Advice on being tactful

Websterpilot

Websterpilot

Well-Known Member
Hello all,

While doing maneuvers today for my CFI-A, we finished the flight with eights-on-pylons. I set up for the maneuver and began flying it. No sooner than halfway through the first turn I begin taking massive flak for doing it incorrectly. Something didn't feel right at all and every time I would question what we were doing, my CFI would ignore me and keep yelling about how I wasn't turning steep enough to maintain equal distance around my points in the turn. Three turns later and frusterated we headed back home.

Long story short, it dawned on me that he was expecting me to preform eights AROUND pylons; big difference and yes he did in fact ask me to perform eights-on-pylon. I've never been the one to complain and am passive when it comes to conflict (working on that since it may be a negative quality as a CFI at times) and I just couldn't bring myself to ask what the heck he was looking for while in the airplane.

I recognize what happened and am ready to move on, deal with it and perform the correct maneuver next time. Yes, I would go about things a bit different if I were early on in my training, but I'm getting close and don't want to cause WWIII. It's just not in my best interest since my CFI is the only one available and I've spent too much time and money to hit the reset button.

Question is, how do I bring this up tactfully for the next lesson without looking combative? I would imagine it would be normal to chalk it up as a mistake and move on, but I get the impression it may cause a nuclear reaction (read: a lot of FOI stuff not followed with this guy).
 
Why do you feel the need to bring it up? Sounds like you understand the source of the miscommunication and it won't happen again -- what's left to address?
 
Say "hey I wanted to mention that last time we flew I got very confused because you asked me to perform eights on pylons but then you were correcting me and it seems like you were really wanting me to perform eights around pylons... so just want to be sure we take time to understand each other as this costs me a lot of money and I dont want to waste either of our time on mistaken communication".

If he flies off the cuff punch him in the face and fire him.
 
I agree with hacker. There is nothing really to be gained by bringing it up now, well after the incident. It could easily turn into a debate over what was said vs what was heard. No point. if it happens again, ask for clarification in the moment or directly after the flight.
 
Good points people! I'll give the eights another go tomorrow and if there is further confusion during the maneuver, I will ask for clarification and talk myself through the steps so we are on the same page. I agree though; water under the bridge. Rframe, agreed. This might have been avoided with better communication during the flight brief about the maneuvers and how they are to be conducted.
 
You could have him demo exactly what he wants then have you replicate it while teaching. Maybe that just avoids the awkward conversation but it works.
 
Good call Scott. Been trial and error trying to learn how to teach this stuff. I think it would be good to see some demo's; take some load off my brain to concentrate on spotting common errors. If anything, I guess it would be a good time to practice critiquing from the right seat :D
 
Good point Mike! I think it's time to see if I can get my wife to play the student and practice on her for a bit. I can see her running in the opposite direction as we speak! She just loves aviation talk :bounce:
 
Hold on... You're working on your CFI and there's a misunderstanding about 8's on pylons? What happened during your commercial?
 
Why would he even want you to do 8s around pylons? No rating tests for them. They have no purpose that isn't already served by turns around a point...
 
TwoTwoLeft, 8's on pylons for my commercial went great. It's the one maneuver I can say I actually excel at; so no misunderstanding on my end. The confusion came from being ripped a new one because I was flying 8's on pylons when my CFI was describing my mistakes at 8's around pylons. Yes, in hindsight I should have stopped the maneuver and clarified what we were actually doing. Different outfit for my commercial, so who knows. CFI has sent several other applicant's to the FSDO who passed recently, so your guess it as good as mine. Brain fart?
 
Hammertime, I completely agree. Point is, I don't think my CFI intended for me to actually do 8's around pylons. That was the confusing part. I'm just going to chalk it up as a memory lapse on his part.
 
Webster, my point is that your instructor doesn't seem to be doing any instructing- leaving you to figure things out on your own. That's not only unnecessarily time & money consuming, there' a good chance that you're figuring out some things wrong. Ask to see the syllabus he's using to teach you the CFI material. If he says no, or doesn't have one, DUMP HIM; all he's doing is mining your wallet. I went down that road myself on my commercial rating and I had to find out the hard way.
 
Mike, thanks for the feedback. I agree, it does seem like more often than not I'm left to my own devices. Things have been more of a play-by-play of my performance during commercial maneuvers from the right seat if anything. I've been relying heavily on good friends that are experienced CFI's and what they have to say. I have a copy of the syllabus, which I feel is pretty thorough and covers the required information. However, it has been more of a questions and answer session, instead of me actually getting up and trying my luck at teaching. That has been bothering me lately; feel it should weigh more heavy on the teaching aspect.

I'm basically through the ground lessons, have my spin endorsement and am working on the flights (crap weather). I'll be sure to keep an eye out on things. Any more red flags and I may need to weigh my options.
 
Mike H said:
Webster, my point is that your instructor doesn't seem to be doing any instructing- leaving you to figure things out on your own. That's not only unnecessarily time & money consuming, there' a good chance that you're figuring out some things wrong. Ask to see the syllabus he's using to teach you the CFI material. If he says no, or doesn't have one, DUMP HIM; all he's doing is mining your wallet. I went down that road myself on my commercial rating and I had to find out the hard way.
Click to expand...

Wouldn't say it is critical to teach from a syllabus for any CFI stuff - teaching to the PTS is a better strategy for passing the ride, and the rest of the time spent on how to teach actual students.

News Flash - actual students have never heard of the FOI, so while it is important to use and learn, take it with a grain of salt.
 
Not everything in the FOI is 100% accurate. What is accurate is the fact that if you don't get along with your CFI your learning will suffer. Your wallet will be soon to follow. If you want, give the guy another chance. If it doesn't work out don't hesitate to change instructors.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top