Basics and Stuff...(CFI study and an immediate lesson)

killbilly

Vocals, Lyrics, Triangle, Washboard, Kittens
Some of you know that I'm studying for the CFI and now the rest of you do, too.

In studying the material, I am realizing how many things I initially learned in PPL and promptly forgot or got so rusty on that I'm having to re-learn. (Pilotage? Ded reckoning?)

Like solving problems with the E6B. Or turns across a road. Properly squared-off patterns.

Executing these things is one thing, but knowing them well enough to teach is quite another. I am finally realizing why so many people tell you how much you will learn in your first hundred hours of instructing. It's because you don't really know something unless you can teach it effectively.

I knew this in an abstract sense, but it's hitting hard how much I thought I knew well and didn't.

And I'm enjoying the process because I feel like I'm moving to a next-level in terms of knowledge and ultimately becoming a better pilot as a result. It helps that I like teaching anyway.

So - bit of advice for those of you working on your PPL or IR right now: Don't let those basics get rusty! Stay sharp on that stuff especially after your IR, because the Commercial is really just an extension of the PPL, and the CFI seems to really be about taking all that stuff you learned and coherently passing it on.

It all starts in the beginning. And it matters.

This has been your obvious dose of obviousness from Team Billy HQ.
 
Try teaching something to your wife. The required increase in detail (skipping the absolute basic stuff) will get you going down the right road.
Tell me how to tie a neck tie. Now tell me how to do it while sitting on your hands.
Ya know, that stuff.
 
I first saw a manual e6b at CFI school. Made sure I knew how to use it, but wasn't a big issue. That whole lesson where you teach flight planning to students is a really critical one.

Alex.
 
And I'm enjoying the process because I feel like I'm moving to a next-level in terms of knowledge and ultimately becoming a better pilot as a result. It helps that I like teaching anyway.

I credit my time as an instructor with the most important advances in my personal airmanship.

This re-learning of the basics, and to the level which you're comfortable teaching them, is only the first step. Wait until you're forced to apply principles of observation, analysis, and instruction to real-world student learning *while* you remain responsible for the safe operation of the aircraft in real-time.

Good luck -- it is a tough but highly worthwhile journey!
 
Studying for my CFI now and I I'm dusting off the old PPL books from the closet and digging back into them, anyone have any tricks for retention of all this stuff? Its kinda overwhelming all the material you gotta be sharp on for your ride
 
Studying for my CFI now and I I'm dusting off the old PPL books from the closet and digging back into them, anyone have any tricks for retention of all this stuff? Its kinda overwhelming all the material you gotta be sharp on for your ride
Good lessons plans and the keen ability to find the answer. Retention is for people that didn't live through the '70's.
 
Studying for my CFI now and I I'm dusting off the old PPL books from the closet and digging back into them, anyone have any tricks for retention of all this stuff? Its kinda overwhelming all the material you gotta be sharp on for your ride
Do you guys still use actual FAR's with tabs from her to kingdom come? Maybe the search feature has replaced that on iPads?
Nobody remembers everything. know where to find the answer quickly, that advice holds firm all the way to retirement.
 
Studying for my CFI now and I I'm dusting off the old PPL books from the closet and digging back into them, anyone have any tricks for retention of all this stuff? Its kinda overwhelming all the material you gotta be sharp on for your ride
This thread belongs in the CFI Section, but yeah, and it's not tricks. First, study hard. That should be really, really easy if you have a passion for aviation. If you have a passion for aviation, at no point will you be surprised by anything your CFI tells you to read; you'll have already read it. Second, Get the ACS (nee PTS) and make a lesson plan for every item in there. Then teach those lessons to people. Actually teach them. Find someone, anyone who has an interest in aviation and teach them.
None of this is difficult. It is foreign to many, but that is only because most folks have never personally experienced good educational environments. That said, at the end of the day this is all about your passion for what you are doing. If you love it, you'll want to learn it. And when you know it... really know it, you'll want to pass it on.
 
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