First CFI Training Flight

[ARFlyer]

So yesterday I did my first training flight for my CFI. It was my first time getting to fly the aircraft from the right seat. It is very strange and made me feel like I was a student pilot again. Overall I think it went well, but I need to work on my takeoffs and landings! On takeoff I was VERY left of centerline and on landing I was fast and flared to high. My CFI also said that he got a kick out of my right hand searching for a throttle and prop lever. Unknown to me I had let go of the throttle with my left hand, put it on the yoke and was using my right hand to search for a nonexistent throttle. That explained why I was fast on landing. I never reduced the power for landing because I had reverted back to left seat flying. My CFI said this is normal for people and that I will be back to normal after a few flights.

I can teach the maneuvers but I am having trouble figuring out how to correctly teach climb, descents and level flight. I found myself correcting my student's (my CFI) every little mistake on pitch and roll. Also I was telling him to fly the aircraft without first showing him the proper outside reference. I ended up just saying "this is how a descent looks why don't you keep holding this attitude and then level off into level flight at XYZ altitude". Does anyone have any suggestions on how to teach climbs, descents and level flight?

 

[Jeanie]

William Kershners book The Flight Instructors Manual was a godsend to me and I use it routinely for reference. I've only been a CFI for a little over a year.

I highly recommend it!

 

[TMetzinger]

First, your disorientation and lousy performance on landing from the right seat is normal. You'll pick it up and be comfortable from either seat soon.

I'm from the "pitch controls airspeed, power controls altitude" school of thought (though I recognize that everything effects everything else). I start the lesson on the ground with a description of level flight (everything in balance), and then walk the student through a power change and describe what the airplane does in response, and explain the interdependencies between pitch, power, airspeed, and altitude/vertical speed. I explain to the student that large changes in altitude (more than a couple hundred feet) are led with a power change for the climb and descent.

In the airplane, I keep to the same philosophy. First we get the airplane trimmed for straight and level, then I have the student add power for a climb or reduce it for a descent, and have him leave everything else alone and observe what happens. Then we cover how a pitch change can result in a different climb/descent rate at a different airspeed. By the end of the lesson the student should be able to climb/descend and level off and maintain a target attitude.

I think that this relationship is one of the major fundamentals to get right early, because once they get THIS, then things like why an airplane turns, and Vx and Vy and other concepts make a lot more sense. I think it's worth spending a significant portion of the first or second real lesson on this topic

 

[Dr. O]

I am surprised that any pilot with a bit of time under the belt has not spent time in the right seat... How can you call yourself a pilot if you cannot confidently control the airplane from a mere 24 inches to the right?
Can you fly the airplane back to the airport and line up with the runway without using the yoke? Can you land it? (I won't insist on a crosswind for this)
Can you fly the airplane to the runway with a broken throttle cable using the mixture control?
(Oh, I forgot - that is lean of peak and you CAN'T do that - So I guess you just die screaming...)

Rant off:
Man I'm crabby today... Guess it is my age showing...
BTW, if you want to do the broken throttle cable exercise, don't be switching the mags off and on

 

[HerrGruyere]

I think some FBOs don't allow the pilot to fly from the right seat for insurance reasons.

I'm looking forward to becoming a CFI one day, so I found this thread interesting!

 

[ARFlyer]

I think some FBOs don't allow the pilot to fly from the right seat for insurance reasons.

I'm looking forward to becoming a CFI one day, so I found this thread interesting!

Yep! Our flight school only allows the PIC to sit in the left seat unless they are a CFI for the school.

 

[Jaded]

You should start feeling comfortable on the right seat in just a few flights. As far as teaching maneuvers, try teaching rule of thumbs, sight pictures etc... When I was a CFI, I used to play a game with my students. I would cover the airspeed ind. and tell them to climb at Vy and guess what sight picture/pitch would hold it, etc... It was fun and they learned sight picture. When I gave them back their airspeed ind, they did even better.