Discovery Flight

gymhaus

gymhaus

Rockin out with my chocks out
Hey, Its been a while since I had my own discovery flight in 2006 and now I will be giving them. Any good tips on what will impress a new student: things that go well and don't go well for a discovery flight to convince someone to be a pilot? thanks
 
Just let him/her take off, fly around for a bit,. If a person likes flying they don't need somebody to talk them into it. Don't force flight training down his/her throat.

Try to sell them a log book to log the 1/2 hour then go from there.
 
Like Justin was saying... Chances are they already have an interest in flying if they are doing a discovery flight. It wouldnt take much to sell them your instruction time, if they have the money. Let them sit in the big seat and you ride shot gun, let them take off and do some turns. I wouldnt suggest letting them land of course.
One big thing that can really kill your chances when your dealing with prospective students is your attitude about their future as career pilots. My first discovery flight the instuctor was talking to me about flying and what I wanted to do with it. I told him my goal was commercial aviation and he was trying to talk me out of it! So even if you dont agree with your student's career choice dont sit there and preach about how its a bad decision but simply inform him or her about the career. I refuse to hire an instructor who isnt going to be supportive.
 
Hey guys, I really appreciate the input. I was wondering are there any specific manuevers you might show them? obviously I wouldn't do a stall or spin or something that would scare them, but maybe something that would impress them to want to learn later. I agree and disagree about learning to fly, because right now with the industry of "no ones hiring" mentality it seems like a lot of people would be discouraged to pursue a career in aviation for fear not being able to later support themselves or a family. After spending a lot on flight instruction, most people would probably want to know they will get a job later. THANKS AGAIN!
 
gymhaus said:
obviously I wouldn't do a stall or spin or something that would scare them, but maybe something that would impress them to want to learn later.
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The instructor I asked me if I wanted to feel a stall and we did it. It was awesome! You probably just want to give the student a little heads up about what it will feel like and ask them if they want you to do it. For me, it was cool to feel about the "dreaded stall", but then see how easy it was to recover from it.
 
gymhaus said:
Hey guys, I really appreciate the input. I was wondering are there any specific manuevers you might show them? obviously I wouldn't do a stall or spin or something that would scare them, but maybe something that would impress them to want to learn later. I agree and disagree about learning to fly, because right now with the industry of "no ones hiring" mentality it seems like a lot of people would be discouraged to pursue a career in aviation for fear not being able to later support themselves or a family. After spending a lot on flight instruction, most people would probably want to know they will get a job later. THANKS AGAIN!
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Simple and basic turns. making him turn to a certain heading fly at a certain alt, something simple that would build alittle confidence. If you do a unexpected stall or spin you might never hear from him or her ever again.
Instructors should be informative and make suggestions but down right "dont get into this industry" isnt something that he has a say so. Obviously he does not like commercial aviation but who is he to say someone else might not? There are over 70,000 pilots and copilots working as commercial pilots in the U.S and he want to tell me they are all unhappy with their career. Instead he could have informed me on the difficulties and the crap salary working for the regionals.
 
Have them land the airplane. But, you basically trim the airplane to land. I used to put my hands up if I was confident they could do it themselves after the trim was worked out. On final, I'd tell them "I have the rudder pedals and the throttle, you have everything else. Just focus on keeping the wings level, make small corrections."
 
I never go into a demo with a specific goal. For example I did 2 in one day a few months back.

The first was a girl who was about 20 and it was her gift to herself for her birthday. She was a lot of fun and very interested but I knew it was a one time show for her. We flew around a bit, I did most of the flying (by her request) and she took a lot of facebook style photos as well as tweeted (twf?). She had fun, I got to share GA with somebody, we all win.
The second guy wanted to learn to fly in order to commute to work and fly his family around. I mentioned that instead of a normal style demo we would fly to his 'work' airport and back and figure the time difference vs driving. Turns out is was .9 round trip, versus close to 2 hours by car. He was hooked and now he's cooking through his training and is a very enjoyable student.

Ga feel for what they want from their training and go from there.
 
cody: i think thats an awesome suggestion and is perfect.

mshunter: i think your nuts! haha no way would i let them land it on first discovery flight, id be afraid of them freaking out last minute, but thanks anyways!

eric: thanks again for the input, I like the idea of doing BAI for a little but i think sightseeing is a big part of it as well. sorry about your experience with your discovery, sometimes people seem burnt out and need a change.


exneophyte: when my instructor did a stall i had just watch the cbt for spins and he didnt warn me he was going to stall so i nearly my pants (figuratively speaking). lol! even if he warned me i think i still would have been a mixture of scared and excited if it was the first flight
 
You should keep in mind that a lot of people come to see what flying is about, not what a flying lesson is about. Share the experience of what they can do with a pilots certificate, as opposed to what they'll have to do to get a pilot's certificate. Keep it fun, keep it light and make it positive. No need to rush into lesson one!

I love doing demo flights. It is one of the most memorable experiences for people, and they will keep it with them for life. Do you best to keep it fun for them!

Get to know the person and figure out why they showed up in the first place and then fullfill their dreams, it doesn't take a whole lot really.
 
I think the best advice is there shouldn't be two discovery flights that are alike. One of the key talents of being a good flight instructor is being able to read someones personality. I would always sit down with the folks I was doing the discover flight with and talk to them in a briefing room for 10-15 minutes. Get a feel for what they liked and what they wanted to do with flying. From that the discovery flight ranged from a typical first lesson to a sunset flight over the beach and everything in between. I did some zero g deals with some and never made anything more than 10degree banks with others.

Everyone is different. Everyone has different hopes, desires, and fears. Try to satisfy their desires, make them believe than can achieve their hopes, and try to avoid any of their fears.
 
I use to love doing Discovery flights.

They need to be viewed by yourself as the one chance you'll have to convince a prospective buyer of your services that YOU are the instructor they need to use for their training. Never turn them down, ever. If you already have a busy schedule, remember at some point that schedule will open up when a student completes his / her training and you'll need a new client to fill the gap. Find a way to fit in any and all discovery flight opportunities into your schedule.

Obviously make sure they have a good time, but make sure they end up feeling comfortable with you in and out of the plane. Don't look at them as a one time deal, look at them as paying your paycheck for a few months. Provide some confidence in their ability (how little they may have) and reaffirm your position as a high quality instructor, and you'll end up watching your schedule build up to where you can not take time off because you're busy everyday from 8am to 8pm.

Good luck.
 
gymhaus said:
mshunter: i think your nuts! haha no way would i let them land it on first discovery flight, id be afraid of them freaking out last minute, but thanks anyways!
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They aren't really landing the airplane, it's just the illusion of landing it. The trim/power is landing(i.e. me), and the controls are right there if I need them.
 
my first discovery flight i couldnt shut the door on the plane all the way (or i thought it was shut). It flew open right after take off! I was scared out of my mind. looking back on it now it was funny as hell.
 
I love doing intro flights. (My record is 9 in one day)

I always get to know them first and know what got them interested in taking the flight. Then I basically teach them a pre-flight, and brief them on most of the major things in the cockpit. The whole process usually takes about 30 minutes before the engine starts.

I generally taxi out of the ramp and to the runup pad, most of the time having them run through the checklist for the run up. Taxi to the runway, I generally let them steer, while i work the power. I always let them do the takeoff (unless really windy) and depending on how well they taxied, might do the rudder work.

The usual is to go up and do turns, over their house, "roller coasters" if the are in the mood, and rarely will let one do the landing if they seem to be naturals at it.
 
all great advice! thanks everyone and please check out my new post, "interview questions?"
 
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