Whee!

Is that something a CFI is supposed to say? "Whee!" ?  Is a CFI supposed to high five their student when they land on the centerline or fly a heading perfectly or land on the mains instead of flat or handle an un-stabilized approach with style?

I don't know I "should" be doing such things, as a CFI... mine certainly didn't. But I've found myself doing that recently. Celebrating with my students as much, or sometimes, more than they do, when they do something really well. Or when they recover from a botched approach and learn something in the process?

I solo'd my second student today. It was awesome.... the best part was watching him learn and adjust his performance on his own. On his first landing he floated most of the way down the runway. The second approach as about half way down the runway before touchdown. Last approach he was off on Charlie, a wonderful touchdown. Light on the mains, nose gear high. Beautiful to behold. I was practically dancing with happiness.

How cool it is. To be able to teach others how to fly and take joy from their accomplishments!

Whee!!!!!

Quality vs Cost

"Flight training is too expensive."

I've heard that phrase so often in the years that I've been flying that it is engrained in my psyche. Flight training is too expensive, flying is too expensive. We must make things cheaper so we can get more pilots in the air. It costs too much to pay $125 or $150 every two years to see a medical examiner. Requiring a flight instructor to work with an instrument pilot on instrument currency requirements in a simulator is a "burden". AOPA and even the FAA use these terms and herald any chance to make flying and flight training less expensive as a win for the aviation industry. The Sport Pilot Certificate and the Pilot's Bill of Rights 2 are two examples. In the latest NPRM from the FAA says, "it can be expensive to hire a flight instructor".

Like a good soldier I march forward, with those words burned into my brain. Now, as a CFI, I feel responsible to provide a successful training experience to my students. I realized recently I am so deeply programmed by the "flight training is too expensive" mantra that I have unconsciously compromised on my training plans to try to make the training cheaper for my students. I've tried to combine training that shouldn't be combined, for instance. Or not told them I felt additional training was needed because it was not directly related to the instruction I was hired to provide.

Today I feel my students and I are very fortunate because in the occasions where I tried to compromise in order to make things cheaper, circumstance forced me to end up doing what I knew was right anyway. The resulting situations forced me to opt for separating the training tasks as they should have been in the first place and suggesting additional training because I could no longer deny the students really needed that training. You know what happened as a result? They were happy to accept the suggestion of additional or separate training without the slightest argument. Not once did they say, "this is too expensive". I was bending over backwards trying to make flight training less expensive when I should have been focusing on making the training I provided as valuable as possible.

Frankly I'm tired of the "flight training is too expensive" mantra. Yes, flight training is expensive and we would all benefit if it was less so. But focusing on cost alone is missing the mark entirely. AOPA's been trying to figure out ways to reduce the cost of flight training for decades. To what result? A pilot's certificate with limited privledges that you can earn in half the hours which everyone knows still takes way more than the 20 required. What would happen if AOPA and the FAA focused on ensuring the time spent flight training was better spent? What if we focused on creating quality flight instructors who provided real value with every flight. Who created safe, proficient and constantly learning pilots? What if the FAA insisted on CFI's interjecting real life scenarios into ATD instrument currency work instead of removing the CFI from the equation because it's "too expensive"?

One thing my brief experience in flight instructing has taught me is (and yes, my flight instructor told me this too) never compromise my standards. If I compromise my standards to reduce cost, I also reduce the safety and proficiency of the pilot I'm training. I reduce the value I'm providing.

I am glad that I've discovered this bias in myself and can guard against it now. I wonder how many other well meaning CFIs are doing the same thing? I wonder if pilots would fly safer and smarter if the CFIs training them were hounded to increase the quality of the training they provide rather than to find ways to cut corners every way they can to reduce the cost?

Happiness Is...

Happiness is Lazy 8s for the fun of it. Solo flying just because I want to fly, need to fly, after another one of those weeks and those days. Where co-workers complimented me on maintaining my cool in very contentious conditions.

Happiness is leaving behind the cares of the world. Or the fact that two students cancelled on me making my revenue generating day a revenue reducing day. I got to fly and that's what matters.

Happiness is doing some darned good normal, short and soft field landings in gusty, crosswind conditions after not flying that type of aircraft for what seems like forever. Doing one of the hardest commercial maneuvers within PTS spec on first try (and 2nd and 3rd and 4th - I was having fun!) the first and only time I've done Lazy 8s after my CFI check ride in December.

