Be an A+ Flight Instructor

A great flight instructor has the ability to do so much good; a bad flight instructor has the ability to do so much damage.  I never had a bad flight instructor myself, but once I started teaching and doing stage checks, I could tell immediately which instructors were there for the hours and which instructors were there to help (the money and hours was just an added bonus for them).  If you are training to be a CFI or already are, strive to be the best at your job and treat your students the way you would want to be treated.

Because I feel it is so important to be a great flight instructor, I've decided to pass down some of my knowledge.  Here are my tips on how to be an A+ Flight Instructor:

Show Up Early
I'm not talking about hours early, but just enough time to get everything out that you will need to teach that day.  Before your student arrives, get in the mindset to teach the lesson, wether it be a ground or flight lesson.  It isn't very professional to show up late and have your student waiting for you.  I know it happens every now and then, but don't make it a habit.  Respect your student's time and be there before them.

Be Prepared to Teach
Know what you are going to teach before you teach it.  "Winging" it is not okay when you are a flight instructor.  When I first began teaching I would spend an hour each morning before work reviewing all the lessons I would teach that day.  After years of doing it, however, 5-10 minutes was sufficient.  Set aside enough time to review before you teach.

Teach only Truth
I got really good at finding answers when I was a CFI because, as crazy as this sounds, I don't know  everything.  Students can tell when you are making things up.  If you don't know the answer, look it up and give them the right answer, or see if they can find the answer.  But never make up an answer!

Remember when you were a kid and would tell a lie to your parents... remember how they always knew you were lying?  "how do they know?"  Well, students are the same way!  They know when you are making things up.  So let your ego down and tell them you don't know.  I learned so much while teaching by admitting I didn't know something.  Students will look up to you when you admit that (as long as it isn't with every question they ask).

Make Learning a Positive Experience

This photo was taken on a cross-country with one of my students to Denver.
Such a fun experience for the both of us!

Negative learning is not learning at all.  If your students dread coming to their lesson, you need to change how you treat them.  They are paying you to help them accomplish something they cannot do on their own.  Make flying fun!  If they are getting discouraged and can't stand to do one more touch-and-go or flight in the practice area, change up the lesson a bit.  Land at a different airport or fly somewhere new for a change.  Your students should look forward to the time they get to spend with you to learn and fly.

Encourage Your Students
If your students nails a landing, tell them!  If they did the entire maneuver without loosing a foot of altitude, tell them!  This will build their confidence and they will improve dramatically.

If they botch a maneuver, however, like porpoise a landing, tell them how they can fix it, and point out the things they did well- were they on centerline? was the approach was stabilized? did they remember to make all the required radio calls?  If you say something negative, always say a positive with it.  This will encourage your students like you won't believe.

What you don't want to say is "you are going to beat this landing into the ground!"  I said that once, by accident of course.  I was trying to find the right words to tell my student she was going to do the most perfect landing, and those are the words that came out.  Not really motivating, but we did have a good laugh.

Give them Homework
A student cannot come prepared if they don't know what to prepare for.  Give a homework assignment after each lesson.  If it is a ground lesson, let them know all the topics they need to study.  If it is a flight lesson, let them know the maneuvers you will be practicing so they can review the maneuvers and chair fly them at home.

Hold them accountable for studying!   A few years into flight instructing I decided to experiment- I told all my students that if they came unprepared (with no good excuse) for a ground lesson I would have them sit and read me everything they were supposed to study.   A few months into that sememster I had a student come completely unprepared for our lesson, so we sat for 2 hours and he read aloud the entire section he was supposed to study.  He never came unprepared again, and word got around that I lived up to my words.

My caution is, don't be mean about it.  Students have busy lives too.  Sometimes things just get in the way.  That paticular student understood that I was doing this for his benefit, he was able to learn a valuable lesson, and we laughed about it later on.

Prepare them for Life, Not Just for the Checkride    
Your student will pass a checkride no problem if you prepare them for life, not just for the check ride. The checkride is a C standard; what the average pilot should be able to do.  You want your students to be A pilots, not C pilots.  Teach them why they are performing maneuvers.  For example, we don't just do S-Turns for a checkride; we learn them to use them!  Jus the other day, I saw a Southwest pilot do some small s-turns on final to give more spacing between him and the aircraft in front of him.  Prepare them for life!


Flight Instructing is such a rewarding career if you become an A+ instructor.