Find the Right Instructor

When I asked for feedback from Flying readers about the instruction they had received, most of the people who responded said this scenario was a recipe for disaster. I read over and over about students who had been transferred from one instructor to another as their previous instructors were hired by the airlines, and most people reported that at least half of their instructors were marginal at best. We really shouldn't expect much better in an industry in which the least experienced are often the teachers, and where most pilots have to jump through the instructing hoop to build time so they can be hired by an airline. Add in dismal pay that hasn't increased much over the last 30 years, little or no benefits, long hours and difficult working conditions and you have a recipe for a bad attitude. It is unrealistic to expect much from instructors who don't have much experience or depth of knowledge, don't want to be doing what they are doing, aren't being compensated very well and are focused on getting out of instruction as soon as possible.

PART I:****WHAT MAKES AN INSTRUCTOR GOOD? I was fascinated to find that while people had many different stories about their bad experiences with instructors, they used the same terminology to describe the good instructors they had been fortunate to fly with.

KNOWLEDGE, CALM, COMFORTABLE Almost without exception, good instructors were described as knowledgeable and comfortable in the cockpit. Andy Shapiro said his instructor was "always calm, never yelled, never maliciously criticized and showed a real interest in me getting my license and flying safely." Andy "considered him my friend." His instructor's favorite phrase was "Don't stress!"

Chris Stockhholm felt that his comfort level with his instructor made a difference in all areas of his flight training experience and that the rapport between the student and instructor is critical for safety.

Greg Burnard "began flying with an instructor who should have the title 'gentleman' attached to him. You could tell he really loved what he was doing-teaching. His skills were exceptional. He was always ahead of what the student was doing and his character was such that a mistake was never met with a 'Why can't you do this?' type of comment. He was an absolute pleasure to fly with."

After his first instructor was killed doing turns about a point with a student at 300 feet, Steve Kohn said his replacement instructor "was a women in her fifties who had been a ferry pilot to Europe during World War II. She approached teaching like a great fourth grade teacher. She was organized, calm, exacting, personable and took flying very seriously. Her greatest gift to me was spin training. 'It isn't required,' she said, 'but, you can't learn it after your first spin starts.' With delicacy at first, and with persistence later, she forced me to have the courage to learn to get into and out of spins."

HONEST, SETS GOOD EXAMPLE Craig Smith had "a young instructor in the cockpit who made it clear from the beginning that although he enjoyed instructing, he was on his way to the airlines. He assured me that he still had plenty of time to go, however, and that he would be my instructor throughout my training, which he was. The honesty was satisfying. He taught me repeatedly never to trust another pilot and always fly like everyone else was an idiot. Although extreme, I got the message, and it paid off at least twice later on. He set the example by constantly looking out for traffic, teaching me to identify out loud whenever I saw something, and always being on the lookout for a landing site in case of an emergency. I was very, very impressed with the emphasis on safety, emergency preparedness and good judgment that he drilled into me over and over again. Every time before we flew, he asked me if I checked the weather, including days that were totally cloudless. His manner of instructing was not to induce fear of the elements but respect for them and good judgment on the part of the pilot."

FUN, CREATIVE Don Vallee and his wife trained with Mike Townsend, the owner/operator of Aerial Dimensions at Albany International Airport. He said that Mike "always made it fun to learn and if he noticed us getting a little frustrated with something, he took the controls and flew the plane, allowing us time to re-group. He would also demonstrate what he was trying to teach, which made it much easier to understand. When my wife and I couldn't seem to line up on the centerline at Albany, he took us to South Albany airport where the runway is about 10 feet wide. He said that was to show us the importance of landing in the center of the runway. Well, we are always on the centerline now! That is just an example of what he will do to teach you."

EAGER TO FLY IN ACTUAL CONDITIONS Don also said that during his training for his instrument rating Mike would rearrange his schedule so they could fly in actual instrument conditions. In fact, Mike refuses to sign anyone off for an instrument check ride unless they have experienced at least one flight in actual instrument conditions.

