I don't just fly with primary students. When you work for a Part 61 flight school, you fly with people who have trained with other instructors; some of them come to you for advanced ratings, some come to you for flight reviews, and some just come to you for some proficiency flying. (Unfortunately, the people who really need proficiency flying aren't the ones engaging flight instructors for the task, but that's a topic for another blog entry).
I've noticed a few trends. People aren't taught basic airmanship anymore. They can't use the rudder pedals very effectively. They have problems communicating on the radio. They depend upon automation rather than managing it as a cockpit tool. I've even flown with an individual recently who was never taught how to plot a cross-country flight on an aviation sectional chart (map).
These people didn't seek lackluster training on purpose; they're well-meaning pilots who gracefully accept and integrate critiques. And, I'm not saying that I am perfect at teaching those competencies, but I do commit myself every day to get better and better at presenting and reinforcing behavior that builds them in my students. Finally, I'm not laying all the blame at the instructors' feet; Designated Pilot Examiners are supposed to be the FAA's critical eye and sometimes get way too cozy with flight schools. Some of them are even on flight school payrolls, and this apparently doesn't raise too many eyebrows.
These problems (and to be sure, plenty of others) are beginning to be reflected widely in the aviation industry.
A Solution Looking for a Problem
The title of today's blog is 1500, and that's how many hours that the U.S. Congress wants (at a minimum) the FAA to begin requiring all airline new-hires to have in their logbooks. It's in the name of your safety, they say, and they cite the 2009 Colgan accident in Buffalo as the tipping point. In fact, popular public opinion holds that regional airline pilots are "low-time" and "inexperienced."
Let's talk hours: Does anybody know how many the flight crew on Colgan 3407 had? Raise your hand.
Captain Renslow had 3,379. First Officer Shaw had 2,244. You read that correctly.
According to the NTSB, the Colgan accident was the result of a lot of factors: lack of professionalism in the cockpit, degraded situational awareness, fatigue, improper stall recovery, and several other factors. What the Colgan accident was not the result of was low flight hours.
What problem are we really fixing?
Experience
Experience as a pilot and time spent in the airplane are not always directly correlated. A recent study featured in Aero Safety World magazine found that a sample of 30 experienced airline pilots could not peform several basic instrument flying tasks, without automation, to the standards of the pilot certificate they hold (Airline Transport Pilot). We're talking been there, done that grey hairs.
There's your automation dependency right there. But wait, there's more.
The Flight Instructor Factor
Being a Certified Flight Instructor is a great way to build experience as well as build flight time, but you have to have the right attitude in order to benefit from it. This is a job that you have to approach as a learner...if you're not actively reflecting on what you're learning while you work with students, it's all just empty flight time.
"Okay," you say," if time as an instructor is so great for your piloting abilities, then making people instruct till they have 1500 hours will be great for aviation safety and pilot experience."
I wish it were that simple. I see the potential some good stuff and some bad stuff coming out of this. You'll see some conflicting and somewhat mutually-exclusive arguments here.
Good first:
1. When airlines were snapping up pilots who had between 250-500 hours, it was a buyer's market and lower pay was tolerated. One school of thought suspects that starting pay for brand new First Officers is going to have to begin an upward creep. Otherwise, we'll never be able to attract the kind of person who'll put up with this much to attain a career goal, and the system will continue to degrade.
2. Instructors who embrace the instructor-as-learner approach I talked about will in fact be more qualified when they reach the airlines.
3. Warm fuzzies: The general public will feel great that First Officer So-and-So isn't fresh off of his Multi-Commercial checkride.
Bad stuff:
1. The grass is always greener. Quality of flight instruction, which already sucks way too often, will go downhill even further due to bored, frustrated CFI's having to bide their time until they get the call. You have to be engaged in this job to be good at it. If quality of instruction continues its downward spiral, the industry continues to crumble.
2. The regional carriers continue to pay pilots poorly, because they're regional carriers and that's what they do, and they can still find a guy who'll take your place. So First Officer So-and-So has a moutain of debt that he can't pay and is constantly stressed about it, and ends up leaving aviation. The pilot shortage becomes more acute and the industry continues to crumble.
