Right from the start

The flight instructor you select must be an effective teacher, which involves much more than being a safety pilot. Statistically, flight instruction is relatively accident free—a study by the AOPA Air Safety Institute reported that the fatal accident rate during instructional flights was less than half that of non-instructional flights. Without discounting that positive fact, the purpose of flight instruction is teaching the student to be a safe pilot. The CFI who makes all the decisions and rides the controls so tightly that the student is more passenger than learner may have an admirable safety record, but the student may lack a sound foundation in the fundamentals of knowledge, skill, and risk management necessary to be safe when he or she is in command.

Instruction should be a positive experience that instills confidence within the student, as well as an appreciation for the fulfillment that aviation offers. The CFI who is nervous and visibly apprehensive produces nervous and apprehensive students. Find a flight instructor who emphasizes safety and instills realistic self-confidence. Following are a few tips to consider:

Select an instructor who practices the principles of learning, which are primacy, readiness, emphasis, intensity, repetition, and recency. Of these six elements, the most important is primacy because what you learn first is the easiest to retain. Furthermore, what you learn first is most likely to be recalled when you are faced with an emergency.

To visualize the principle of primacy, picture your mind as a pristine landscape untarnished by any development. On that landscape, the instructor constructs a track of knowledge leading to actions that are safe and effective. If that direction of knowledge is not correct, the CFI’s original track must be torn up and a new path established. The scars of the removed track remain, however, potentially impeding your recall. It is essential that the CFI knows the correct procedures and presents them correctly to you. Chose an instructor “who teaches it right—right from the start.”

Instruction should be a positive experience that instills confidence within the student, as well as an appreciation for the fulfillment that aviation offers.Regarding the next principle—readiness—select a CFI who is ready to deliver an effective lesson. Prior to each session, expect to see from your instructor a written plan that follows a syllabus encompassing the items required by the FAA’s curriculum for the certificate or recurrency being sought. Readiness supports the principle of primacy since planning maximizes the likelihood that the instruction presented will be accurate the first time it is offered. Your instructor should also provide direction for locating relevant training materials. Avoid the CFI who skips pre-lesson briefings. Learning requires access to appropriate training materials and a review of those documents prior to your lesson.

Readiness also means being physically ready for learning—adequately rested, hydrated and fed. No “airport lunch” consisting of salty cheese crackers and soda pop from the FBO’s vending machine. Select an instructor who appreciates your readiness to learn and does the needful to prepare you for effective learning.

Information presented with emphasis is more likely to be retained than a recitation of facts presented in monotone by a dull CFI. Look for the instructor who puts emotion and gusto into the subject being taught, such as using scenario-based training and relating subject matter to actual accidents, incidents, and successes. The CFI who teaches with passion for aviation and a commitment to safety is far more effective than someone who simply wants to add hours to his or her logbook at your expense. Select the CFI who exhibits an intensity for teaching as well as an intense passion for aviation.

Experts in how people retain information stress the need for repetition. Hence the role for recurrent training in aviation. Beware of the instructor who fails to review previously covered material or is content with simply checking off the boxes in a training syllabus. The proper sequence for procedures fades with time. Repetition avoids slipping into the gutter of forgotten techniques or allowing the gears of your mind to become rusty.

Recency of training also is a factor in recall, particularly if the information is new and not typically part of your normal activities. New material learned yesterday may be top-of-mind today but easily lost tomorrow. Learning that endures is influenced more by the principle of primacy than the principle of recency. In other words, primacy trumps recency.

Select a CFI who practices these principles of learning. Finding such an individual requires research that may be difficult to obtain. Candid discussions with students who have worked with your instructor candidates may be effective, and tapping into the airport rumor mill helps. Take the time to make a good choice. The effort will pay dividends. Your primary flight instructor sets the course for your career as an aviator. FT

John W. Olcott is an airline transport pilot, CFII, and remote pilot, as well as former president of the National Business Aviation Association.