Questioning myself...

A

azaviator08

New Member
I have a student who recently went on a phase check and expressed to the check instructor that he felt as though I was holding him back. He has been my "special student". I knew it would take him a little bit longer than most. But he has come around and he is ready to solo. He passed his stage check oral with no problem and I am sure the flight will be good. I have soloed over 10 students so I feel pretty confident that i know when a student is ready to solo. I was ready to solo him before christmas but due to financial reasons he needed to stop. So we picked back up after a month and a week off. Did 2 brush up flights and he is ready to go. I was feeling pretty good about it! He has about 28 hours. This seems pretty average. Maybe a little higher than average. But, nothing ridiculous. I have soloed students ranging from 15 hour to 25, sometimes more than 30 (usually older students). I was always taught to not look at numbers but safety. Now I feel bad and I am doubting myself... I always try to keep my students financials in the back of my mind. But, when it comes down to it I want my student to be safe on their first solo. Any advice or comments???:confused:
 
As a CFI it's really not uncommon to run into students you just don't get along with. Pass him off to another instructor and go your separate ways. Take as much away from the experience as you can and don't doubt yourself. If you've soloed 10 students and struggled with 1 then take stock of the pattern, it's probably not you who has the difficulty.
 
I get along with the student just fine. And he never expressed any concern with me. I don't really see the need to pass him along because we have no problems.
 
If he told someone else that you're holding him back then you aren't getting along as well as you think.
 
esa17 said:
If he told someone else that you're holding him back then you aren't getting along as well as you think.
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+1
The relationship between student and CFI should be based on mutual respect and courtesy. Telling someone else about a problem that can easily be addressed between the two people involved, is crooked and a sign of missing trust.
 
azaviator08 said:
Now I feel bad and I am doubting myself... I always try to keep my students financials in the back of my mind. But, when it comes down to it I want my student to be safe on their first solo. Any advice or comments???:confused:
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Don't assume that the check pilot is giving you a verbatim report of what the student said, or that it means what you or the check pilot thinks it means. Even if it does, keep in mind that your girlfriend or wife is criticizing you to her friends, too, and so is your best friend and your parents. No matter how good or how strong your relationship is with someone else, you probably aren't meeting their desires 100%.

That isn't necessarily a bad thing, because sometimes what they desire isn't what they need. In this case particuarly, there is likely to be a discrepancy between your evaluation of the student and his evaluation of himself. You're operating from a position of knowledge and he's operating from ignorance, and maybe some ego, too. It's your job to look past any emotional ups and downs he's experiencing and be the adult in the relationship. Someday, he will be able to look back on your training and realize that you "held him back" for good reason.
 
Azviator08- Would you like me to post pictures of my student's totalling of his aircraft from when I allowed a solo, but had slight reservations about doing so?

You're the one in charge, students always have the option to make instructor changes. Stick to your gut and guns.
 
You are the CFI and with that many solos under your belt you should know when a student is ready to solo. I had a doctor student once with 40hrs and kept getting passed off from CFI to CFI when he wanted to solo and no one would. He did good on different things at different times. He was never consistant and had a really hard time multitasking. He'd do great upto 99% of the time then did one thing that would easily get him killed (i.e. almost ran us off the runway after 15 flawless T+G's). He was rushing me and I felt bad about putting him back in the air for the same training he'd had a million times. Finally we just sat him down and said this wasnt his thing. Moral of the story dont let anyone rush you and if you dont feel 100% confident that hes ready. Let him fly with another CFI and get another opinion. The CFI that got on after me soloed his student who totalled the a/c on the 3rd landing (lost control and ran off the rwy). So... dont be that guy
 
Don't question yourself. You're doing fine, and you know when his time will be. Don't let him pressure you into something you feel is not safe.
 
At a particular point during my flight training, I was having a hard time with flying...well..crisply. I was barely within tolerances, passable, and I knew it, but it wasn't enough for my CFI. On one particular night, I had a fairly bad night flying, and I was pretty irritated.

That night, my CFI gave me ride back to my car - he was parked on the ramp, I had been parked in the lot at the FBO.

He asked me straight up what was going on, because it seemed like I was blaming my performance on everything but me, and fielding a lot of excuses. I started to protest....with an excuse...and stopped.

"Yeah. You're right," was what I said next. We had a discussion about it, and I was, frankly, pretty ashamed about how I'd been handling it - there were some external distractions, yes, but it didn't balance out how I was handling things.

It was a very large ego-pill to swallow. But I had a lot of respect for the guy and resolved to do better. And I did.

Your student might just need a bit of a heart to heart. That night, on the ground, after the lesson, was the lesson I learned more than any other lessons, because it reminded me heartily that I was, in fact, a student.

This is why I had the greatest CFI. Ever.
 
Well he didn't pass his phase check flight today. I really thought he would. But, he did a bunch of stuff that he never does when he is flying with me. So, I guess that shows that he really wasn't ready. Some students get really nervous for phase checks.
 
I would have a talk with him about you holding him back.

Nothing is going to be resolved if you don't talk about it. Then let him go if it comes to that.
 
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