THE INSTRUCTORS' INSTINCT

Flight Instructing is one of the best yet dangerous careers in aviation. It's really interesting to teach a grown up how to fly. From scratch to a competent commercial pilot. However, the Student can kill both of you in a split second!! Read on..

A day of a flight instructor starts at daybreak. sometimes as early as 4 am. We believe that for one to have a good and consistent day, you ought to start the day right. Waking up early gives the instructor time to plan the day at their own pace. You don't want to do things in a rush because you cannot afford to miss a thing. Its that serious. My study/planner desk is an interesting one. Sticky notes everywhere because I cannot trust my brain to fully remember all(It's human nature) that I need to do the following day.

Well, I believe that to be a good Flight Instructor, I must be conversant with my theory/grounds work. That's why I prefer to start my day with a morning grounds class. Teaching has a magical way of reinforcing what you already know plus it gives you new insight every once in a while. By teaching, you learn more than you are giving to your students. My teaching method involves an interactive lecture/discussion with my students with in between breaks to break boredom. By the end of the lesson, I ensure my students have learned and grasped the concepts of the day through active Q&A. A normal lesson would take approximately 2-3 hours. A time I find quite short!

The next phase involves the actual flight Instructing. The air exercise. This is the part that the Student is eager to get to. Especially the new students. They can't wait to sit in the cockpit and take pics for their Instagram and Snap chat. My job involves emphasizing on safety first when approaching and handling the Aircraft. It's quite a tough job dealing with adrenaline and anxiety. Being in the wrong place at the right time could lead to an Accident. A fatal one to be precise especially if it happens within the proximity of the propeller!

Prior to the actual flying, the student is briefed about the air exercise to perform and the science behind the maneuvers explained to them so that they would understand why the aircraft behaves the way it does during the actual flying. This inter-phase is really important because if the student misses a point during the brief, they would be confused in the actual practical training. After that, vital checks of the Aircraft are done as per the checklist (a special publication guiding the pilots on what to check at different phases of flight) and before long, both the Student and the Instructor are seated in the cockpit of an airborne Cessna 172 or Cherokee.

When flying, Clarity of instructions is very important and so is time when making a decision. Something which the new student finds a little bit difficult in grasping especially in the Initial phases of flight training. It's a patience game I tell you and that's our job. The exciting part is when I completely hand over controls to my students. I expect anything at any time. It could be a rapid movement such as a dive towards a mast on ground to accidentally shutting down the engine! The good part is, students are humans and rarely make such mistakes. However, as a flight Instructor, you can never be sure or reluctant. One must stay alert to take over controls whenever the Student messes up. It must happen once in a while, better be ready for it.

A wrong move especially in the take-off or landing phase could be fatal and that's where the Instructor is expectant of anything. We are patient enough to let the student learn and yet vigilant enough to act in split seconds to save lives. It's very risky and yet I continue to do it every day. I would say Danger thrills Aviators, however the feel of seeing a student thrive from such fear into a fully competent pilot gives the Flight Instructor a good night sleep.

Ask Flight Instructor Kenny