Private Pilot Flight Training and Instruction Flight Training Article Library | Back To 4VFR.COM Learning To Fly There is no single way to get a pilot license. Getting it is faster and cheaper if training is done consistently with the same aircraft and instructor. Of equal importance is that you be exposed to several different procedures but taught only the one that best conforms to safety and the PTS. Find an instructor who teaches because he wants to, not because he has to. A good instructor is a contradiction in that he must be both a critic and a motivator. Correction that points out the causes leading to an error is good. Instruction that anticipates areas of difficulty is best. Being casual and friendly does not mean being either careless or having lax standards. Permitting a bad habit to develop could be the worst thing that an instructor can do to you. A demonstration that does not teach is useless. The best time to make your mistakes is when with an instructor. Providing, of course, that the instructor uses a mistake as a learning opportunity and a teaching opportunity for the two of you. What one learns in flying is how fragments of an individual's experience are woven together, either supporting the long term goal and ambition or unconsciously undermining our efforts and needlessly complicating our program. Knowing too much about flying can be just as detrimental to acquiring new skills as can knowing too little. Written by Gene Whitt Flight Training Article Library | Back To 4VFR.COM