First CFI Lesson

Tristar

Tristar

Pattern Altitude
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Apr 7, 2005
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Tristar
It seems only a short while ago that I first stepped into this mysterious flying wonder called an airplane. I remember how mysterious all the gauges were and how excited I was to learn every aspect of the great and powerful 152. I've gone through a few ratings since then and have learned a lot about both flying and myself. Now I'm very excited to start learning how to share what I've learned and loved with others. Today was my first lesson.

It reminded me of how many ratings, especially private, started out; "Let's go see what you can do."

We flew out to the practice area and started out with some steep turns. I noticed that whatever side you're on is the side your turns will be the best so a few more left turns were in order but no big deal.

Slow flight was next which I had little problems with. Learning to keep altitude seems like the biggest issue but once you learn good power management, that too comes with ease.

Stalls were next. I was asked to do a power on stall. The procedures up to the stall went fine. As soon as the stall broke, the right wing dropped a little bit which I quickly caught with opposite rudder and recovered fine. "Good catch."

We then decided to come back and do some landings. The first two were right patterns due to some busy airspace. I'm glad it was since I was sitting right seat for the first few anyways. It gave me a chance to see the runway from a perspective closer to what I was used to. My landings went great! I was even on center line with no side skips. The funny part is on climb out, we hit the biggest bug which you could have passed as the state bird. I ended up having to look around the blob to search for traffic. Left traffic was a little trickier than right, not exactly because of the landings but more of the fact that the view messes with your head. The first one wasn't the prettiest but expectantly so. The second one, after I had seen the perspective, was a lot better. We ended the flight on that note.

I believe I did a really good job considering my amount of right seat experience. Rudder and learning the new view are definitely the lessons of the day but that too will come in time. My instructor agreed.

Even though today was a lesson on the flying from the right seat, most of CFI will be ground. Its intimidating but a great challenge. I really plan to be a good instructor so I'm sure POA will see many posts both for advice and also updates. Stay Tuned!

Fly safe,
Tristan
 
Great news and welcome to the ranks!

Right seat crosswind landings messed me up a while -- "instinct" was all opposite!

Now I move from right to left without a thought -- it just happens.
 
Good for you Triscuit!

Are you working from a commercial syllabus like Jeppesen or the school's own?

My only advice is don't skimp on your lesson plans and other elements from the Fundamental of Instruction. For me the exercise of how to take the body of knowledge and break it down into units and units into lessons, was the best and most difficult part of CFI training.

The FOI topics tend to be undervalued. They are very real concepts although I don't feel we go into anywhere near enough depth.

Good Luck!

Joe
 
Areeda said:
The FOI topics tend to be undervalued. They are very real concepts although I don't feel we go into anywhere near enough depth.
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i agree, but it took me a good 3 yrs of instructing to really figure out how valuable that FOI training was.
 
dmccormack said:
Great news and welcome to the ranks!

Right seat crosswind landings messed me up a while -- "instinct" was all opposite!

Now I move from right to left without a thought -- it just happens.
Click to expand...

All the "physical" aspects of flying the plane are just repetition training your body. Like shooting foul shots, or archery, or dancing. You do it again and again and AGAIN until you reach the limit of your talent. And then the body remembers - for a very long time. You can certainly get rusty, but you'll soon be just like Dan, and you won't think about right or left. Which is good, because you'll need all your mental energy to pay attention to your student, both to help him learn, and to keep him from killing you both while he trains HIS body.
 
I'm hoping my time flying the Cub will help me transition from Left seat to Right seat, if/when I start working on my CFI. After all, the throttle in the Cub is on the left side!
________
VTX1300CX
 
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Congratulations Tristan. I'm sure your students will learn much from you, and you from them.:cheerswine:
 
Wow. That's awesome. You've come a long way. Good for you!
 
Areeda said:
Good for you Triscuit!

Are you working from a commercial syllabus like Jeppesen or the school's own?

My only advice is don't skimp on your lesson plans and other elements from the Fundamental of Instruction. For me the exercise of how to take the body of knowledge and break it down into units and units into lessons, was the best and most difficult part of CFI training.

The FOI topics tend to be undervalued. They are very real concepts although I don't feel we go into anywhere near enough depth.

Good Luck!

Joe
Click to expand...
We use the Jeppesen syllabus but it really boils down to how fast you learn the subject.

I have mixed feelings for the FOI. It's important to structure training around the students and it's important to understand what they're thinking so that training can be effective. Although, some of the information I haven't found a point in knowing in the training environment but if they put it in there, someone must have thought it was important.
 
