Students do not quit flight training because of student failure;
rather it is because of instructor failure. Students want very
much to please their instructors. When a student senses that the
instructor is unhappy this serves as a form of discouragement.
Students need encouragement and a sense of progress. Both of these
are easier for the instructor if flights are scheduled several
times a week. Flights only once a week are less likely to show
progress. It is my opinion that false praise is worse than no
praise at all. I am not given to false praise.
A student senses when there has been a good lesson. An emotionally
draining lesson can still be satisfying to a student. I am currently
teaching a student who having made one very good solo flight has
been reluctant to go again until all the possible hazards to another
flight have been mastered. Two flights ago we did slips until
they became enjoyable. One flight ago we did crosswind landings
left and right in 12 knot 90 degree winds. I mentioned to here
that she was to call me for a flight the first indication that
she had of strong winds because I wished to explore with her the
upper crosswind limits of the aircraft and pilot.
Today, after doing three landings into a 20+knot wind we did
four 90-degree crosswind landings. Even on a short runway we required
an indicated speed of 80 knots in a C-150 just to gain sufficient
rudder authority to hold the nose parallel to the runway. One
of these landings was to a full stop.
Then we headed home where we had 70° 14-knot winds.
We did four in the left pattern into a 3000' 75' wide runway and
then four into a 5000' 150' wide one. We used everything from
partial to full flaps in these landings and after our previous
experience with 20+ knot winds the 14 knot winds made the cross-controlling
possible at 60 knots. Not all of these landings were great but
even the worst of them would have been considered satisfactory
for the conditions. This was a heavy dose for a student but I
had the feeling that this experience has given her the confidence
needed to solo again to another airport.
Often overcoming a training difficulty makes more demand on
time and attention than the student has available. Tendency of
the discouraged student is to put off such things as solo, written,
crosswind landings or the flight test until their 'busy' period
goes away. The above story shows that one solution is to proceed
with concentrated training to get through a difficult period.
Last Modified July 27, ©2024 TAGE.COM
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