(Or, he leaves aviation to become a reality TV star and pick the trashiest possible woman on The Bachelor).
3. Policymakers continue to focus on hours instead of qualitative experience, and these "experienced" kid wonders continue to make stupid mistakes and kill people.
So We're Damned if We Do, Damned if We Don't?
Okay, so either way the effects of the new law are neutral at best, problematic at worst. Are we just screwed?
No. The problem can begin to be addressed, quite effectively, at my level of the industry. And organizations ranging from AOPA to the National Association of Flight Instructors and the Society of Aviation and Flight Educators are doing lots of research, focus groups, and thinking on this right now.
Those competencies I mentioned at the beginning of this blog entry must be instilled from Hour #1 of flight training by instructors who understand that their first few hours with a primary student can make or break careers and lives. Certificate mills with on-staff Pilot Examiners aren't going to cut it any more.
Examiners must hold instructors accountable for shortcomings in their teaching, and instructors must build relationships with Examiners in order to establish that respectful, effective feedback loop. We might want to also examine the ethics of the Examiner-on-Staff model as well, lucrative though it may be.
We have to find ways to attract and retain career flight instructors. Flight school owners are going to have to suck it up and take smaller cuts out of hourly instruction rates. They'll have to spend some money to improve physical conditions, and incentivize instructors who find innovative ways to teach procedures or increase quality of training. I'm fortunate to have worked for a couple of bosses who actually get this, and the results are beginning to show.
What's at Stake?
The entirety of the world's civil aviation infrastructure is built on American flight schools, and while the "experts" in Washington try to fix a problem they don't understand, we must get ahead and start pulling our weight. That's not something an act of Congress can do.
Monday, February 14, 2011
On Co-pilots
My average work week these days is 60-70 hours. I'm not at all complaining, just stating a fact. That's what it takes to keep a small flight school running and keep all the customers taken care of. And unfortunately, there's no way of prettying up the fact that as my career progresses, I'll spend even less time at home.
Back in 2004, Alisa married an insurance adjuster who was home every night. Then, that changed to traveling university recruiter, and now finally, a professional pilot. Some people might call that unstable, but Alisa knows the truth: With me, it's been a constant evolution, each step strangely contributing to the next. I've finally re-invented myself into what I've really wanted to be since I was a little kid, and it's actually working out. Who can say that they really get to do that?
More importantly, and more to my point today, who can say that they have a co-pilot who comes along, willingly, on that wild of a ride? This has not been an uneventful journey. At times, it has been expensive, stressful, and yes, overwhelmingly joyful.
Through it all, Alisa has been there. She knew back in May of 2004 what we all know (or should all admit): there is nothing certain about the future. But she also knew she was marrying a guy who wasn't going to stop trying until he got it right. And I love her for her patience, steadfast support, and grace as I've worked to make it right for us.
Here's to co-pilots. I have the world's best, and I try every day to earn it. Happy Valentine's day, sweetheart.
Back in 2004, Alisa married an insurance adjuster who was home every night. Then, that changed to traveling university recruiter, and now finally, a professional pilot. Some people might call that unstable, but Alisa knows the truth: With me, it's been a constant evolution, each step strangely contributing to the next. I've finally re-invented myself into what I've really wanted to be since I was a little kid, and it's actually working out. Who can say that they really get to do that?
More importantly, and more to my point today, who can say that they have a co-pilot who comes along, willingly, on that wild of a ride? This has not been an uneventful journey. At times, it has been expensive, stressful, and yes, overwhelmingly joyful.
Through it all, Alisa has been there. She knew back in May of 2004 what we all know (or should all admit): there is nothing certain about the future. But she also knew she was marrying a guy who wasn't going to stop trying until he got it right. And I love her for her patience, steadfast support, and grace as I've worked to make it right for us.
Here's to co-pilots. I have the world's best, and I try every day to earn it. Happy Valentine's day, sweetheart.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Aviation Security in Perspective
Fourth Amendment? What Fourth Amendment?
The TSA continues its foray into aviation with an announcement this week that it will fund a research project to create a backscatter scanner (the kind they use on airline passengers now) intended to scan General Aviation airplanes. That sounds like yet another violation of the Fourth Amendment to me. I know what your argument is: "But Aaron, it's already been established that airports are Fourth Amendment-Free zones."
