Typically as a subscriber to Behind The Prop, you get brand new episodes every single Monday morning. But this week... it's a bonus mid-week episode! Today we're talking about 5 ways YOU need to hold your instructor accountable.
Certified flight instructors are great pilots. But they are not perfect people! Like you, they are just human beings. Make the most of your flight lessons (and your money!) by using these invaluable tips to hold your instructor accountable.
Clear prop! Number two following twin traffic on 3 mile final. JB using runway 25 on a 4-mile final.
This is Behind the Prop with United Flight Systems owner and licensed pilot, Bobby Doss. and his co-host: major airline captain Designated Pilot Examiner, Wally Mulhearn. Now let's go behind the prop!
What's up Wally? Hey Bobby, how are you? I'm good. This is a first of its kind for behind the prop. We're going to title this or call these mid-week topics. As you notice if you're downloading these episodes this middle of the week episode that we've released. We get asked a lot of questions that really don't fill up an entire thirty-minute type podcast episode. So we're going to probably start releasing these maybe not every week but occasionally during the week to answer some topics. So about two weeks ago we did an episode on ten things student pilots do wrong, and we got a little bit of feedback that said “Hey what about instructors”. What should instructors be doing better or different, and we decided well we're going to share the five things that we think all instructors should be held accountable for, and if your instructors not doing this then you need to ask them to be accountable to these five things. We're going to count them down in reverse order. So number five are logbook endorsements. There's no question that everyone's log book is a little different, but it is your log book, and you have to own it. As the student pilot you have to own it, and at the end of the day I think not every instructor is going to write in it the same way. What would you say Wally? To students that they should hold their instructors accountable for as it relates to logbooks. You know your log book is your record of your flight, and It's worth its weight in gold. A log book is worth a lot, a lot of money basically. So you want to make sure that the instructor accurately logs your flight. The other thing that you want to do is you want to make sure that ground school is logged. In all likelihood you're paying for ground school, so if you're paying for it, it should be logged, and it is required by the FAR’s to be logged. You know for a check ride we need to see a log of ground school, as well as the flights. So you know a typical instructor if he or she may have four, five, six flights a day, and they're in a hurry. You know it's already three in the afternoon, and they've got two more flights to go they've already had a long day, and they miss things you may go out and you've you did a one-hour flight, and you were under the hood for a little while, if the instructor writes in there steep turn, stalls, slow flight, and forgets to mention the simulated instrument time and So it's you know you're you're the audit so say to the instructor. Hey what about the. What about the hood time. I’ll get over. Yeah, just make sure make sure what. The instructor logs are accurate. Don't agree to let them come to it next time. Don't say don't leave your lesson. Say we'll we'll write that in their next time time. Make sure they ride it now. Catching up in a log. Book is very painful. So that's number. Five logbook endorsements number four briefings you and your sector should have a briefing before the flight and a briefing after the flight. You should both have a plan of attack And then they the both agree to for that flight. And then you should have some feedback that you're getting from the instructor after the flight this is. This could be a shortest three or four minutes. Hopefully it's a private area the fly school that you're taking lessons at but you should be able to get both what they are thinking you're going to do in the air. And then a debrief. Afterwards I jokingly tell people the most expensive classroom in the world is the cockpit of an airplane when the airplanes running. It's just not the right place to be planning for the day. Absolutely and it's it's not a great classroom. It's noisy and it's probably if it's summertime. it's probably hot in there and you know it's not unusual to say you're paying one hundred hundred and eighty dollars an hour for the airplane and the instructor and that's three dollars a minute. So that's that's pretty expensive Pretty expensive classroom in you know in a perfect world Before you even get to the school you should have an idea of what you're going to do because that should have been something that Hopefully was covered in the debrief from your last flight. bullet number. Three your CFI. I should have an action plan for that day right right so hopefully the the debrief from the last flight you got an overview of what you're going to do next time.
