private pilot ground school Articles | Index    

Designing Lessons
2010-03-18

Designing Lessons Giving flying lessons is much like building a tissue and balsa flying model of an airplane of your own design. The plane must be of your own design because the raw material of the student is going to require unique approaches and adaptation to situations and abilities.

At the present time, I am instructing a unique such flight program. I have a student who is the most well read and prepared I have ever taught. Yet my lessons seldom achieve the proficiency level I expect or seek. My student has an airsickness problem. It comes and goes and gets better the more frequency we fly. However, due to the flu season we have not flown frequently. Progress has been slow and erratic. At one point we did not fly for three weeks. The review flight ended in less than half an hour due to illness.

The student senses the lack of progress, as I do. I press because the student early on set time and economic limits for the lessons. I bypass those maneuvers that seem to cause illness but are so basic that weaknesses shine through. It is obvious that avoidance is not the answer. It is apparent that certain skills must be acquired to reasonable proficiency and absence of stress before they can be blended into the instructional program.

A previous student told me that his tendency toward illness was caused by an unexpressed fear of crashing. One the fear faded so did the sickness. It is difficult to surmise the problem of my present student. It is almost as though we must start over to reduce the stresses that once existed in previously learned material. The presence of independent skills in flying are very few I cannot right now even think of one. Prerequisite or subordinate skills dominate the learning to fly program. This particular student gets ill doing ground reference. The latest review flight consisted of little more than left and right level turns before illness struck. I have not
been able to organize lesson sequences that will hold together long enough for connection to another sequence.

Under a normal progression we would have gone through the four basics, slow flight and stalls, radio procedures, airport departures and arrivals, and proceeded into landing preliminaries of go-around and patterns. We have not been able to fly often enough or long enough the link the required skills together. The relevance of basic skills is so obvious as not to require explanation or demonstration.

Each of these areas has prerequisites that once met, must be maintained. Because of the superior preparation done by this student in utilizing study materials, I have tried to keep my student well. The result has been vacancies in his skills and procedures. The student has suffered because I failed to tie the required skills into sequences that would produce success. A lesson learned.
Comment

 
 External Links
 Recent articles
Radio Communications at an Uncontrolled Airport
Start listening well away from the airport Overfly above pattern altitude if you are uncertain of pattern or procedures Adhere to AIM recommended procedures Doing otherwise...

IFR Rated Pilot
ul li 1 accident in 4 459 hours in IFR conditions BR li 1 accident in 61 900 hours in...

Trim Use
P Correct use of the trim requires that control pressures be applied to hold the desired flight attitude Then the trim is adjusted to relieve present control...

Subtle Fatigue
P This problem often begins with a distraction that causes fixation on an instrument or occurrence Complex flight operations are the first skills to deteriorate ...

Good Instruction
Communication BR Knowledge and ability to explain BR Ability to demonstrate BR Patience BR Motivation...

Teaching Efficiency
I teach techniques that maximize safety economy of time and movement both for the pilot and the aircraft Many aspects of pre flight...

Service Difficulty Reports (SDRs)
P B SDRs B are a mechanics #146; report on maintenance problems These are collected by the FAA and aircraft manufacturer and passed on...

1999 Was A Very Good Year
1908 general aviation accidents BR 342 were fatal accidents BR 7 05 accidents per 100 000 hours of flying BR ...

Historical Midairs
ul li 766 midairs 1807 fatalities BR li 44 of midairs have no fatalities BR li ...

Effective Criticism Requirements
1 Student instructor awareness of what is being done wrong P P 2 Instructor analysis of why P ...

IFR Maneuvers
Straight and level control U U 200 feet of altitude U U 20 degrees of heading U ...

Stall Spin Accidents
ul li 60 of stall spin accidents take place during the takeoff landing phases of flight BR li ...

Instructional Frustration
I must admit I am somewhat discourged with primary flight instruction Students that don #39;t prepare for the lesson don #39;t do their homework ...

Teaching precepts
P li Docendo Discimus We learn by teaching When by yourself you are the instructor BR BR ...

General Aviation Statistics
Only three out of every 1000 people in the US are pilots BR Out of 67 000 licensed instructors in the U s ...

Thinking Through Patterns
P Depending on the student or airport weather conditions I will use paper diagrams and walk through the patterns on the ramp I will illustrate turns about...

Engine Failure Accidents
ul li 22 of all accidents BR li 4 only partial failure BR li...

