I actually believe in teaching aborts now, but I have to disagree with the example you gave here...
TaterSalad said:
instead of aborting, the student decides to try to haul the airplane into the air..........up we go, while drifting left off the runway cause he's really not at rotation speed and struggling to get it flying.
The big problem I see with this situation is that the student tried to haul the plane into the air before it was ready to fly, not that they decided not to abort. Two things worry me about that: 1) the student doesn't have a good "feel" for the plane without using the instruments and 2) they're distracted to the point of almost losing control. Those issues are far more critical than the abort/continue decision.
I can understand students doing a double-take when the airspeed isn't coming up, but frankly, it should be a non-issue as far as safety is concerned. As part of my pre-solo students' training I cover the entire panel, then we fly around and do ground reference maneuvers and touch and goes. It helps them understand that the plane will fly no problem and they can stay in control based on nothing but feel. There's also the issue of handling realistic distractions. For my students, that usually includes windows popping open on the takeoff roll or on short final
Earlier in this thread I mentioned that students need to be taught to prioritize. The airspeed indicator isn't needed for 95% of flying. Maybe it's needed for the precise execution of a maneuver, but it's not a "safety of flight" type of deal.
This was a good learning experience for the student no doubt, but I would have stressed a different lesson--fly the plane, then deal with the problem. That may or may not include aborting the takeoff, depending on the circumstances. How fast are you already going? How much runway is left? Will the problem keep you from getting in the air? Those are questions to think about with this sort of scenario.
The reason I'm saying all this is because I disagree with the idea that "we're aborting if anything isn't right." I'd hate to see somebody run off the end of a 1500 foot strip because their airspeed indicator was inop and they decided to abort. In a case like that, you're better off to get in the air and sort out the problem later. Having a blanket rule of aborting for any little thing is almost as bad as being in the mindset of taking off no matter what.
FWIW, there are only two things that I'll abort a takeoff for. Any loss of control (sticky brake, tire blowing, engine failure in a twin, controls sticking, etc.) or any indication of a problem with the engine (loss of oil pressure, running rough, lack of power, funny smell, etc.). Those are the two types of things that can kill you if you keep going. Otherwise, you're probably better off dealing with the problem in the air.
TaterSalad said:
Funny thing is, we'd done a couple aborted takeoffs during his earlier training.......apparently not enough, however, to really ingrain the proper reaction in his thinking. So I would argue, if even a couple aborted takeoffs aren't enough to teach the student to instinctively react, we should be doing them even more often, and unexpectedly.
So true. I think every instructor has had students do things that they've been specifically trained not to do. I know I have, and it makes me cringe, but there's only so much you can do. No matter how good of an instructor you are and how much you drill something, students are going to screw up sometimes.
Something I've realized is that it's impossible to prepare the student for everything. That's why they call every license a license to learn. Only a desire to learn as much as they can and gaining hours of experience will keep them safe in the long run. You have to develop their habits, and more importantly, their judgement as best as you can and hope they do well on their own.
