The BEST thing your CFI taught you?

If you're never scared, you're not stretching enough - take some well considered chances;

"Push, Power, Rudder, Roll". In that order, he meant.

If something bad is happening, ignore the radio.

You have to work at it, but you CAN get killed in this airplane.

He asked me what was the worst thing that could happen in this airplane, and I told him an inadvertent spin; later in that lesson he stomped rudder during a stall, timed it perfectly. I watched SoCal rotate through a couple turns, then recovered. We did a few more till I was comfortable. So yeah, what he was REALLY asking was what I was most concerned about, then he made sure I knew how to deal with it.
 
I've flown with a ton of different CFIs and most have taught me useful things.

1. My first CFI taught me to fly and more importantly to enjoy flying. I know some people like the structure of part 141 schools, but that never fit my personality. My CFI would on a lark say, "lets go to the little grass strip" and practice soft field landings. Maybe it wasn't on a lark and he could see I was getting fed up with the lesson and needed a break. Whatever the reason, he got me to love flying. Sure it took longer to get my license that if we had followed a more rigid plan, but if we had followed a more rigid plan, there's a good chance I'd have gotten fed-up/bored and never finished.
2. My first CFI had a "rule" that when we'd do cross country flights we'd only go to places with restaurants and we'd eat lunch there. I'd pay for the meal and he'd leave the tip, which was usually 100%. He had previously been a waiter and knew how difficult that could be. It certainly made an impression on this (at the time) 16 year old. Not flying related, but definitely a good life lesson.
3. Doing my primary training in NJ, we got plenty of bad weather. When I was further along my CFI took me up a few times in actual instrument conditions. I think I actually did more hours in actual than simulated IMC for my PPL. Definitely a good lesson. I didn't realize that some people never saw IMC until after that had their IFR lesson. Must be an eye-opening experience for those people.
4. My autogyro CFI drilled into me looking for flags and smokestacks to judge wind direction on the ground when doing engine out simulations.
5. My seaplane CFI taught me to judge wind direction by looking at the surface of the water on lakes.
6. My glider CFI taught me to find thermals by looking for birds circling and/or cumulus clouds.
7. My tailwheel CFI taught me to fly without looking at any instruments. The back-seat of a Cub is pretty conducive to this, but he went one step further by covering all the instruments. I still find it easiest to judge pitch attitude by looking at the chord-line relative to the horizon.
8. My tailwheel CFI also taught me that flying without a radio/electrical system could be done safely. It really helped when the radios quit while I was getting a checkout at another airport. The CFI freaked out about flying with no radio. I was able to calmly get us back to terra-firma without incident.
9. A random CFI doing a BFR at around 150 hours finally got me to be disoriented under the hood. He had me look down at the floor of the cockpit and enter a right turn. No problem. Then had me level back out. Then had me enter a left turn. Then level out again. He finally told me to look up at the instruments. Sure enough, we were in a descending right turn, gaining airspeed pretty rapidly. It definitely taught me something.
10. My helicopter CFI taught me to look in the distance to get a more stable hover. He also taught me just how much a person can do without thinking after enough practice. I maintain that I've never done anything as mentally challenging as hovering a helicopter and after a couple hours it just becomes ingrained in you. Talk about a cool feeling.

I'm sure there have been others, but those are the big ones that stand out.
 
skier said:
I've flown with a ton of different CFIs and most have taught me useful things.