Hopefully you have access to a syllabus and so you know what you're supposed to do now there there could be weather situations where Got a two-thousand-foot ceiling. So maybe you can't get up and do the high work that you wanted to do today. So you're going to to still take advantage of the instructor time the airplane time. And you're going to do some pattern works other there. You know there has to be a little bit of wiggle room in there but Definitely you know you. You should know what you're going to do before you get in the airplane and there could be situations where maybe The instructor wants to Do a diversion with you. And so he or she may not mention that and and you get out there and and actually do that in the air. But you have a pretty good idea of what's going to happen before you get in that airplane. Hold them accountable. That make sure they're telling you that before the day I I’m an owner of a fly and I sit here and occasionally. I still hear people in the lobby. Say what are we going to work on the day. I will normally jump up quickly and say hey these things need to be having. You need to have a plan of attack or what. Why aren't you using the syllabus that were providing like I hope people highly accountable to make sure that they do have that plan And I get that instructors. Get busy in. The people probably blend together. And if you've taken ten weeks off it's probably hard to keep up with. Are you really do we do. We need to go back and work on something or we're going to work on what we said. We're going to work on but have a plan for the day number two. We both feel strongly about this one. You should be getting quality instruction you should be getting an instructor that is providing you value. They should not be the issue and feel like they're building time. It shouldn't feel like they're just riding along with you. No matter what stage of your flight training you're in even if you're working on your CFII Double I you should be getting quality instruction from that instructor Often I see A variance of handshake. And then something else that happens whether they go back to their office and work or student goes the plane to preflight and instructor. Get something to drink like all those things are really going to happen. But when you in your instructor are working together you should be getting quality instruction and often that means to me early. On in flight. Training students are pre flighting planes. That instructor should be overseeing every action that you have as part of that. Preflight everything that you do as it relates to preflight planning. They should be doing with you as well. They should be critiquing coaching. They are your consultant in corporate America. If you paid somebody to be your consultant. They would be doing. They would be doing a lot of coaching. And overseeing and that's what you should expect from your flight instructor Wally. What are your thoughts. Absolutely absolutely You know if if you know if you're going to go Have part bypass surgery, You're probably going to try to find the best surgeon he can You're probably not going to even ask what the price is. You want the best surgeon You want you want equality Instructor obviously and and and by and large ninety eight percent of the ones that I Get to Work with are doing a really good job But you you you should demand that no question quality instruction was number two and then the number one that we think you should be expecting and holding. Your instructor accountable for is having fun. This might be a little bit counterintuitive but you you should be having fun during your flight training Think walling. I both seen people who don't have fun. And that's more on them than maybe the instructor or the the relationship thereof. I think there's some students that don't want to be pilots and maybe mom and dad or make an them be pilots. But if you want to have fun you should be holding your starter to making the event fun and enjoyable There should be times where they give critical feedback. You shouldn't be best friends with your flight instructor. you shouldn't get too close with your flight instructor you need them to be able to critique you and give you bad news if you're not doing something the right way and respect their feedback but you guys and girls should be having fun though question learning the fly it well even even today even today. You know. Many many years down the road Getting fly an airplane Is is pretty much. The highlight of my day and especially when I was learning when I was a student pilot. My gosh you know I would. I scheduled usually three days a week. And I’d wake up in the morning and it's oh yeah, it's Tuesday I don't I. Don't get to fly today but boy tomorrow on Wednesday when when the alarm went off it was like. Oh jeez I get to fly to get to go flying airplane today. I I watched An instructor I don't know year ago. And and I’ll go ahead and throw out the disclaimer.
That instructor happens to be my my daughter at at a flight school debrief I I got to watch your debrief a student and they talked about what they had just done on the flight and everything and she finished it up by saying that the student did you have fun today and and it's just. It was a light bulb moment for now. Wow I’ve done a lot of flight. Instructing and I have never said that to a student and when she said that the student lit up and said yeah, I had fun. I had a blast. I can't wait to get back tomorrow or whenever it is learning. Should be fun that this should be fun. I mean most people don't walk into a flight school because they feel like they have to go out and get their private pilots who different they do it. Because I want to get their private pilot certificate so let us know what you think of our mid-week topics. This week was five things. Instructors should be held accountable for number five logbook endorsements four briefings both preflight briefings post flight briefings. Having an action plan for you is number. Three two is quality instruction in the number one thing your instructor should be held accountable for is make sure you have fun as well as always fly safe and stay behind the prop.
Thanks for listening. Thanks for checking out the Behind The Prop podcast. be sure to click subscribe and check us out online at BehindTheProp.com behind the prop is recorded in Houston, Texas. Show creator and host is Bobby Doss. Co-host is Wally Mulhearn. This show is for entertainment purposes Only. and not meant to replace actual flight instruction. Thanks for listening and remember: fly safe!