Bad Flight Instructors ?

[Guest High Plains Drifter]

Bob Miller in Over the Airwaves, (June 2008 vol V, No 6) continues to ramp up his negative critique of how pilots are trained in the U.S.

 

If Bob Miller is new to you - http://www.overtheairwaves.com/

 

Apart from hammering the U.S. instructor system, His suggestion is to reverse basic flight training.

 

Miller believes the actual flying nav ex stuff should be tought first and the landing prac done at the end of your flying training. I would of thought perceptualmotor type skills (what you do with your hands) should be tought first - but I'm not a flying instructor.

 

Be interesting to hear what others think...

 

An extract of Miller -

 

It may come as a surprise to many that 1 out of every 7 pilots is a certificated flight instructor (CFI).

 

Arguably, the vast majority of today's CFIs became such to satisfy their own career-building needs rather than to teach others how to become safe, proficient pilots. After all, what better way is there to build logbook hours than to have somebody else pay for them under the pretense of receiving flight instruction?

 

Welcome to aviation's proverbial "food chain," where many of tomorrow's corporate and airline pilots slog around in today's practice areas with hapless students by their side.

 

Just as soon as the requisite number of logbook hours are acquired, these self-serving instructors move up another rung the in the career ladder and their graduating students immediately begin moving up the "food chain" as new instructors.

 

In the meantime, struggling students, still early in their training, are passed off from one instructor after another and another until they, too, pass their checkride and eventually become neophyte CFIs themselves.

 

Whatever piloting shortcomings these instructors pass on to their students likewise get passed on to subsequent future students in a repeating cycle of flight instructional mediocrity that has been going on since grandpa returned from the Big War.

 

Traditional flight schools thrive on this "food chain." Fledgling flight instructors relish the opportunity to work cheap, build hours, and have their ego-needs fulfilled by holding sway over obedient students.

 

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[cazza]

Whatever piloting shortcomings these instructors pass on to their students likewise get passed on to subsequent future students in a repeating cycle of flight instructional mediocrity that has been going on since grandpa returned from the Big War.

 

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This is an interesting observation. The research on where prospective teachers learn their teaching skills suggests that their own teachers are their role models and that they actually do instruct the way they were instructed. That means good techniques can be passed on, but also can poor teaching be passed on. This has a research basis, fortunately, or unfortunately.

 

CAZZA, PHD in education

 

 

[Yenn]

I have been following Bob Millers forum for a while now and I don't think he is suggesting what you say. My understanding is that he prefers to teach a take off, followed by navigation to the training area, with a bit of instrument work thrown in. Do some work in the training area and return for a landing or two. In other words keep the mind active doing several things rather than endless circuits.

 

It would be nice to know how his students compare with others.

 

 

[Guest High Plains Drifter]

Hello Yenn, I used to think Miller was suggesting as you say, but the latest from him seems to leaning this way -

 

Bob Miller extract...

 

We can fix the problem, first, by reversing our private pilot curriculum. Bring the cross-country flights to the beginning of the course and save the air work and landing exercises until the end.

 

We all know that cross-country flights are far more enjoyable than maneuvering exercises in the practice area and repetitive take-offs and landings at the same couple of hum-drum airports. So let's put the fun stuff up front in the curriculum.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(my bolding)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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