Where Accidents Happen
ul li Only 8 of midairs are from head on 42 are between airplanes flying in the same direction ...

Downwind Takeoff
P demonstration BR At controlled airports the non assertive pilot just goes where he is told to go There are occasions where for convenience...

Illusions - Vertigo Simulation
P B Materials: B BR 1 An open lawn space at least 15 #39; by 15 #39; BR 2 A...

Teaching To A Higher Level
P Because of the concentrated information that is being loaded on the student in the beginning I use a tape recorder so that the material is available...

Dealing with Delays
One of the advantages of learning to fly in the fall is the greater probability of weather delays A pilot learns to live with and accept delays of any kind...

A History of Running Lights
I have developed a possible sequence for the development of red and green running lights on ships and aircraft I would like to make the following case ...

Procedures and Techniques
Every phase of flying requires a series of procedures from pre flight to shut down With every procedure for what needs to be done...

Take Practical Test
FAR 61 105 and 61 125 BR Private or commercial pilot must receive and have logged ground as well as flight training from authorized instructor or a home study...

Instruction as I do it...
P I tend to be too intense in my instruction I want my students to succeed save money and learn quickly I love...

1997 Nall Report
li An accident as a judgment failure BR li Pilots only spot one third of ATC traffic reported as significant BR...

Phillips Head Screws
John Henry Phillips of Mass patented his double slotted screw in 1932 The very similar Reed Prince screw is not approved for ...

Category
Normal Category is a certification category This category has a maximum G loading of 3 8 G #39;s positive G #39;s 1 52...

Courtesy
P Airport courtesy extends beyond the rules of right of way Don #39;t use strobe lights on the ground Give preference to aircraft which operate on...

Ground Procedures - Taxiing Renewal
P By the time we solo we should be using power and brakes with great restraint Minimum power required to move at a good pace and smooth...

Mountain Accidents
li 40 more than in flatlands BR li 155 higher at some airports ...

Keys For Successful Learning
P B 1 Time of year B BR Summer flying gives longer days but does not provide the most desirable range of experience...

You and Illusions
P 1 Illusions can and do occur to everyone BR 2 Proper planning for strange airport conditions is essential BR 3 Weather and...

Your CFI As A Hazard
li 75 of flight training accidents related to improper gear operation occurs with CFI aboard BR li 50...

On Checklists
ol li Flying an airplane requires that a series of relatively complex procedures A checklist is most viable if a long series ...

Performance Sheet ASEL
Compute weight and balance with gross takeoff weight___________ Center of gravity location ________ BR Gross landing weight __________ Center of gravity location _________ BR Shift weight...

Pre-start/Start Checklist
P Once in the aircraft we begin the pre start tape recording Seats doors window open belts FAR 91 107 requires the pilot ...

Fatalities and Survival
ul li 90 of people involved in ditching accidents survive BR li Only 1 out of every 6 airplane accidents results in...

About Students
ol li A student won #39;t learn from those they distrust BR li A student won #39;t improve unless told what...

Fitting The Hood
P The hood should be fitted prior to engine start Note that the attitude indicator has both a wings level and a level index mark at its...

Engine Logs
P B Overhaul B P P Does not change prior history Time is added as quot;since overhaul quot;...

Who is in charge?
B Low time instructors have most of the #39;Who #39;s in Charge #39; kind of difficulty This is because they have not...

Alert Areas
P High volume military flight areas are classified as Alert Areas Basic VFR requirements exist but no clearance is required Visual separation is a must ...

Diversion to Alternate
Accurate immediate turn to estimated heading finds ground speed ETA fuel conditions flies U U 200 feet U ...

Black Hole Landing
P When it is very dark you are subject to illusions Your seat position may make you more or less subject to these Aircraft seats are...

Radio Q-History
The Q codes were developed when communications wasn #39;t as good as now and Morse code was till the norm BR It...

The Last Thing You Learn
P If you make a good landing the yoke should be positioned for taxiing When you turn off the runway the correct positioning of the yoke will...

Where's The Problem?
When an instructor becomes upset over a student #39;s performance the student could well consider that the problem lies with the instructor An...

Soft Field
In ground effect to Vy remove flaps at 200í BR Climb at Vy 10 and 5 knots ...

 Related Links
 
©2010 4VFR.COM, All Rights Reserved Powered by 4vfr.com