My response: "Really? Has that been tested specifically in the Supreme Court?" Fear not. Several lawsuits are working their way through the system that will allow just that to happen.
Let's Get Practical
Case law aside, let's look at some practical matters. People who aren't involved in aviation are all-too-willing to regulate airplanes because "it's worth it for safety." Even at the price of their rights. What would people say if there were simliar restrictions on automobile travel?
"But airplanes are much more dangerous than cars." Don't we always assume that the things we don't understand are dangerous?
Let's look at that argument, and compare the security risks that land-based automobiles present.
1. Tracking. It's true that General Aviation aircraft are not required to file flight plans. But the idea that they could be "practically anywhere" is a little misguided. Temporary Flight Restrictions, Prohibited Areas, and controlled airpspace are created for a reason. And, when's the last time you filed a driving plan in your car? We don't know who you are or where you are. That sounds scary to me, and it gives you a great opportunity to slip under the radar and do damage. It's happened before.
2. Mass. The average light General Aviation aircraft has a maximum weight of between 2,000 and 3,000 pounds. According to the New York Times, the 2003 average car/light duty truck weight in the U.S. was 4,021 pounds. Given an average top speed of 120-160 mph, and a virtually unlimited payload (not the case with aircraft), that's some serious destructive potential. What would have happened to the IRS building in Austin if the attack had been made with an explosive-laden Ford Expedition?
3. Access. Even the "least secure" General Aviation airports have a suspicious eye cast over them by law enforcement. More and more are being fenced with coded gates, and the pilot community is pretty vigilant for random outsiders. How many of those 4,021 pound cars were stolen last year? Heck, how many were stolen yesterday? Do we know their whereabouts? Again, pretty scary.
4. Track Record. This is a biggie. Since airplanes were used on 9/11, surely they'll be used again. That's the rationale, anyway, and aviation has borne the brunt of security measures as a result. What about Oklahoma City? What about the two recent plots in Dallas and New York City? All involved automobiles. Where are the calls to restrict their passengers, payload, access, and routes?
5. Border Security. It's not Politically Correct, but I could care less. Until our borders are secure, no amount of security in any other arena will protect us. Bottom line. Terrorists are not stupid, and our borders offer a path of least resistance. Why screw with flying anymore?
Do you see a pattern here? We can go around and around and make the argument that just about anything is a security threat if we want to. Aviation has made a convenient whipping boy because we're all willing to tolerate it and many of us are willing to be rused into thinking that the measures are effective.
It's easy to say that security is worth giving up a few of your rights, but how are are you willing to go? Since automobiles clearly have at least as much destructive potential as aircraft, are you willing to give up your Fourth Amendment rights in your daily life?
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both."
---Benjamin Franklin
The TSA continues its foray into aviation with an announcement this week that it will fund a research project to create a backscatter scanner (the kind they use on airline passengers now) intended to scan General Aviation airplanes. That sounds like yet another violation of the Fourth Amendment to me. I know what your argument is: "But Aaron, it's already been established that airports are Fourth Amendment-Free zones."
My response: "Really? Has that been tested specifically in the Supreme Court?" Fear not. Several lawsuits are working their way through the system that will allow just that to happen.
Let's Get Practical
Case law aside, let's look at some practical matters. People who aren't involved in aviation are all-too-willing to regulate airplanes because "it's worth it for safety." Even at the price of their rights. What would people say if there were simliar restrictions on automobile travel?
"But airplanes are much more dangerous than cars." Don't we always assume that the things we don't understand are dangerous?
Let's look at that argument, and compare the security risks that land-based automobiles present.
1. Tracking. It's true that General Aviation aircraft are not required to file flight plans. But the idea that they could be "practically anywhere" is a little misguided. Temporary Flight Restrictions, Prohibited Areas, and controlled airpspace are created for a reason. And, when's the last time you filed a driving plan in your car? We don't know who you are or where you are. That sounds scary to me, and it gives you a great opportunity to slip under the radar and do damage. It's happened before.