Happiness is the joy of flight, of playing in the air, of freedom. That's happiness.

It Never Gets Old

Earlier this week I had the opportunity to fly this little 152 solo for the first time. You may recognize this plane from my spin training. I'd not flown it for anything but spin training and never solo.

I found a small break in my work schedule and went up. The winds were stronger than the usual at our airport. They started at 140@16 and then changed to 120@20 while I was flying. In spite, or maybe because, of the winds I had a great time.

We got bounced around a lot, the little plane and I, but it was fun, like jumping on the bed as a child. I stayed in the pattern because I didn't have a lot of time. The first takeoff I reminded myself I didn't needs as much right rudder as I'm used to flying more powerful aircraft. The plane climbed very well with just me and 16 gallons of fuel. Every landing was light on the mains, and right on the centerline. I didn't even need full flaps to nail short field landings with the strong winds.

There's a certain feeling a pilot gets when they fly a new plane solo for the first time, no matter how big or small that plane is. It never gets old!

It's Official !

Well... at least it's online! At the speed of government the online Airman Certificate lookup shows my Flight Instructor Certificate. It only took 6 weeks. While that's longer than I like it's certainly quicker than I've seen other parts of government work. I'll have to keep my eyes open for the actual hard card certificate in the mail.

I'm still really enjoying instructing. I completed my first complex endorsement training today and endorsed the pilot's log book. Then I turned around and did a ground and flight lesson for my private student. He is doing extremely well.

Yep, fun fun. Tiring but rewarding. I didn't even mind missing part of the Broncos game to do it!

Flight Instructing is FUN!

Finally - I am exercising hard won skills and knowledge as an active flight instructor! And do you know what? It is fun!!

I really had no idea what to expect, actually being responsible to teach other pilots or future pilots knowledge or skills they didn't have before. Sure, my flight instructor (and the ASI) spent time pretending to be students and making common errors, etc. but I always knew they were fully capable of flying these planes and doing these maneuvers. It is different when flying with a pilot that truly doesn't know and is relying on me to teach them.

• I thought I would be nervous - I wasn't. 
• I thought I would have to force myself to act as a CFI and not just pilot - that came very naturally to me, as natural as breathing. 
• I knew I could teach successfully on the ground, I didn't know if I could teach in the air - I can. 
• I had no idea if I would really like flight instructing. Would I enjoy letting go of the controls and controlling what happened in the plane more with my voice than my hands and feet? - I did! 
• I thought I would be bored not doing the flying myself - I wasn't. I was fully engaged in every moment of each flight like I was the one with my hands on the controls, not my students. 

My first student - a pilot I'm working with on a complex endorsement - asked me if it was hard to give someone else the controls. It wasn't. Wouldn't it make me nervous? It didn't. Because I knew, no matter what he did, I could take control of the aircraft and stay safe. And I was ready to do so at all times. He's a very enthusiastic pilot and takes instruction well. I've really enjoyed flying with him.

My second student - a young man restarting his private pilot training after 6 hours of flying and a five year hiatus is a joy to fly with. He was relaxed and light on the controls and more coordinated than some 200 hour pilots I've flown with. He wants to study and be the best pilot he can be.  I have a very good feeling about him.

I can feel my skills and understanding of flying improve exponentially with every flight it seems and I'm not even doing most of the flying. I think this shows a key misunderstanding I had of what flight instruction is. I always thought it odd that CFI's could log PIC time at the same time as their students. I figured it was a way to make sure the flight instructor was held responsible as Pilot in Command if something went wrong. But now I am starting to think that's not the whole truth.

I don't know how it is for other CFIs, but for me, I know, I feel, I breathe, I think, I am, flying that plane. I am so 100% a part of and aware of every aspect of the flight, from general situational awareness to awareness of the student to awareness of what the student is doing and what the aircraft is doing as a result. Being ready to take control immediately if needed. I don't have to touch the controls at all. I'm still flying the aircraft.

Flight instruction is a "job". It's something we get paid to do. Oddly I forget that I'm getting paid to do this. I'm having too much fun! I've been around the block too many times to think it will be this fun all of the time, but so far it's started off great and it's a lot more fun than I ever imagined!