1. My first CFI taught me to fly and more importantly to enjoy flying. I know some people like the structure of part 141 schools, but that never fit my personality. My CFI would on a lark say, "lets go to the little grass strip" and practice soft field landings. Maybe it wasn't on a lark and he could see I was getting fed up with the lesson and needed a break. Whatever the reason, he got me to love flying. Sure it took longer to get my license that if we had followed a more rigid plan, but if we had followed a more rigid plan, there's a good chance I'd have gotten fed-up/bored and never finished.
2. My first CFI had a "rule" that when we'd do cross country flights we'd only go to places with restaurants and we'd eat lunch there. I'd pay for the meal and he'd leave the tip, which was usually 100%. He had previously been a waiter and knew how difficult that could be. It certainly made an impression on this (at the time) 16 year old. Not flying related, but definitely a good life lesson.
3. Doing my primary training in NJ, we got plenty of bad weather. When I was further along my CFI took me up a few times in actual instrument conditions. I think I actually did more hours in actual than simulated IMC for my PPL. Definitely a good lesson. I didn't realize that some people never saw IMC until after that had their IFR lesson. Must be an eye-opening experience for those people.
4. My autogyro CFI drilled into me looking for flags and smokestacks to judge wind direction on the ground when doing engine out simulations.
5. My seaplane CFI taught me to judge wind direction by looking at the surface of the water on lakes.
6. My glider CFI taught me to find thermals by looking for birds circling and/or cumulus clouds.
7. My tailwheel CFI taught me to fly without looking at any instruments. The back-seat of a Cub is pretty conducive to this, but he went one step further by covering all the instruments. I still find it easiest to judge pitch attitude by looking at the chord-line relative to the horizon.
8. My tailwheel CFI also taught me that flying without a radio/electrical system could be done safely. It really helped when the radios quit while I was getting a checkout at another airport. The CFI freaked out about flying with no radio. I was able to calmly get us back to terra-firma without incident.
9. A random CFI doing a BFR at around 150 hours finally got me to be disoriented under the hood. He had me look down at the floor of the cockpit and enter a right turn. No problem. Then had me level back out. Then had me enter a left turn. Then level out again. He finally told me to look up at the instruments. Sure enough, we were in a descending right turn, gaining airspeed pretty rapidly. It definitely taught me something.
10. My helicopter CFI taught me to look in the distance to get a more stable hover. He also taught me just how much a person can do without thinking after enough practice. I maintain that I've never done anything as mentally challenging as hovering a helicopter and after a couple hours it just becomes ingrained in you. Talk about a cool feeling.

I'm sure there have been others, but those are the big ones that stand out.
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Denver pilot. Is this you logged on as someone else? Just going on length here
 
Maintain aircraft control, analyze the situation, take appropriate action
 
AggieMike88 said:
Never forget your Joo Janta 200 Super-Chromatic Peril Sensitive Sunglasses
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Or keep a spare in the glove box.
Especially for unsuspecting passengers who think that an OVC day will stay dark and grey. Once you climb on top, they realize flying is cooler than they anticipated. :)
 
I keep wondering what it would be like to be 6PC's first student....

Drinking the stumped fuel
Thinking that proper CRM means a sarcastic doppelgänger in the right seat
Final approaches are greater than 20 miles....
 
I flew as PIC in VA, MD, KS, MO, OH, WI, NJ before I flew a check ride for my PP-SEL.

The best thing I learned I taught myself. Smile at everyone when you walk into an FBO for the very first time.
 
Engine outs,,,,then more engine outs. I could expect at least one every flight at any given time. Mostly straight ahead with limited turning. Pick a spot, stick with it. Stays with me today. This was 1969 so i guess engines quit more often then. :eek: :D
 
BalooAirService said:
What's the best thing a CFI/check airmen/military instructor ever taught you?.. question for all.
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My first flight instructor, when I was 16 years old. Prepping for my first solo x/c. Insert grizzled voice of an old, age 70, seen-it-all CFI.

"Flying is simple. You have enough fuel, you live. You don't have enough fuel, you die."
 
My CFI told me in a fairly loud voice "keep flying the plane". I had a very difficult lesson one time and just handed the plane to him without saying much. I just couldn't get it to the runway. I think everytime I land that part of my GUMPS is keep flying the plane.
 
Never taxi faster than a cow can run.
 
Early in training, I would attempt to correct wing-drop in a power-on stall with aileron. Falling leaf lesson from my CFI for 3,000' fixed that pretty quickly.

During periods of "quiet" while in flight, CFI would tell me to ask myself, "what can I be doing right now?" (besides the obvious scanning for traffic, etc). Presetting frequencies, staying organized, etc. Helped vastly to stay ahead of the airplane when things got really busy 10 minutes later. I ask myself this all of the time.
 
...actually one of my biggest take aways was from my DPE on my check ride. Do some maneuvers, he pulls the throttle and says "you just lost your engine"...I go into emergency mode, checklist, spot a field, set it up for a great landing option, get to 500' and DPE says "Nice job, power up...but why didn't you land at the charted grass strip we were right over when I pulled the throttle?"...DOH!