2. Mass. The average light General Aviation aircraft has a maximum weight of between 2,000 and 3,000 pounds. According to the New York Times, the 2003 average car/light duty truck weight in the U.S. was 4,021 pounds. Given an average top speed of 120-160 mph, and a virtually unlimited payload (not the case with aircraft), that's some serious destructive potential. What would have happened to the IRS building in Austin if the attack had been made with an explosive-laden Ford Expedition?
3. Access. Even the "least secure" General Aviation airports have a suspicious eye cast over them by law enforcement. More and more are being fenced with coded gates, and the pilot community is pretty vigilant for random outsiders. How many of those 4,021 pound cars were stolen last year? Heck, how many were stolen yesterday? Do we know their whereabouts? Again, pretty scary.
4. Track Record. This is a biggie. Since airplanes were used on 9/11, surely they'll be used again. That's the rationale, anyway, and aviation has borne the brunt of security measures as a result. What about Oklahoma City? What about the two recent plots in Dallas and New York City? All involved automobiles. Where are the calls to restrict their passengers, payload, access, and routes?
5. Border Security. It's not Politically Correct, but I could care less. Until our borders are secure, no amount of security in any other arena will protect us. Bottom line. Terrorists are not stupid, and our borders offer a path of least resistance. Why screw with flying anymore?
Do you see a pattern here? We can go around and around and make the argument that just about anything is a security threat if we want to. Aviation has made a convenient whipping boy because we're all willing to tolerate it and many of us are willing to be rused into thinking that the measures are effective.
It's easy to say that security is worth giving up a few of your rights, but how are are you willing to go? Since automobiles clearly have at least as much destructive potential as aircraft, are you willing to give up your Fourth Amendment rights in your daily life?
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both."
---Benjamin Franklin
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Rediscovering an old friend
Cramped. Slow. Lethargic. Those are all things you're likely to hear when you ask people their opinions about the lowly Cessna 150. My memories from completing my flight training in the 150 weren't completely fond, either. Particularly so is the memory of my private pilot checkride: a Cessna 150 on an August day with a 300 pound Designated Pilot Examiner is just not a fun place to be. I learned that day that fat sweats. Trust me. I digress...
However, I've had an opportunity to rediscover the 150 as a training ariplane recently. My new flight school acquired N22959, a low time (really---less than 2,000 hours. "Low time" for a 150 usually means somewhere between 8,000 and 10,000 hours.) 1968 150. She's pretty outside and inside, well-rigged, and as it turns out, is an excellent teacher.
However, I've had an opportunity to rediscover the 150 as a training ariplane recently. My new flight school acquired N22959, a low time (really---less than 2,000 hours. "Low time" for a 150 usually means somewhere between 8,000 and 10,000 hours.) 1968 150. She's pretty outside and inside, well-rigged, and as it turns out, is an excellent teacher.
The vast majority of my teaching to this point has been in 172's. Skyhawks are nice, docile airplanes, but compared to 150's, their stalls are non-existent, they land themselves, and are overly forgiving of sloppy rudder work. It has been entertaining to watch my 172 graduates strap into the 150 and find to their surprise that some airplanes DO require coordination in a stall and some airplanes MUST be flared in order to land properly. Maybe all those dutch rolls their evil instructor makes them do actually serve a purpose :).
This little bird has a way of putting a magnifying glass on those stick and rudder skills that I love to teach in a manner second only to what the Cub could do. (Unfortunately, I can't just teach 'em all in taildraggers).
Maybe I'm just infatuated with it due to the pure bliss of flying something different and the crush will fade, but for now I really love teaching in this airplane. Probably more than in the 172. And that's saying something for a tall-ish dude who weighs 230 pounds. In a way, I kind of feel like I've "arrived" as an instructor since I'm doing some teaching in the favored trainer of the generation previous to mine. I usually identify with old stuff and old people better anyway.
Give the Cessna 150 a little love. There's a reason it has been regarded as a great teacher all these years, and in this era of flashy light sports and girly-birds like the Diamond DA-20, it's still worthy of your consideration as a training platform. And, they're cheap to acquire and cheap to rent.
If you're a Skyhawk baby like so many of my students are, go get checked out in one. Your stick and rudder skills will thank you.
