Am I Ready to be called INSTRUCTOR?
 

I am not at all the best . However I have helped a few people learn to fly, and now my flying field frends have asked me if I want to be called an instructer .
This scares me. Because it was not long ago that I started to fly.
I am able to fly a SuperSportster , UCD, AJ Slick. But not like in the videos you see.
I love this Hobby and I love to help/give myself to those that need help.
What should I Do?

RE: Am I Ready to be called INSTRUCTOR?
 

Depends on what they mean. Our club required officers so one day I was told I was the new club trainer. What ever that meant. Later on I was the club safety officer.
It was several years later that I really started teaching new students.
One great thing about teaching new pilots is it tends to make you a lot better pilot. It's going over the basics every time you have a new student and that helps a lot more then you would think.;)

RE: Am I Ready to be called INSTRUCTOR?
 

In the world of the blind, the one-eyed man is king

If you have a small club, and you are one of the few who knows more than the rest, then by default, you are the master

RE: Am I Ready to be called INSTRUCTOR?
 

I think being a good instructor has a lot more to do with having the proper personality rather than greatest amount of experience. We have pilots in our club that can fly the wings off of an airplane, but I wouldnt trust them to teach a newby. On the other hand we have pilots that can't do a great deal of aerobatics, but make great instructors. In my opinion an instructor needs to do just that instruct. They need to TEACH the newby about all aspects of flying including setting up and checking out equipment, field safety, proper etiquette, as well as flying techniques. A good instructor needs to be able to analyze the student so that they can relate to him and teach them in a way that they are learning, but not getting bored or in over their heads.

Are you the type of person that will corral the new pilots enthusiasm and point them in the right direction to help them really learn all aspects of the hobby, or will you just hand them a buddy box take off and then let them figure most of it out on their own.


I did not have the opportunity to be properly trained, and I wish I had been. It would likely have saved me a lot of grief and a good deal of money. After a couple of flights taking off and landing without crashing on a buddy box I was set loose on my own. I was never told anything about safety, ettiquette, inspections, or proper techniques. I just figured it out along the way sometimes by pissing off other pilots and being told about it, sometimes by being lucky when something failed or was done improperly and a lot by watching other pilots as well as asking questions on these forums.

Point is flying ability is a small portion of being a good instructor.

RE: Am I Ready to be called INSTRUCTOR?
 

You don't have to be the best pilot in your club to be a good instructor. You have to be able to fly a trainer-type plane safely, to get it out of trouble if it suddenly heads toward the ground or the flight line, and to understand the basics of what you're doing, like using throttle to control altitude on descent, crabbing into the wind for crosswind landings, and knowing why a plane in flight never "feels" a steady wind, though its ground track will be affected by one (which will confuse some pilots). And you need to be patient and willing to put in the time.

For me, the hardest thing at first was learning to keep my head in the game when the student was flying: being constantly aware of which way the plane is turning, for instance. It's not like just watching another person fly; you've got to be ready to take over right away.

RE: Am I Ready to be called INSTRUCTOR?
 

:):):) We had maybe 6 active members until it got close to our big air show we held every year, then there were a lot more people for the meetings. I never did teach anyone how to fly at that club.
Beagle, you have a super duper valid point. My basic instructor was always calm, easy talking and easy to learn from. My advanced instructor?? Not so much. The man could piss off the pope but if you could put up with him you learned a bunch. I teach like my basice instructor and nothing ever riles me. Always calm. I have complete control of the plane if I want and I always tell my students they can't crash the plane so don't sweat it. I let them come close but as long as I have control of the buddy box no student has crashed a trainer yet.
If the person has enough time to learn I'm good to go. If they ask me to teach them then don't have the time I can't be bothered.

RE: Am I Ready to be called INSTRUCTOR?
 

