CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 13 Issue 4 - 21

NEW CFI
Instead, you must acclimate yourself to hands off guidance of uncoordinated
flying and awkward communications. The CFI occupation requires endless
patience and compassion to expertly grow a clueless learner into a proficient
pilot. The CFI experience is a world of many small errors constantly
being corrected by your learner. Despite what many new CFIs believe, you
cannot micromanage your student into perfection by fixing every error
immediately-so please get off the controls. Your learner is paying for that
flight experience and you need to let them experience flight and learn. Your
job is to provide careful verbal guidance and incrementally get out of the
plane. This can initially be frustrating as a new CFI acclimates.
MOST CFIS WHO HAVE GAINED A COUPLE OF THOUSAND HOURS
TEACHING WILL CONFESS TO WHAT THEY DID NOT KNOW OR HOW THEY
RUINED THEIR FIRST THREE STUDENTS. THIS WISDOM REQUIRES A NEW
CFI TO EMBRACE AN ATTITUDE OF HUMBLE LEARNER. THE ULTIMATE
GOAL IS TO BECOME A COMPASSIONATE COACH FOR EACH INDIVIDUAL
LEARNER PILOT.
WHAT I DID NOT KNOW
Most CFIs who have gained a couple of thousand hours teaching will
confess to what they did not know or how they ruined their first three
students. This wisdom requires a new CFI to embrace an attitude of humble
learner (and their first student might not want to be their wife or child).
The ultimate goal is to become a compassionate coach for each individual
learner pilot. Your job as a CFI is to keep your students safe while guiding
insights-building proficiency and confidence a step at a time. A new
CFI's attitude of being " god of the aviation universe " prevents personal
improvement as an educator and also eliminates any student progress.
Caring and compassion are the important skills to develop. But like many
important skills, they are not part of the FAA training or flight test.
STOP THE CONSTANT CHATTER
Even in a quiet, undistracted environment, human communication is only about
20 percent efficient. In the cockpit, your efforts can resemble the " dog watching
television " meme. The chatter habit was only created to pass the FAA practical
test. Talking continuously is a primary new CFI mistake. Your student only sees
your lips move and perhaps hears two percent of what you say. It's a much better
idea to teach and talk on the ground, then demonstrate (sparingly) in the air. This
permits time for your learner's experimentation and exploration of the controls
and sensations. If brief verbal reminders are necessary in flight, carefully chunk
your communication and deliver this only at undistracted times.
THE RADIO IS FOR YOUR LEARNER
We all hate bad communication, and it takes serious effort to restrain
ourselves from taking over this task. A good CFI only talks on the radio if
safety is potentially compromised. Prepare your learners to understand and
talk accurately by practicing a script. They should understand we don't just
speak English here but a unique argot called " aviation speak. " Brevity and
clarity are the rule. The national airspace system is full of pilots who never
learned this important lesson.
Good educators learn continuously and remain passionate students. If learning
ever stops, it is very easy to become the self-important know-it-all CFI. Effective
learning requires challenges and projects to get out of your comfort zone. For
example, try learning to fly gliders and seaplanes. Your personal struggle and
learning help create empathy for the challenges your learners face. And please
seek out a CFI mentor and solicit regular feedback on your progress as an
instructor. Fly safely out there (and often)!
David St. George is a Master Flight Instructor/FAA DPE/ATP(ME-SE) and
Part 135 pilot. Visit David St. George's resource page of his recent Orlando
FSDO CFI/DPE webinar presentation.
http://savvycfi.com/CFI_ORL.html
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 13 Issue 4

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 13 Issue 4