Post Script: I once saw a cowbird chasing a Diamond DA-20, yelling, "Mama! Mama!"
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Failure Is An Option
Why do applicants fail checkrides?
I think I'm a pretty decent instructor, and I'd like to believe that my students and the Designated Pilot Examiner I typically use agree. But this week, I've had two students fail first-attempt checkrides on eerily simliar manuevers. Bear with me---I'm not writing this for a pity party or trying to call students out. You'll see I'm going somewhere constructive with this.
Well-prepared applicants don't fail checkrides because of lack of knowledge or poor instruction. That's not self-insulating rationalization---I've observed the phenomenon enough to consider it a fact. Other things get in the way. Fatigue and stress are two of the biggest factors.
Students get pretty worked up and wired prior to checkrides and forget to take our advice to take a chill pill and get some sleep. They have to be aware of that, because fatigue is something that sneaks up on you and steals your situational awareness and self-control when you're not expecting it.
Stress over minor mistakes also adds up. People who are attracted to aviation are usually at least borderline perfectionists, and they don't take mistakes lightly. The danger with that personality type (and I'm one of them) is that you can let a mistake on one manuever or task bug you until it becomes a mental snowball that derails a whole flight.
The bottom line is that we can prepare a student to the best of our abilities, and then it's out of our control. We're flight instructors, not psychologists, despite our efforts at trying to be observers and modifiers of human behavior. It's obviously useful to teach a few testing strategies before sending a student off to the judges, but you have to ask yourself how you're really helping them become a better pilot by expending that time. Do you teach them how to be a pilot, or how to be a test-taker?
A rock and a hard place
So then, we have a choice. Forty hours with a student is not a very long time. We can spend that forty hours trying to teach them with scenarios, teach them good judgement, and make them safe, effecient, everyday pilots. Or, we can spend that time teaching them the checkride. I think that the latter mindset is an overlooked cause of a symptom that's been all-to-present in the public conscience due to events like the Colgan accident in Buffalo and the subsequent Congressional actions on airline training and safety.
I want to be careful about making a big generalization, but it's beginning to occur to me that those two mindsets are in many ways mutually-exclusive. We're supposed to employ scenario-based training (thinking your way through a situation and controlling/solving it with knowlege you've gained) and then send them on their ways to dog-and-pony shows where they string together manuevers and tasks that would never on their face be linked together in the course of an operational flight. Operational, as in the important ones with passengers and family members on board.
There are a lot of challenges to the future of aviation right now, but maybe the link between an instructional mindset and a practical test mindset is more of a challenge than we think.
I choose the rock
As for me, I made my choice a long time ago between teaching pilots and teaching checkride applicants. I get my nose bloodied occasionally (and more often than I'd like) for it, but down the road I'm betting that my students who passed on the second try are less likely to make the six o'clock news than many who were "taught to the test" and passed on the first try.
That old advice on leadership holds true to flight instruction: There is a difference between doing everything right, and doing the right things.
I think I'm a pretty decent instructor, and I'd like to believe that my students and the Designated Pilot Examiner I typically use agree. But this week, I've had two students fail first-attempt checkrides on eerily simliar manuevers. Bear with me---I'm not writing this for a pity party or trying to call students out. You'll see I'm going somewhere constructive with this.
Well-prepared applicants don't fail checkrides because of lack of knowledge or poor instruction. That's not self-insulating rationalization---I've observed the phenomenon enough to consider it a fact. Other things get in the way. Fatigue and stress are two of the biggest factors.
Students get pretty worked up and wired prior to checkrides and forget to take our advice to take a chill pill and get some sleep. They have to be aware of that, because fatigue is something that sneaks up on you and steals your situational awareness and self-control when you're not expecting it.
Stress over minor mistakes also adds up. People who are attracted to aviation are usually at least borderline perfectionists, and they don't take mistakes lightly. The danger with that personality type (and I'm one of them) is that you can let a mistake on one manuever or task bug you until it becomes a mental snowball that derails a whole flight.
The bottom line is that we can prepare a student to the best of our abilities, and then it's out of our control. We're flight instructors, not psychologists, despite our efforts at trying to be observers and modifiers of human behavior. It's obviously useful to teach a few testing strategies before sending a student off to the judges, but you have to ask yourself how you're really helping them become a better pilot by expending that time. Do you teach them how to be a pilot, or how to be a test-taker?