It wasn't long after I soloed that I became an instructor....at that club to be an instructor you had to demostrate that you could fly the whole pattern inverted...3 consevitive rolls and 3 loops....and recover from a stall.....at the next years election of officers I was appointed chief instructor....there were and are better pilots than I am...but I take the time to teach...and enjoy it......If you can teach...have fun

RE: Am I Ready to be called INSTRUCTOR?
 

" Those that can do, do. Those that can't do teach " . I don't know where that statement came from but it always stuck in my head. ENJOY !!! RED

RE: Am I Ready to be called INSTRUCTOR?
 

I teach and enjoy teaching because no-one would teach me 20 years ago when I wanted to learn. I was in two clubs and couldnt find a willing instructor. Later after I was barely able to keep it aloft a few guys gave me one lesson each because they thought I was dangerous. They were right. It was a long and expensive process. I dont want others to go through that same experience. Just recently we got two new members from another club because the instructor was hard to get along with. I dont want any student to feel not welcomed or belittled.
Edwin

RE: Am I Ready to be called INSTRUCTOR?
 

Can you fly?
Can you teach?
If both answers are yes , then go for it.

As a side note, check out the info on page 28 of this AMA document

http://www.modelaircraft.org/files/915.pdf

RE: Am I Ready to be called INSTRUCTOR?
 

We tried the intro pilot program one year. Way too much trouble and documentation, and you have to renew every year. We do a few demo flights to get them hooked. I have a trainer or we use one of the clubs trainers. They usually dive in head first after that.
Edwin

RE: Am I Ready to be called INSTRUCTOR?
 

This thread is very timely....I went out today for the first time ever on a buddy box, and I was the teacher! I had my dad and brother who are here visiting out for fun. Up high it was very easy and low stress to do this with 2 complete novice's. I messed it up when I had my son, (who has been flying for about a year) landing the plane. I thought he had it, he thought I was going to land it. So we both watched the crash from a spectator view. The lesson? As long as you and the student are communicating, instructing is easy. I guess after I repair the plane we will try it again.

RE: Am I Ready to be called INSTRUCTOR?
 

I find it useful to always anounce if you take it back, and tell them when they have it back. Sometimes its better to wait several seconds for the adrenalin rush to taper off before giving them control back. I also stick to 10 minute flights. When you go longer, the student tends to start making mistakes and need time to wind down before going again.
Edwin

RE: Am I Ready to be called INSTRUCTOR?
 

The hardest thing for most instructors to learn is to tailor their training to the student. Not everybody learns the same, and not every explanation will sink in. You have to find the methods and explanations that work best with each student. I once watched an instructor (full sized A/C, but the same idea) spend 15 minutes going over the same explanation over and over, and each time the student didn't get it. I later pulled him aside and tried a couple other ways before he finally got it. Just remember Einstein's definition of insanity: "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." It is rewarding and will win you some new friends, if you have the patience, a good foundation of aeronautical knowledge, the ability to adapt your style, and some good planning.

RE: Am I Ready to be called INSTRUCTOR?
 

Can you recover a plane from almost any ridiculous attitude the student just might find themselves? If "iffy" then make sure that the student flies at a very high altitude so both of you have time to recover.

RE: Am I Ready to be called INSTRUCTOR?
 

One of the things I do as an instructor that the student never sees....when we are learning take offs...I always have my throttle at full power after I give him the airplane...finger on the trainer switch and right thumb on the elevator stick.....learning approaches...basically the same......better to have the power and not need it than to need the power and not have it
I always insist that my student replies when I give him the plane...so the conversation goes like this....I'll give you the airplane when (such and such)...when we get to whatever such and such is...I say are you ready? He must reply...Then I say Your airplane...I want him to acknowledge by saying my airplane or I got it.... something....and don't use the term right when you mean correct...and try and avoid the word yea...you want to be alittle more formal yea is so common that he might be thinking to himself or something and you two get confused.....

RE: Am I Ready to be called INSTRUCTOR?
 

I like your approach jetmech. Use terms that are otherwise "unexpected" and don't have multiple meanings - like "right" (yours or mine :)).

