Flight Training - June 2011 - 50

INSTRUCTOR REPORT»

It’s difficult to communicate on a frequency shared by other airports in the vicinity. Often we are kept from making calls we’d like. It’s a frustrating reality. However, it’s intolerable to forego traffic advisories on the common traffic advisory frequency while others are chatting. A brief perusing of Aeronautical Information Manual 4-1-11b reveals a frequency set aside for air-to-air conversations—122.75. Primacy is a term we all became familiar with when we studied for

ter” and “Think before keying your transmitter.” I’ve heard pilots make call after call seeking a runway advisory. Would it not be prudent to announce one’s position and intentions, listen for others to do the same, and in the absence of additional traffic, use the windsock to determine the appropriate runway? Even the AIM acknowledges that calls such as “traffic in area, please advise” are useless and inappropriate.

license plate digits; I’d tell him to look for a beige pickup. On a similar note, instead of “taking the active,” doesn’t “Departing 25 to the west” offer so much more information? It is also important to be precise. Recently I heard a pilot call “Inbound for 26 at Sky Manor.” Another pilot brought to his attention that the runway at Sky Manor was 25, and that it was 26 at Alexandria (another airport in the same town, two and one-half miles north, and sharing the same frequency).

THE AIM ALSO DIRECTS US TO "LISTEN BEFORE KEYING THE TRANSMITTER" AND "THINK BEFORE KEYING YOUR TRANSMITTER."
our instructor certificates. We know how important it is for us to convey accurate information and demonstrate proper procedures from the beginning. It’s also crucial that we monitor what the students are exposed to whenever possible. They are like sponges, anxious to absorb any information that becomes available, good or bad. In this case, use the ramblings or inappropriate terminology as a lesson of what not to say. Assure them that if they sound like a professional, they’ll be treated and even fly like a professional. The AIM also directs us to “Listen before keying the transmitWhile I won’t suggest or teach that we disregard direction provided by the AIM, I believe that using N-numbers at nontowered airports is less than helpful. If my student hears a pilot announce himself as Cessna N4045U, what image would that paint in his mind? A pilot who refers to himself as a “white and yellow Skylane” lets us know exactly what to look for and provides an idea of his speed. Additionally, if we see a low-wing or blue airplane in the pattern, we know it’s a second target who isn’t communicating. Were I to pick up a friend in my car, I wouldn’t give him my The first pilot responded with a smug, “You know what I meant.” Well, speaking only for myself, I sure didn’t. Have your student take some time and listen to the pros in Class Bravo airspace. They’re clear, concise, and they convey articulately the pertinent information without unnecessary chatter. One such pilot while arriving at our airport in formation with a friend announced “Sky Manor traffic, flight of two, eight miles north, four thousand, inbound for landing runway seven at Sky Manor,” and continued to make announcements

If your landings are your student's only yardstick, you need to find a different standard for him or her to emulate.
» Rod Machado

REASONABLE EXPECTATIONS

IT’S TIME TO teach landings, so you demonstrate a few perfect ones and then invite the student to try a few on his own. Slam! Ouch! Kaboom! Bad landings? In your eyes, not so bad for the first few attempts. In fact, they may be pretty darn good, relatively speaking. But the student is using the wrong scale to measure against, because

he or she has only one scale—what you did. Measured with that ruler, the landings all come up short, and the student is most likely frustrated. The problem is that the student has no idea of the minimum skill you require for solo. He certainly knows, or at least suspects, the skill level required to be a flight instructor after you demonstrate how landings should be done. While that

may be a noble long-term goal, it’s not a short-term target that’s likely to keep the student motivated. That’s why I prefer to demonstrate the ideal behavior (the long-term target), followed by the intermediate behavior that’s necessary for the student to achieve his short-term goal (solo, in this instance). So, I’ll show the student a private-pilot-quality landing, followed by the type of landing he needs to perform to obtain solo privileges. This means demonstrating how the touchdown is always made on the main

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Flight Training - June 2011

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