ones with "Engineering" brains make flying WAAAAY too complicated and often don't pick up on the common sense items.
 
What's "part of the job" is your decision (and mine).

I'm just asking, if a customer walks in and wants a BFR, IPC or checkout which your cert gives you the privlege to do,then you would refuse? No matter what?

Seriously curious...
 
I surely don't miss those days. Remember though, we were once a student pilot too. If you don't have patience, being a CFI is probably not for you. Yet I understand were you're coming from.

Yes, and most CFI's were pretty damn good student pilots too. You took things seriously, you have a true motivation to be successful at this adventure, you listened, you comprehended.

Most of the students that I have come across - lack many of these, and they do not plan to do this as a career.

If all student pilots had the behavioral attitude (of a professional) from day one, I'm pretty sure things would be much easier.
 
I'm just asking, if a customer walks in and wants a BFR, IPC or checkout which your cert gives you the privlege to do,then you would refuse? No matter what? Seriously curious...

Refuse? No, not if asked point blank. But they are usually avoidable.

Generally, someone walks up expressing an interest in a flight review, without asking you directly. You can then help him find someone. ;) There are other ways to sense when a possible FR opportunity is coming and to steer it away without hurting anyone's feelings. There are a lots of new flight instructors who welcome the business.

If I've previously trained the person, or have at least flown with them and found them reasonably proficient, different story.

It's the random strangers who are so often discouraging. A lack of profiency can be dealt with, but it's the lack of standards which is almost impossible to overcome. A pilot who has never been held to appropriate standards usually won't be fixed during a flight review, an aircraft checkout, or IPC and typically lacks the motivation to be retrained.
 
I'm just asking, if a customer walks in and wants a BFR, IPC or checkout which your cert gives you the privlege to do,then you would refuse? No matter what?

Seriously curious...
Seriously curious, what he means (I think) is that you are not obligated to fly with anyone and everyone just because you have an instructor's certificate. If you are working at an FBO, the owner may want you to, because to him it is income (and to you), but you also have a higher obligation to the system not to 'give' flight reviews, meaning you shouldn't make any endorsement to a pilot that you woudn't send your children up with.

You have to make these decisions, not the FBO.
 
When I instructed Pt. 61 I did a few BFR's and IPC's. It was amazing that some of these people still were living. One piece of advice I will give to all CFI's is DO NOT, and I repeat DO NOT give an IPC to someone in IMC unless you have seen them under the hood. This one guy got almost every condition of ICEFLAGS after being in the clouds for about 5 min. I immediately took over and headed back to the airport. When we were on the ground, the guy asked me what he needed to work on.:panic::panic:

First Post:
Ok I did my homework, no applicable reference to "ICEFLAGS" in google or FAR part 1. Can someone help me out here?
 
Refuse? No, not if asked point blank. But they are usually avoidable.

Generally, someone walks up expressing an interest in a flight review, without asking you directly. You can then help him find someone. ;) There are other ways to sense when a possible FR opportunity is coming and to steer it away without hurting anyone's feelings. There are a lots of new flight instructors who welcome the business.

If I've previously trained the person, or have at least flown with them and found them reasonably proficient, different story.

It's the random strangers who are so often discouraging. A lack of profiency can be dealt with, but it's the lack of standards which is almost impossible to overcome. A pilot who has never been held to appropriate standards usually won't be fixed during a flight review, an aircraft checkout, or IPC and typically lacks the motivation to be retrained.

Thanks for explaining in detail.

I agree with you too.......to an extent.

If you make it clear to a pilot who wants a BFR or IPC that it could take more than 1 flight to complete, it makes it easier.

If a pilot comes in and wants a BFR make sure and look through their logbook before you answer any of their questions. If they haven't flown in a couple years you need to make it clear it might be 10 hours or so.

I just don't want future CFIs getting the idea that they should not do BFRs because of liability reasons.

BFRs are part of our responsability as a CFI. If you are scared to do them then please don't be a CFI. (not directing that towards you).
 
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