Flight Training - June 2020 - 6

ALWAYS LEARNING BY KOLLIN STAGNITO

TRAINING RESOURCES
Vice President of Publications/
Editor KOLLIN STAGNITO
overcame life's inevitable curveballs
to complete his primary training in
23 months, his instrument training
in two months and his commercial
training in 25 years.
kollin.stagnito@aopa.org

WAYS TO STAY E N G AG E D I F YO U C A N ' T F LY

Video
AOPA Live
Air Safety Institute
AOPA social media
@flywithaopa
@aopa
AOPA: Your Freedom to Fly
AOPA app
Pilot community and questions
Pilot Information Center pic.aopa.org
Online test prep software
ASA
Aviation Seminars
Dauntless Aviation
Gleim Aviation
Jeppesen
King Schools
Sporty's Pilot Shop

PRESS ON, OR PAUSE?
During primary flight training, our instructors teach us the
fundamentals of aeronautical decision making (ADM).

The FAA defines ADM as "a systematic approach to the mental process used by
pilots to consistently determine the best course of action in response to a given set of
circumstances." Often, this learning later manifests itself as our instructor's voice in
our ears offering advice, encouragement, or caution.
A common decision we make while flying is determining whether to press on (for
example, performing maneuvers in the practice area while thunderstorms are building nearby) or pause (return to the airport and wait to fly on a more favorable day).
The decision is not always easy or obvious, and experience plays a role.
As I write this in early April, many of us are making another kind of decision, one for
which none of us have any experience: whether to press on with flight training or take
a pause during a global pandemic. Stay-at-home orders, financial stress, social distancing, and temporarily closed flight schools are all creating barriers to our dreams. Storm
clouds, indeed. But, with good judgment, training can continue-with modifications.
In deciding how best to continue flight training, there are gray areas to consider
and the answer to many of our questions is "it depends." Some flight schools have
closed to protect students and instructors from catching-and spreading-COVID-19.
If your flight school is open, can you travel from your home to the airport? And, should
you? Clearly, we need to adhere to state and local stay-at-home orders. Should we
simply limit our training to that which is available outside the cockpit?
If you live in a state where flight schools remain open and there are few travel
restrictions, your training might be able to proceed on schedule. You may even find
6

FLIGHT TRAINING JUNE 2020

more aircraft and instructor availability
than normal, which could accelerate your
training. A risk mitigation to consider is to
protect your instructor by wearing gloves
and a face covering while in the cockpit,
and asking your instructor to do the same.
If you live in a state where all flight
schools are closed, you can take this forced
grounding to prepare for your private pilot
or instrument rating knowledge test. With
proper precautions (gloves, mask, distance,
fresh air, and other measures) your flight
instructor may be able to provide an accelerated ground school to help you complete
this phase of flight training. Ground school
affords the opportunity to think through
flying scenarios and practice ADM skills
without the aircraft flying along at 120
knots. Online test prep software is an alternative to meeting with your instructor and
enables students to study for the knowledge
test at their own pace.
If you have questions about flight training, meeting currency requirements, or
medical certificate extensions, call AOPA's
Pilot Information Center at 800-USAAOPA. We'll be happy to answer your
questions with the latest information
available to us, but don't be surprised if
our answer is "it depends."
Press on, or pause? I wish I could
provide a definitive answer. This decision is up to each one of us to make as
our individual circumstances dictate.
However, I can encourage you to stay
engaged in flight training any way you
can-and use your aviation support
group as an antidote to the isolation of
staying at home. FT

http://pic.aopa.org

Flight Training - June 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Flight Training - June 2020