CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 7, Issue 3 - 17

CFI TIPS
Rod Machado is a
flight instructor, author,
educator, and speaker.
He has been a pilot since
1970 and a CFI since 1973.
Visit his website (www.
rodmachado.com).

PLAY VIDEO
BEFORE DEPARTURE, ASK YOUR STUDENT
THIS QUESTION, "WHAT ARE THE TWO
MOST IMPORTANT THINGS IN AVIATION?"
The answer you're looking for is: The next two things.
Inform your student that, at various times during
a training flight, you'll double tap his (or her)
shoulder as a cue for him to tell you the next two
things he should be thinking about to properly fly
the airplane. Ask him to say the next two things out
loud so you can ensure that his strategy is the correct
one. The purpose of this technique is to condition
your student to always think two steps ahead of the
airplane during certain flight situations.
One of the many situations where you'll use the double
finger tap on your student is when entering the traffic
pattern. Double tap your student's shoulder right after

turning downwind. At this point you should expect
him to say something like, "Report downwind and
slow to 90 knots." Then double tap his shoulder
again on base leg. He should respond by saying
something like, "Apply 10 degrees of flaps and slow
to 80 knots." If the next two steps offered by your
student are not what you're looking for, then inform
him of the next two steps he should think about. By
repeating the process often enough, your student
will begin to associate the double finger tap with
the need to think two steps ahead of the airplane. If,
after tapping the student's shoulder, he looks over
and says, "What? Huh?" you know the technique
needs a little more reinforcement.
Using this technique is a lot easier than having to
ask the same question over and over. It's especially
useful when the cockpit is busy, which makes it
difficult to ask questions in the first place.

It's important to know when and where it's
appropriate to double tap your student's
shoulder. Do it when thinking two steps ahead
of the airplane is actually necessary. Vectors
to final, entering the pattern, engine failure
simulations, and other similar events are all
appropriate times. I'm sure you'll come up with
many more events, too.
Like most behaviors that are repeated often
enough, thinking two steps ahead of the airplane
will eventually become a habit. Does this mean that
students flying solo need to tap themselves on the
shoulder to elicit this "two step" thinking behavior?
Not at all. Higher order conditioning is at work here.
Eventually, your students will associate thinking
two steps ahead with the specific event (entering
the pattern, vectors to final, etc.) that initiated the
shoulder tap in the first place.
http://www.rodmachado.com http://www.rodmachado.com
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 7, Issue 3