During demonstrations of maneuvers that they will shortly perform I like to tell 'em what I'm about to do, tell them what I'm doing as I demonstrate it; then tell them what they are about to do. Tell em, show em, understand?, then take the ole' finger off the trainer toggle.

Some times trainers don't seem to be making sense to the student. If you find that that's the case, land and have a conversation about how to make it work.

RE: Am I Ready to be called INSTRUCTOR?
 

Teach throttle management, establishment of landing glide slope, rudder usage, and standard 3-leg landing approaches.

Don't let them just drive around the sky aimlessly while keeping them out of trouble, and don't let them fall into the habit of only making right or left turns.

My club's field is a ghost town on crosswind days and when the wind is from the non-prevailing direction because a huge number of members only learned enough skills to fly under ideal conditions, got solo'd, then never developed a systematic plan for subsequent skills development. Getting them solo'd isn't the end its the beginning.

Situational awareness is also critical. Far too many people in my club loose airplanes that have flown off into the everglades because they got caught downwind too far out, had no penetration, lost orientation and couldn't make it back. With the light foam things like that T-28 Trojan people are using as trainers this tendency is amplified.

RE: Am I Ready to be called INSTRUCTOR?
 

Something else I do is have the student tell me after the flight what he thought he did correct...and what he thought he needed to work on...then I tell the student what I think he needs to work on and lastly what I think he has improved on then then what he did correctly.....
It's the warm fuzzy, cold *****ly, warm fuzzy thing....If you haven't heard of that its what would like to hold in your hands...something warm and fuzzy(nice), then a cold *****ly thing (not as nice) followed by a warm fuzzy (nice again)....
Bottom line you have to remember that learning to fly has to be fun...this is a hobby not a business

RE: Am I Ready to be called INSTRUCTOR?
 

Knowing when to take control away from the student is helpful. The instructors comfort level is key here.
It is fine to take control from a student who is 100% in control if the instructer is not 100% comfortable.
An example would be , "I took it because it was getting out of MY visual range". I agree, always let the student know who HAS IT and Why you took it.
When the student knows the instructor has limits and that the instructor is going to keep the plane within his own limits that lets the student relax a bit.

RE: Am I Ready to be called INSTRUCTOR?
 

why was my post censored?????? since when is *****ly a bad word it is the same as something that sticks ya like a porcupine

RE: Am I Ready to be called INSTRUCTOR?
 

You also need to be comfortable saying "Well, I tried to save it", and then after that happens, stay civil with the student who tells everyone behind your back it was your fault their plane crashed. We lost a couple of very good instructors at my field because that happened.

RE: Am I Ready to be called INSTRUCTOR?
 

jetmech05- I believe your post was censored because the word you used is slang for the male anatomy. The swear filter really could use some more development.

For the topic at hand, I was offered the chance to instruct not too long after I solo'ed. I could handle making laps with some altitude with a student pilot, so that's what I did. I left landing and takeoff instruction to the more experienced guys and put my time into ground school, engine tuning, plane setup, and those initial flights where the biggest priority is to just let the student get comfortable on the sticks and have some fun.

RE: Am I Ready to be called INSTRUCTOR?
 

I let every student know up front that I cant save it every time. The lower the altitude the less time I have. I dont let them get too far away. They know that landing and takeoffs is where there will be the most damage done. We've had a few students finally quit. But it was because we had been training them for about a year. Both older guys that just didnt have the eye hand coordination. I told them I'd stay with them as long as they wanted. We had a wise crack by one of the young pilots and I imediately told him, "Watch it, I garuntee you'll be there someday'.
Edwin

RE: Am I Ready to be called INSTRUCTOR?
 

Jester,
You cant imagine how big a help that is on a busy day. Sometimes we'll have 6 or 8 students with two instructors and you just cant spend time fiddling with one plane. Its good to have someone else there to take care of pre-flights, showing how to fix things, just answering questions and such.
Edwin