How to get my students to stop taxiing with the yoke?#?!?

I remember, and I still do it every now and then, putting a hand on the glare shield as a reminder.
 
I had this problem, my instructor told me it's common with older students. Old dogs, new tricks theory.
 
I had the same issue. Been driving cars since 1980's, old dog new tricks. I got to the point where I'm out of the steering wheel habit, and now my CFI has to remind me to keep my hands on the yoke on a windless day.

Students ... (of which I an one) ... break 'em down so you can build them up the way they need to be, lol!
 
I was a student Champ pilot in the 50's. When I checked out in a C-140 my instructor would whack my hands when ever I use the yoke. The lesson stayed with me so it must be an effective teaching method.:D
 
In a tail dragger? Even when it was windy out? I always have students keep a hand on the yoke especially a tail dragger such as the C140. Or did you mean because you were "steering" with the yoke?
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
worry about wind correction after they have stopped taxiing w/ the yoke.
They sit on their hands and you manage wind correction for a couple lessons.

once they have got that let them know the "Climb into a head wind, dive out and away from a tail wind"

That is how I was taught.
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I'm pretty sure this is what my instructor did at first. I never steered with the yoke. If someone does that for 10 hours, they need to sit on their hands for a while as they are likely to have trouble holding xwind corrections with the yoke while taking off using rudder - a more serious problem.
 
petrolero said:
I never steered with the yoke.
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As an instructor, I find it very common to see a pilot subtly "steer" the airplane with the yoke whenever it veers off the centerline. Often accompanied by leaning away from the swerve. Especially if the swerve is sudden. I've seen planes nearly leave the runway with the pilot never quite getting enough rudder in there.
 
MAKG1 said:
Hey, Pipers come with hand brakes!
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Funny and true. I feel like I'm putting on the brakes when I put in the flaps in a Cherokee. It's different than the feeling you get slowly deploying electric flaps. I guess I could pull the lever slower.
 
vkhosid said:
I can't speak for every student out there, but I can tell you for a fact that yelling cemented the importance of thinking about what my actions will do to the plane. Don't get me wrong, I'm talk talking about yelling at the student like a parent yells at a child when they did something wrong. I'm talking about yelling at the student like I would yell at a friend for tossing an already shaken can of beer to me (hopefully this illustrates the difference).

I know it didn't discourage me. In fact, it encouraged me to make a mental note and think/realize that i'm NOT in a car, and that control inputs are noticeably different.
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I'm not a cfi, but I am a high school teacher, and I've coached skiing and soccer in the past, so here is my two cents on that philosophy:

You have to know your student. You have to know how they react to certain things. If I was your student and you did that more than once to me, I would fire you. Yelling, raising your voice, whatever you want to call it doesn't cement jack for me. It raises my stress level and makes me dislike you.

During primary training my cfi let me make mistakes and generally waited for me to fix the problem myself. And he never mentioned that I had nearly killed us, except for once after recovering from a power on stall. I'm sure he got a kick out of watching me try to steer the plane around the tarmac with the yoke as well. Yeah, I eventually figured out that I needed to put my left hand somewhere else.

We all learn differently. Most people don't respond favorably to a raised voice, but maybe if you are working with young jocks who are used to having coaches in their face then that is something that might work in your favor. I'm not criticizing your teaching philosophy, but just suggesting that you know your student well enough to utilize certain instruction practices. :yes:
 
Either have them sit on their hands or take their feet off the rudder pedals and steer with the yoke. They'll figure it out soon.
 
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