He has set me up to make a point about situational awareness in an emergency and it stuck!
 
Bill Jennings said:
Never taxi faster than a cow can run.
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OK, so this same CFI also gave me this bit of advice:

"If tower ever gives you a number to call, be respectful, copy the number and then don't call"

I replied yeah right, or something else flippant, and he replied "No, seriously, don't call"

I always found this one strange, as my CFI was ATC, and worked the field where I trained.
 
Bill Jennings said:
OK, so this same CFI also gave me this bit of advice:

"If tower ever gives you a number to call, be respectful, copy the number and then don't call"

I replied yeah right, or something else flippant, and he replied "No, seriously, don't call"

I always found this one strange, as my CFI was ATC, and worked the field where I trained.
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As a controller for over 25 years...I agree with that one. Whatever infraction it was, both parties already know about it. If we really want to get in touch with a pilot, all we need is the N number and we have that already. I know I'm going to get some push back on this one but I speak the truth.

I once read a book written by Terry Bradshaw. One of his receivers dropped a pass. This was back in the days when the plays were "run in" from the sideline. "Coach said to tell (receiver) not to drop the passes." Terry said, "now I know that he didn't want to drop the pass and I know he will do everything he can not to do it again. That is one of the stupidest things the coach could ever tell me to say to someone." So he didn't say a word.
 
Timbeck2 said:
As a controller for over 25 years...I agree with that one. Whatever infraction it was, both parties already know about it. If we really want to get in touch with a pilot, all we need is the N number and we have that already. I know I'm going to get some push back on this one but I speak the truth.
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So, you had pilots you gave numbers to and they didn't call? And you (and the rest of the crew) was cool with that?
 
Yes and by the time the shift ended it was forgotten. Now granted this is for things that didn't endanger someone else's life such as taxiing the wrong way, flying the pattern at the wrong altitude..stuff like that. Controllers are inherently lazy and want to do their job and go home, not fill out a bunch of paperwork and make tape transcriptions.
 
I don't disagree with the suggestion not to call. On the other hand... I do disagree.

I got the "we have a phone number for you to call... " which was attached to the critical phrase, "possible pilot deviation." Reason? No radio call. We were cruising along fat and happy and noticed we were only hearing other airplanes talking. We found an ARTCC frequency, called it, got the correct freq, and got ahold of them. "We were trying to get ahold of you for 10 minutes," he said.

I immediately dialed the number from the sat phone in the airplane and got the supervisor. He sounded unhappy until I told him that we never got a handoff from the previous facility, and it had only been 10 minutes or less since we'd last spoken to that controller. "Okay... thanks for calling so quickly... I'll look into that. Consider the matter closed." That was the end of it.

It so happened that when it occurred, both the other guy and myself were not in the midst of a conversation or distracted by anything else. Just normal, boring, high altitude cruise. In fact the controller never did give us a handoff and we didn't do anything wrong. The phone call cleared it all up.

When you get that "please call... " number from the tower after landing, though... well... I'm not saying not to call, necessarily, but I am saying I wouldn't suggest you make any special effort to call. At best you'll have a polite conversation about what you probably already know you did. At worst... hmm.
 
Ryan F. said:
When you get that "please call... " number from the tower after landing, though... well... I'm not saying not to call, necessarily, but I am saying I wouldn't suggest you make any special effort to call. At best you'll have a polite conversation about what you probably already know you did. At worst... hmm.
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The one time I got that number to call, I did.

It resolved within a few days as remedial training for the controller. Had I not called, it might have been nothing, or it might have been a much bigger headache.

Basically, a tower controller gave a taxi clearance he didn't intend to, and the ground controller thought I blew him off. The tower supervisor reviewed the recording and concluded I did exactly as I was told.
 
"Don't mess up, everyone who's failed a check ride messed up, so by default if you don't mess up you can't fail"

I still live by that advice, and pass it on to others as well
 
my CFI IS the reason I am still continuing my training. at about 5 hour with my previous CFI I was ready give up flying, seriously thought this GA thing is not for me, and all these thought when I was flying the plane. first lesson with him, fell in love with flying, he know how to push my boundaries and make me successfully do things that I never thought I could.
 
