Getting them to checkride faster

[pilot_joe]

Here's a question for the more experienced CFIs.

What would be the top three key things to get a student to checkride (and pass it) in a relatively efficient and quick manner?

I would assume it really depends on how much work is the student willing to put in, but assuming let's assume a pretty average student.

In my pseudo-professional opinion I would think chairflying, homework, and finding the student's learning style would be good candidates.

 

[Brad Z]

Fly more frequently.

 

[James331]

Frequency of flights.

Being able to explain things to them in a very simple way, not just regurgitating the same explanation over and over.

Letting them make mistakes in the air.

Doing REAL stalls and having confidence in your own abilities, I've seen plenty of students and pilots who became scared of the same crap their CFI feared.

Knowing what to talk about in the air and what to brief.

Being able to tell when their student is saturated with flight or book learning.

Giving them clear cut requirements to pass, I had a little check list with all the maneuvers line by line with the tolerances next to them. Same with hours, Night XX, XC XX, and so on.

Seeking out weakness and brutal repetition until the weakness becomes a unassailable strength.

Building confidence and showing how things tie into the real world, doing soft fields at a non paved field, if able setting up for a simulated engine failure over a backcountry area where they can actually land, putting them into VFR to IMC, real night ops, spin training if the aircraft is able, falling leaf stalls ether way, randomly having them go around, etc.

Knowing what they need to memorize and what can just be looked up.

Using flows and teaching that the checklist is just a checklist not a do list.

FLY the damn airplane first, navigate second, everything else a distant third.




Those are most of the weak areas I find in CFIs, which of course reflect in their students.

 

[hook_dupin]

Take the time for a good brief and debrief

 

[jordane93]

In my very limited experience as a CFI, my best students are the ones who do their HW and actually look up what I tell them to do, fly frequently, and ask questions during the debrief.

 

[pilot_joe]

Frequency of flights.

Being able to explain things to them in a very simple way, not just regurgitating the same explanation over and over.

I really appreciate everyone's input!

So this is something I am trying to do a lot better. Thanks to my bookworm-self, I tend to over explain everything.

How do you find new ways to dumb things down to the point their simplified but not over-simplified? If anything I've gotten most of my tricks from older CFIs, but how can you come up with that kind of quality stuff?

 

[Cpt_Kirk]

I really appreciate everyone's input!

So this is something I am trying to do a lot better. Thanks to my bookworm-self, I tend to over explain everything.

How do you find new ways to dumb things down to the point their simplified but not over-simplified? If anything I've gotten most of my tricks from older CFIs, but how can you come up with that kind of quality stuff?

 

[Dead Stick]

Here's a question for the more experienced CFIs.

What would be the top three key things to get a student to checkride (and pass it) in a relatively efficient and quick manner?

I would assume it really depends on how much work is the student willing to put in, but assuming let's assume a pretty average student.

In my pseudo-professional opinion I would think chairflying, homework, and finding the student's learning style would be good candidates.

The three top things?
1. Stick to the syllabus insofar as possible.
2. Fly as frequently as you can.
3. Make sure they do their homework.

Things like "learning the student's learning style" are the traits of a good instructor, it's a given. A good syllabus will build one step upon another in an efficient manner. Flying frequently will minimize or eliminate the need to have to go back and catch the student up to where s/he should be - the old "three steps forward and one step back" scenario. Students who only fly once every week or two usually have spent significantly more money by the time they complete their training.

 

[Zeldman]

Here's a question for the more experienced CFIs.

What would be the top three key things to get a student to checkride (and pass it) in a relatively efficient and quick manner?

I would assume it really depends on how much work is the student willing to put in, but assuming let's assume a pretty average student.

In my pseudo-professional opinion I would think chairflying, homework, and finding the student's learning style would be good candidates.

1. Student motivation

2. Instructor motivation

3. Student motivation

 

[write-stuff]

I've been doing this for quite some time and there is a definite correlation between frequency of flying and total hours to checkride. If you can get a student to fly at least two days a week, every week, that will be a huge positive factor. Second thing is homework. A lot of instructors think that's just a hurdle to get over for the written test. Not so. A student who studies his @$$ off at home will perform better in the air and have more frequent "ah-ha" moments.

