Private Pilot Flight Training and Instruction Flight Training Article Library | Back To 4VFR.COM Quitting Training 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. Written by Gene Whitt Flight Training Article Library | Back To 4VFR.COM