I didn't call once flying into ROA. I turned off runway 34 and onto the parallel taxiway. Another plane was taxing opposite direction of me but a good ways down the taxiway. Tower was upset 'cause I switched to GC. Said to call and gave me the number, and I didn't call. Few days later the Chief Pilot asked me about it and told him what happened and check the tapes as I had nothing wrong. We always turned off like that on that runway, controller just had a hair up his rear I guess. Never heard anymore about it.
 
"Number one rule, don't bend the airplane."

"More right rudder." - every beginning pilot has heard that one!

"Your feet are not connected to your brain, but we can fix that." (First instructor, tailwheel instructor... but NOT spin instructor! Yay!)

"Three bounces doesn't count for currency, Captain Kangaroo." (Hey, sometimes you just have to laugh...)

"Airspeed is life." (Yup.)

"The airplane is not afraid of the dark." (Later that was modified to, "The airplane is not afraid of the rain.")

Sound of engine speed falling off... "Where are you going to land?" (EVERY CFI EVER... Hahah...)

"If you ever have to hit something, choose the softest thing you can to hit." (Mountain instructor.)

"See that gap in the trees over there? [During a takeoff.] I've had to go through it." (Mountain instructor.)

"Aspen trees hurt less than pine trees." (Different Mountain instructor.)

"I thought I was going to take the landing gear off on that rock over there [as we cross the top of Hagerman Pass] one day. Watch the downdrafts right here." (Yet another Mountain instructor.)

"Take your hands off the controls. See? It flies better if you leave it alone." (Sometimes you need a reminder that over-controlling is way worse than just letting the airplane fly on its own.)

Long question about what control inputs to use for something... "Whatever it takes." (Sometimes you just don't need a long description... if the nose needs to go up, down, left, right, whatever, just make it go there.)

"I don't want to scare you, but if you don't do something, we are both going to die in about 15 seconds." (Best saved for advanced students with a sense of dark humor.)

"What are your runway lengths and takeoff and landing data today? If you didn't fill out a TOLD sheet, we aren't going flying." (Very straight laced Instrument instructor. He taught to do it right, every time. No shortcuts.)

"This airplane is really cheap, but every CFI at the club has had the gear not come down on it at least once, let's not push our luck." (The realities of rentals sometimes need to be mentioned...)

"Lift your hood and look over there toward the airport. You ready for your first ILS to minimums?" ( @jesse + unexpected fog bank... wheee!)

Five minutes later, after going missed... "Now what are you going to do?" ( @jesse again + knowing I hadn't thought about the next thing... )

"Your job is to make mistakes. My job is to make sure you stay safe while you make mistakes." (Quit worrying about it, screw up, and I'll show you how not to.)

"I've told you once that your hands should be on the throttle below 500 AGL, then I've asked you once to do it, this time, I'm not asking." (Heh... repetitive mistakes are fun... not.)

"If the trend is toward a crash, fix the trend." (Understated and simple, but right.)

Controller asks if we have the updated ATIS... "Lie, tell him you have it. We have a long taxi and two radios." (I was laughing so hard I almost couldn't tell the controller we had it. We really had it about ten seconds later. LOL!)

"I credit drilling the exit procedure with my instructor with saving my life." (CFI who had to bail from a Citabria after half a wing came off.)

"Every student you ever fly with is trying to kill you." (CFI for CFI, DPE for CFI, every CFI I talked to after earning the CFI.)

"Has anyone shown you 'cockpit judo' yet? You won't find this in any of your books." (DPE for CFI ride... and he proceeded to show techniques for getting a frozen student off of the controls effectively in two side-by-side chairs.)
 
What is that one, 'in an emergency, do nothing..there is usually no rush'...count to 10 first or something?
 
I had several good moments, but I think the best I had was when I was doing final prep for my checkride. A fellow who used to post here a lot, Wayne Bower ( went by Wayne) gave up his golf game, flew to my home field, flew steep turns and several other things with me for two hours and I was good to go on all that stuff. He refused to let me pay him or even put some fuel in his beautiful 180, that he let me fly the same day. What a great guy and a natural born teacher.

I wish Wayne all the best wherever he is.
 
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