 

[RobertSubnet]

FLY the damn airplane first...

During our last flight, getting ready for slow flight training my instructor asked me "what is the most important and first job of a pilot?" The answer of course is to fly the airplane. My instructor then went on to say: "good now keep flying the airplane because I have something to tell you...your door is open."

 

[write-stuff]

During our last flight, getting ready for slow flight training my instructor asked me "what is the most important and first job of a pilot?" The answer of course is to fly the airplane. My instructor then went on to say: "good now keep flying the airplane because I have something to tell you...your door is open."

At some point after students have mastered takeoffs, if we're in a Cessna, I reach behind them and pop open the window just as they rotate. An exercise to see what they do. Even with experienced pilots doing flight reviews, more often than not they try to reach over and close it. I'm on top of them like a fly on garbage and get them back to flying the airplane. Doors and windows can wait.

 

[James331]

Well, yeah.


Just really think about it, what else could you compare it too? Maybe draw a picture, compare it to a boat rudder, compare a engine cycle to a semi auto rifle, compare tracking a VOR to driving between the lines on a highway, an elevator to a kid holding his had out the window on a car, etc etc.

Knowing your students background and other passions, as well as REALLY KNOWING aviation is key.

 

[murphey]

Understand the problems the student is having, how to explain the problem and how to fix it. Far too many CFIs I've run into can only keep regurgitating what's on the syllabus. Come to think of it, far too many CFIs don't understand how to teach in general.

 

[Dead Stick]

Understand the problems the student is having, how to explain the problem and how to fix it. Far too many CFIs I've run into can only keep regurgitating what's on the syllabus. Come to think of it, far too many CFIs don't understand how to teach in general.

That's what you get when your CFI has all of 400 hours TT. They're too inexperienced to know much, if anything, beyond what is contained in the AIM, FARs and whatever else happened to be on the knowledge exams. You can't teach what you don't know. When it comes to any flight training, but especially your initial training, it's all about the CFI. Period. It doesn't matter whether you select a Part 141 or Part 61 flight school, or use a "freelance" flight instructor - the quality of your training will be largely determined by individual flight instructor's skills, abilities, experience and knowledge. The best flight school facilities, training curriculum or the newest, best equipped training aircraft can not compensate for a mediocre or burned out flight instructor. A good instructor can compensate for just about anything. No single source of flight training has cornered the market on good instructors - they are where you find them. In fact, because of the nature of the beast, it is often very difficult to find flight instructors with any significant amount of meaningful "real world" experience in many flight schools. They progress up through the ranks and the sum total of their aeronautical experience has all been obtained in the training environment. You need to find that "golden CFI", the person who is that special combination of effective teacher and has the background and experience to go with it and who is able to "communicate" with you. Instructors like that aren't under every rock, they aren't at every flight school, FBO or club, but they are out there - you have to seek them out.

 

[airheadpenguin]

Understand the problems the student is having, how to explain the problem and how to fix it. Far too many CFIs I've run into can only keep regurgitating what's on the syllabus. Come to think of it, far too many CFIs don't understand how to teach in general.

This! In my experience the best CFIs I've had were the grey haired guys who were teaching as a side gig and were otherwsie very comfortable in life. They had spent decades learning to teach and flew actively. They had all the ah-ha moments already.

The CFI mill CFIs aren't bad they just aren't as experienced and this puts a lot of them at a disadvantage.

 

[Circuit Flyer]

Frequency of flying is a common theme. For many, that comes down to cash flow.

 

[mscard88]

1. Frequency, at least a couple of times a week as a minimum.

2. Preparedness, both student and CFI, for every lesson.

3. Efficiency, such as tracking/intercepting VOR radial to practice area. IOW use every available minute to teach as long as student doesn't become overloaded. And if the student does, cut the lesson short.

Many more and many have been mentioned already.

 

[write-stuff]

IOW use every available minute to teach as long as student doesn't become overloaded. And if the student does, cut the lesson short.

Well said. Once learning stops taking place, time to go home and save the student's money.