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Sounds like a good day :)

Tristar said:
Stalls were next. I was asked to do a power on stall. The procedures up to the stall went fine. As soon as the stall broke, the right wing dropped a little bit which I quickly caught with opposite rudder and recovered fine. "Good catch."
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So...can you explain this one to me? Hint #1...the right wing normally drops with the ball centered. Hint #2...you probably had the ball perfectly centered. :)

I agree with Joe and Tony on the importance of the FOI...I'd suggest that comparing what you read there with the way people ask and answer questions here might be a good way to make it a little more "practical" for you.

Fly safe!

David
 
Good writeup, Tristan. I remember talking to you at Gaston's about your CFI pursuit, and am glad you are following through. You'll do well.

Seeing students from all walks of life, I agree with Tony and others that some things you learn today may not seem applicable until years later. Keep us posted.

CFI-SE/CFI-ME/CFI-IA since 2003 - and still learning.
 
Woohoo! Keep flying! Let me know what I'm in for as I pursue my CFI goal. Couple of writtens to go and some more hours and lessons...
 
Tristan, stop flying and start talking your way through maneuvers. If you are on the edge of blowing a maneuver, explain why, make it a teaching point, start over.

CFI describes-demonstrates-teaches-critiques.
 
bbchien said:
Tristan, stop flying and start talking your way through maneuvers. If you are on the edge of blowing a maneuver, explain why, make it a teaching point, start over.

CFI describes-demonstrates-teaches-critiques.
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Right.

And learn how to say, "OK, so where I messed up was..."

Because you will -- we all do.
 
bbchien said:
Tristan, stop flying and start talking your way through maneuvers. If you are on the edge of blowing a maneuver, explain why, make it a teaching point, start over.

CFI describes-demonstrates-teaches-critiques.
Click to expand...

Shouldn't that be describes-demonstrates-observes-critiques?

I thought the "teaching" was all four things.
 
TMetzinger said:
Shouldn't that be describes-demonstrates-observes-critiques?

I thought the "teaching" was all four things.
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Right .."Teaching" is the superset, though I suppose you could argue teaching occurs during the interactive observe/correct/remind/warn/cajole/shriek-in-horror-cover-eyes/beat with stick/poke in side/slap hand portion.
 
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MauleSkinner said:
Sounds like a good day :)


So...can you explain this one to me? Hint #1...the right wing normally drops with the ball centered. Hint #2...you probably had the ball perfectly centered. :)

David
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This is how I see it.

Let's say you're going into a power on stall. Your ball is no longer centered and swings to the right. You notice this and thus put right rudder in so the ball is now centered. Because you did this, the aircraft swings slightly to the right and what happens if your left wing is now moving faster than your right? The left wing now creates more lift and causes the airplane to want to bank right. So, when your aircraft stalls, your right wing stalls more than the left...thus... a dropped right wing.

p.s. Had second lesson today, landings went great! I'm beginning to talk myself through maneuvers which is a good sign.
 
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Tristar said:
This is how I see it.

Let's say you're going into a power on stall. Your ball is no longer centered and swings to the right. You notice this and thus put right rudder in so the ball is now centered. Because you did this, the aircraft swings slightly to the right and what happens if your left wing is now moving faster than your right? The left wing now creates more lift and causes the airplane to want to bank right. So, when your aircraft stalls, your right wing stalls more than the left...thus... a dropped right wing.
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Well, I assumed you kept the ball perfectly centered all the way through ;)

hint #3...You're multiengine rated, right? What's the difference between "ball centered" and "zero sideslip" in an asymetric thrust situation?

Hint #4...how are you technically an "asymetric thrust" situation in a power-on stall in a 172?
 
TMetzinger said:
Shouldn't that be describes-demonstrates-observes-critiques?

I thought the "teaching" was all four things.
Click to expand...

It is, and much more.
In describing the CFI teaching process to prospective flight instructors I always advise that the description of the process as a linear example be discouraged.
As an example, the term "observes" placed in any order of importance can be misleading or misinterpreted. The observation of the student is an ongoing process that is in play every moment the CFI is engaged with the student.

The entire process of teaching as that process relates to flying has to be considered as a teaching process taking place not in a static environment but rather in a dynamic environment as the classroom is in constant motion at the time the instruction is taking place.
Because of this, the very essence of good flight instruction requires an extremely high degree of fluidity and flexibility. The instructor must be able to change direction instantly, taking advantage of opportunity.

The secret of good flight instruction is the CFI's ability to take a structured lesson plan and use that simply as a BASE from which to launch a totally fluid and flexible approach to accomplishing that lesson plan delivered by the CFI interfacing with a student on constantly changing levels as the instructor "reads" on the fly the best approach in reaching any SPECIFIC student on THAT SPECIFIC STUDENT'S level to understand and comprehend.

In simple terms, a good CFI shows up with a lesson plan, reads each individual student as being unique to that lesson plan, then alters the approach to the lesson at hand as the dynamic situation dictates.
 
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