A rock and a hard place
So then, we have a choice. Forty hours with a student is not a very long time. We can spend that forty hours trying to teach them with scenarios, teach them good judgement, and make them safe, effecient, everyday pilots. Or, we can spend that time teaching them the checkride. I think that the latter mindset is an overlooked cause of a symptom that's been all-to-present in the public conscience due to events like the Colgan accident in Buffalo and the subsequent Congressional actions on airline training and safety.
I want to be careful about making a big generalization, but it's beginning to occur to me that those two mindsets are in many ways mutually-exclusive. We're supposed to employ scenario-based training (thinking your way through a situation and controlling/solving it with knowlege you've gained) and then send them on their ways to dog-and-pony shows where they string together manuevers and tasks that would never on their face be linked together in the course of an operational flight. Operational, as in the important ones with passengers and family members on board.
There are a lot of challenges to the future of aviation right now, but maybe the link between an instructional mindset and a practical test mindset is more of a challenge than we think.
I choose the rock
As for me, I made my choice a long time ago between teaching pilots and teaching checkride applicants. I get my nose bloodied occasionally (and more often than I'd like) for it, but down the road I'm betting that my students who passed on the second try are less likely to make the six o'clock news than many who were "taught to the test" and passed on the first try.
That old advice on leadership holds true to flight instruction: There is a difference between doing everything right, and doing the right things.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
A Day in the Life
I was told by a prospective customer (who happens to be a VERY casual pilot, like 10 hours a year casual from what I gathered) last week that I charge too much for instruction. Nevermind the fact that this is my living; how could I possibly ask $xx an hour for what I do? I got to thinking about how I spend my time. Here's a little window...
Aviation is such a noble profession. We eagle-eyed pilots get to look down at the rest of the world from such a lofty perch, and leave any and all problems behind with those poor terestrial suckers. A perfect life. We'd all just do it for free if we had to. Right?
January 19, 2011
5:30 AM
My alarm clock was supposed to wake me up for a 7 am flight to check out a renter in our Cessna 150. Apparently this does not happen.
6:50 AM
Alisa wakes me up and I text the renter to let him know I'll be there as soon as I can.
7:10 AM
I'm in the car, waiting for the deep freeze-sized layer of frost to burn off the windshield.
7:15 AM
Still waiting.
7:35 AM
Arrive at the airport to find the airplane (you guessed it) covered with frost. Answered questions from the renter about the plane and squared him away on the preflight and systems (he wasn't used to the stone-age systems of a 150).
8:15 AM
Strapped in and ready to go, and the plane won't start. The 0-200 engine just doesn't like the cold, the battery is weak, and I allow him to succumb to the temptation of over-priming. It finally turns over and runs for about 30 seconds. We know we flooded it because the fuelish smell of an overly-rich start is obvious.
My renter swears he smells something burning, and when we investigate the nose we find the fiberglass moulding around the engine air inlet on fire. We get it extinguised with little damage except for the foam air filter and some soot.
8:45 AM
Air filter changed and our mechanic standing by with a fire extinguiser, just in case. Battery is now exhausted, so our mechanic hand-props the airplane (I do this all the time to our Cub, but it's not often in 2011 that you see a flight school 150 being "propped.").
Airplane starts and runs great, with no fire this time, but now the intercom has failed. Flight is cancelled.
9-11:30 AM
I fly with one of my favorite students. He's turned out to be a loyal customer and something of a business mentor to me, but he's often too hard on himself and today was one of those days. It's hard to convince a perfectionist that a private pilot checkride isn't about perfection. Not sure about my street cred as an amatuer psychiatrist today. We'll be re-flying that mock checkride again.
11:30-1 PM
Check in with the boss, check up on work on the 150, and try to answer a few e-mails.
1-1:20 PM
Scarf a Subway sandwich and shotgun a Coke.
1:30-3 PM
Mock checkride #2 for the day. This student lets stuff roll off of his back, and did well. He's almost ready.