TAKES EXTRA TIME Brian Shumans said that after a lesson, Dan, Skylink Aviation's owner/instructor, would talk with him about what they had just done. Then he would get on the internet and go over the latest NTSB reports with Brian, pointing out how easy it is to find yourself in the same situations.

PART II: FINDING A GOOD INSTRUCTOR It is important to realize that finding a good instructor will take time and effort.

DO YOUR HOMEWORK Marco Leon said that "if someone interested in starting their training does not research their options thoroughly, I could see how they can easily pick an undesirable instructor, especially given the fact that most people don't know any better at such an early stage in their training." You should approach selecting a flight instructor as if your life depended on it, because it does! Visit all the flight schools within a reasonable distance from your home. Observe how the school is run. Are people generally warm and courteous to customers? Is everything handled in an orderly fashion? Are the aircraft clean and in good repair? It is well worth paying a few more dollars to fly at a professionally run school, but don't assume higher prices mean better training. While it would be nice to find a good instructor with lots of flight time, that is an extreme rarity. Several readers found new instructors who were better than more experienced ones. The difference was that they liked to instruct.

Once you have determined which school seems best, spend a little time with the instructor you will be flying with. Do they seem eager to talk with you and answer your questions? Do they seem to have a genuine love for flying and for teaching? Ask for references from current and past students. Call at least two or three people on the list and ask them how the instructor rates on the attributes listed above. Are they knowledgeable, calm and comfortable in the cockpit? Are they honest and do they set a good example? Are they fun and creative in their teaching techniques? Do they take extra time to make sure the point gets across and to discuss the student's performance after the lesson? Are they eager to fly in actual conditions appropriate for the rating you are seeking?

Be very critical during your search. If you don't find the people given as references wholeheartedly enthusiastic about that instructor, ask if there is someone else you can fly with. If no one at that school seems to have a good reputation with their students, move on to another school. If you can't find anyone in your area, consider using a vacation to do intensive training out of your area, or look into a service such as Professional Instrument Courses (800/435-9437), which brings the instructor to you for intensive instrument training. Check the bulletin boards at local airports. You may find very experienced instructors who earn their living in another job but continue to instruct because they love it.

DON'T PUT UP WITH A BAD ATTITUDE! Last month I quoted a pilot whose first instructor had "zero personality" and never had a post flight conversation with him. This negative attitude almost caused him to give up on learning how to fly. He reported that "finally after a long conversation with a family member and a good friend who are both currently pilots with two different major carriers, I made the switch to a new instructor. Although the new instructor is just starting out, he has a positive attitude and I learned more and felt better after one lesson with him than I had during the previous four lessons."

Greg Burnard pointed out that "instructors can make or break a student. The little amount of confidence a student has at that stage can be absolutely destroyed with a single comment." Or as one pilot put it, "I believe there are many students suffering in silence with a difficult instructor who would benefit from simply knowing that there is someone else out there that has and is having the same experiences they are in flight training."

Learning to fly should be an exciting and enjoyable experience. A good instructor will make you work hard and will have increasingly exacting standards appropriate to your skill level, but you should never feel uneasy or belittled or wonder if your success as a pilot is important to that instructor. If you are uncomfortable with your instructor, change instructors immediately. It may just be a personality clash, or your instructor may have a bad attitude or may even be downright dangerous in the cockpit. In any case, if you are tense, uncomfortable or scared during the lesson you will not be learning anything.

IS IT WORTH THE EFFORT? Many people wrote to me about the time they wasted with poor instructors, and how much more they learned once they found a good instructor. Don Vallee says that Mike Townsend taught him more in two months than three other instructors did in eight months. Jason Clay agreed that "there are a lot of good pilots out there, but not all of them can be good flight instructors." Unfortunately, some flight instructors are not even good pilots. Continuing with an instructor you are not comfortable with will, at the very least, cost you time and money. It could cause you to give up on your dream of becoming a pilot. It could possibly even cost you your life.