Flight Training - May 2022 - 40

Take it from
a long-time,
old-school flight
instructor:
Far too often students
don't ask questions when they should.
Only the student knows when they don't
understand something. If they don't verbalize
it, the instructor usually only knows the understanding
gap exists by the student's lack of
performance. Even then, the cause may not be
clear. Feedback from the student is critical in
guiding the instructor. A student can make learning
to fly much more fun, much less exasperating,
and much more productive by asking questions.
DISPERSE THE FOG BEFORE IT SETS IN
It's easy for an instructor to forget that aviation-speak
is loaded with phrases and concepts
that are totally unknown outside of the aviation
community. For instance: " ...so, when you turn
base-to-final, nail the airspeed, drop a notch of
flaps, retrim, keep the ball centered, and... " Try
saying something like that at your next canasta
get-together and see how many knowing nods
people give you.
Don't ignore a momentary lack of understanding.
We can't think to ourselves, I'm going to ask
about that later. When we do that, " later " almost
never comes.
If you don't understand completely something
being said or demonstrated, stop the instructor
and have them go through it again. And, again,
if necessary. Do not let something pass without
totally understanding what was said. In the learning
phase of anything, laying down a solid basis
of understanding is critical. Otherwise, the rest of
learning is built on a weak foundation.
MENTAL REVIEWS OFTEN HAPPEN
SPONTANEOUSLY-BE READY!
When you're actively involved in something as
intense as learning to fly, your brain is almost
never completely free of it. After a lesson you
will re-fly that flight in your mind over and over
in coming days. In the process of remembering,
questions often arise.
Think how often you'll be driving along, taking
a shower, or otherwise be doing something
mundane, when a solution to something totally
unrelated suddenly pops into your mind. We all
have those moments but they only last for a few
40 FLIGHT TRAINING MAY 2022
seconds. Five minutes later we'll remember that
we had a wonderful, enlightening revelation,
but for the life of us we can't recall what it was.
That's why one of the most critically important
learning apparatuses students can carry is
a small pocket notebook and a pencil/pen. Or,
these days, a smartphone.
The instant we have that moment of understanding,
we need to drop what we're doing and
jot it down as a question. If we wait as much
as a minute, an opportunity for clarification
of a flying moment is lost. These moments of
understanding the details of what it is that we
don't understand are learning fodder for the
next flight.
BE READY FOR THE NEXT FLIGHT
WITH QUESTIONS
CFIs love it when a student arrives and is prepared
to ask questions. However, it is incumbent
on students to ask these questions in an understandable
way. It may help to examine each
question carefully, making them as concise as
possible and putting them in writing, before
presenting them to the CFI. The process of
dissecting your thoughts so they make sense
on paper, before framing them as a question,
will sometimes answer the question before it's
asked. However, answer or not, tightening up
your thoughts helps you present your CFI with
specifics rather than generalities, which makes
her answers more specific. It won't be, " When
you were talking about speed control, I didn't
understand it. " It will be, " I'm not exactly sure of
the relationship between the nose attitude and
speed. How do I control them both? "
CFIS IMPROVE BECAUSE OF QUESTIONS
All CFIs eventually develop a variety of
semi-packaged methods for teaching various
aspects of flying. Like a stand-up comedian or
university professor, they have addressed the
same thoughts enough times that they have
mental paragraphs stored up to address different
subjects. That's not to say they're lacking in
originality. CFIs continually edit those mental
paragraphs to fit different students at different
times. That, however, doesn't mean the words or
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