3-5 PM
Unusual attitudes and partial panel work with one of my instrument students. He's a great student, and unusual attitudes are fun from the right seat. Basically, we have the student close his or her eyes and then we maneuver the airplane so they lose track of "which end is up." They, they recover the airplane to straight and level flight using only the instruments...it's good training for accidentally flying into a cloud. Anyway, while we're "maneuvering" it's one of the few excuses a CFI has to really yank and bank on an airplane. Good stuff.
Capped it all off by a well-flown partial panel VOR approach on the part of my student. Maybe I do know what I'm doing.
5-5:30 PM
Paperwork. I'm about to hire at least one instructor, so all the standards and procedures that have only needed to dwell in my head (as "chief" of one at the old Waco Flight Training) for the past two years now need to take up residence on paper. As you can tell, I have tons of time for that.
5:30-7:30 PM
Mock oral exam with a student who, for the most part, is prepared. We worry about when we have to "drag" responses out of a student and he did a little of that, but less than last time. I just sent him home with follow-up items to study on, and I'm finally done for the day. Tomorrow at 8 AM, I'll start it all over again.
Why am I sharing this? Today was a typical day in the life of a working flight instructor (well, except for the whole fire thing...I wouldn't be cool with that being typical). As with anyone working in any other profession, I had some moments of brilliance and some "why do I put up with this" moments. I try to learn from both, and I think that one of my favorite things about this job is processing that learning.
All things considered, I'd rather have a long, tiring, brilliance-punctuated day here than the best day ever behind a desk.
And that $xx an hour? Totally earned.
Aviation is such a noble profession. We eagle-eyed pilots get to look down at the rest of the world from such a lofty perch, and leave any and all problems behind with those poor terestrial suckers. A perfect life. We'd all just do it for free if we had to. Right?
January 19, 2011
5:30 AM
My alarm clock was supposed to wake me up for a 7 am flight to check out a renter in our Cessna 150. Apparently this does not happen.
6:50 AM
Alisa wakes me up and I text the renter to let him know I'll be there as soon as I can.
7:10 AM
I'm in the car, waiting for the deep freeze-sized layer of frost to burn off the windshield.
7:15 AM
Still waiting.
7:35 AM
Arrive at the airport to find the airplane (you guessed it) covered with frost. Answered questions from the renter about the plane and squared him away on the preflight and systems (he wasn't used to the stone-age systems of a 150).
8:15 AM
Strapped in and ready to go, and the plane won't start. The 0-200 engine just doesn't like the cold, the battery is weak, and I allow him to succumb to the temptation of over-priming. It finally turns over and runs for about 30 seconds. We know we flooded it because the fuelish smell of an overly-rich start is obvious.
My renter swears he smells something burning, and when we investigate the nose we find the fiberglass moulding around the engine air inlet on fire. We get it extinguised with little damage except for the foam air filter and some soot.
8:45 AM
Air filter changed and our mechanic standing by with a fire extinguiser, just in case. Battery is now exhausted, so our mechanic hand-props the airplane (I do this all the time to our Cub, but it's not often in 2011 that you see a flight school 150 being "propped.").
Airplane starts and runs great, with no fire this time, but now the intercom has failed. Flight is cancelled.
9-11:30 AM
I fly with one of my favorite students. He's turned out to be a loyal customer and something of a business mentor to me, but he's often too hard on himself and today was one of those days. It's hard to convince a perfectionist that a private pilot checkride isn't about perfection. Not sure about my street cred as an amatuer psychiatrist today. We'll be re-flying that mock checkride again.
11:30-1 PM
Check in with the boss, check up on work on the 150, and try to answer a few e-mails.
1-1:20 PM
Scarf a Subway sandwich and shotgun a Coke.
1:30-3 PM
Mock checkride #2 for the day. This student lets stuff roll off of his back, and did well. He's almost ready.
3-5 PM
Unusual attitudes and partial panel work with one of my instrument students. He's a great student, and unusual attitudes are fun from the right seat. Basically, we have the student close his or her eyes and then we maneuver the airplane so they lose track of "which end is up." They, they recover the airplane to straight and level flight using only the instruments...it's good training for accidentally flying into a cloud. Anyway, while we're "maneuvering" it's one of the few excuses a CFI has to really yank and bank on an airplane. Good stuff.
