June2000
desirablegoal,especiallyasthecostof
perhourflyingcontinuestorise.Effi-
ciency in flight training is also important
toinstillinth estudenttheirdesireto
developand continue their train ingeffi-
cientlyandascosteffectivelyaspos-
sible. Ifa studentfeels orperceivesthat
the flight instructo ris unnecessarily drag-
gingonthelessons,oneoftwothings
mayhap pen.Eitherthestudentwillget
discouragedandquitthelessons,an d
possiblyballooning,orthestudentwill
notspendthepropertimetocontinue
learning since it is perceived that it is too
costly. Of course, the student might also
lookfor anotherinstructorwhoismore
organ ized and efficien t and professional.
One of the best ways to enhance your
efficiency as a flig ht instructor istocon-
duct planned, intensive training sessions.
How can you dothis? The best way is b y
planning—planningwhich needstotake
place well in advance of the actual flight.
Forexample,telly oustudentwhatto
expectonthenextdualflight, or if they
are fly ing solo, what they need to practice
on duringthose flights. Assign themap-
propriatehomework.Don’tforget,not
onlydoes the student needtoprepare in
advance—sodoestheinstructo r.Noth-
ingshak esthe confidence of the student
intheirinstructorquickerthantoh ave
himorher showupsaying,“Well, let’s
see,whatarewegoingtocovertoday,
andwhatdoyou want tolearntoday?”
Asaflightinstructor,youarere-
sponsibleforassuringthatyour student
meets those competen cies as described in
thePractical Test S tanda rds appro priate
tothe rating they are preparing for. Each
flightlessonshouldhaveatleastthree
parts: (1) Preflight briefing;(2) In-flight
instruction; (3) post-flight review. With-
out these three components the lessonis
incomplete. This d oesn’t meanthat each
lessonmusthavea15minutepreflight
briefin g anddebriefing. Rather, the time
spent o n those phases should be adequate
assurestudentcompreh ensionofthe
maneuversandmaterialtobeco vered.
Some sessions will be lo nger than others.
Utilizing theBFA Instructor’s Manual or
one similarlydevelopedeitherbyyour-
self orone oftheballoonflightschools
willenhance the trackingan d efficiency
of the lessons. Explain each new maneu-
verfollowingawhat, why and howse-
quence. Tell them what is to be done, wh y
itshou ldbe d one andhowitshouldbe
done. Remember, whendebriefin g, take
thetimetoadequatelycoverboththe
skillsneedingimprov ementandthose
skillsdon e well.Alwaystrytoendthe
debriefing by co mplimenting the student
on some good p erformance. You canal-
waysfind something that th e student did
wellevenif it seems simple to you.
Oncetheflightbegins,useth eair
timeasefficientlyaspossible.Thein-
structor sho uld have prev iously assessed
thecond itionsof thedayandplann eda
sequence of instruction which will make
thebestpossibleuse of everyminute of
air time. Combine flightdemonstrations
andpracticemaneuversinaslog icala
sequenceaspo ssible. Forexamp le,ifa
“box”exists,havethestudentplana
sequen ce of rate climbs and descen ts with
groundtracking , accuracylandingsan d
navigationto a predetermined point.
A proven training technique used b y
thearmedforcesis“dou blingup”with
another student whenever possible. This
techniqueisparticularlyvaluablewhen
thestudentsareinthesamephaseof
training.Eachstudentspendshalfthe
flightdoingmaneuvers,theotherhalf
observingtheotherstud ent’sperfor-
mance. This enhances andreinforces the
learningexperiencewithlittleor noin-
crease in operatingcost. In fact, the dual
flighttimerequiredtoreachcompetent
levels of performance is reduced. This is
also aparticularlyvaluable techniq ue to
use during the commercial flight trainin g
program.Duringsomeofthose“two”
studentdualflig hts,have acommercial
instructaprivatestudentunder
your on-boardsupervision. That willbe
much more productive trainingtime an d
a much more real situ ation for you r com-
mercial student thanto have themsimu-
late an instructional mode with you as the
“student.”
The teaching of proper technique and
procedures is not all that you need to do as
aninstructor. Studentsare frequentlyin
aweoftheirinstructorandarealways
watching them as they fly. Since students
tend to imitate their instructors, don’t fall
intothe “Do as I say, not as I do” trap. It
is extremely important that youestablish
expectations of excellence with your stu-
dents.Insistthatyourstudentscontinu-
ally strive for perfection in all their flying,
e.g. when they become capableof holding
climbstoaltitudeat+/-100feet,urge
them to strive for +/- 50 feet. Students will
never learnthe art of flightplanning un-
less you have them strive for perfection in
navigationandaccuracyof landingsites
andlandingtechnique.Rememberthat
most balloon accidents and injuries occur
during the landing phase of the flight. As
instructorsweneedtodoourpartin
seeing toitthat our studentshave a good
basis for their continued learning as their
flying careercontinues. During those dual
flights,require yourstudentstodemon-
stratecomprehensionofthemaneuvers
byhavingthemdescribewhattheyare
doing.Alsoaskthemquestionsabout
maps, sectional charts, the aircraft perfor-
mance tables and the manufacturers rec-
ommended emergencyprocedures.
Whetherornotyouarereceivin g
moneyforyourflightinstruction,itis
importantthatyourememberyouarea
“professional flightinstructor” anytime
yougiveflightinstruction.Remember
the professionalism and attitudes you dis-
playonaday-to-day,lesson-to-lesson
basishaveagreatdealofinfluenceon
your stu dents and their future in aviation.
Use this powerful influence to make fly-
ingsafe.