Capped it all off by a well-flown partial panel VOR approach on the part of my student. Maybe I do know what I'm doing.
5-5:30 PM
Paperwork. I'm about to hire at least one instructor, so all the standards and procedures that have only needed to dwell in my head (as "chief" of one at the old Waco Flight Training) for the past two years now need to take up residence on paper. As you can tell, I have tons of time for that.
5:30-7:30 PM
Mock oral exam with a student who, for the most part, is prepared. We worry about when we have to "drag" responses out of a student and he did a little of that, but less than last time. I just sent him home with follow-up items to study on, and I'm finally done for the day. Tomorrow at 8 AM, I'll start it all over again.
Why am I sharing this? Today was a typical day in the life of a working flight instructor (well, except for the whole fire thing...I wouldn't be cool with that being typical). As with anyone working in any other profession, I had some moments of brilliance and some "why do I put up with this" moments. I try to learn from both, and I think that one of my favorite things about this job is processing that learning.
All things considered, I'd rather have a long, tiring, brilliance-punctuated day here than the best day ever behind a desk.
And that $xx an hour? Totally earned.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Writers block or just lazy?
Back on the writing wagon
It's kind of embarrassing to realize that it has been a year since my blog was updated. It's been on my mind since my friend Jerome got really active on his again, and is writing some good stuff. Not that I haven't had plenty to write about, I just haven't been good about making the time to do it.
To make things easier, I changed the title of the blog a little bit to broaden the focus. Maybe I needed to give myself permission to write about whatever I wanted to. Maybe you don't care about that thought process, or maybe you do since you're still reading.
Plenty to write about
There have definitely been changes at work in the past year. I've now soloed 12 more students since that last blog entry, and had 10 (about to be 11) students successfully complete checkrides. And, I crossed the 1,000 hour mark as a pilot. I've really learned my craft and feel like a true pro. I knew once these things began happening, I'd inevitably face a fork in my professional road.
That fork came this month when the little one-airplane flight school Parker and I started got bought by a mutual friend. I stayed on with the new company as chief flight instructor and am in the middle of getting our instructional methods standardized to 3 types of airplanes, gearing up to hire another instructor, and continuing to teach a full student load in the airplane. Life is busy!
I still don't know what I want to do when I grow up. The opportunties as the new flight school begins to grow will get interesting (I'll share more about that as good things progress), and there of course remains the ever-present temptation of an airline career. Surreal though it may be, I'm only months away from qualifying for interviews with most regional airlines.
More to come
Stick with me as I share flying stories and random thoughts. I'm not going to make it my new year's resolution to write more, because we all know what happens to those. It's simply a commitment.
It's kind of embarrassing to realize that it has been a year since my blog was updated. It's been on my mind since my friend Jerome got really active on his again, and is writing some good stuff. Not that I haven't had plenty to write about, I just haven't been good about making the time to do it.
To make things easier, I changed the title of the blog a little bit to broaden the focus. Maybe I needed to give myself permission to write about whatever I wanted to. Maybe you don't care about that thought process, or maybe you do since you're still reading.
Plenty to write about
There have definitely been changes at work in the past year. I've now soloed 12 more students since that last blog entry, and had 10 (about to be 11) students successfully complete checkrides. And, I crossed the 1,000 hour mark as a pilot. I've really learned my craft and feel like a true pro. I knew once these things began happening, I'd inevitably face a fork in my professional road.
That fork came this month when the little one-airplane flight school Parker and I started got bought by a mutual friend. I stayed on with the new company as chief flight instructor and am in the middle of getting our instructional methods standardized to 3 types of airplanes, gearing up to hire another instructor, and continuing to teach a full student load in the airplane. Life is busy!
I still don't know what I want to do when I grow up. The opportunties as the new flight school begins to grow will get interesting (I'll share more about that as good things progress), and there of course remains the ever-present temptation of an airline career. Surreal though it may be, I'm only months away from qualifying for interviews with most regional airlines.
More to come
Stick with me as I share flying stories and random thoughts. I'm not going to make it my new year's resolution to write more, because we all know what happens to those. It's simply a commitment.
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