Tell your students to study. Yes, there will be situations where there is a personality conflict. But I've seen the profile all too often and recognize that it is not entirely the CFI's fault all the time. In many instances, the student fails to make the commitment that is necessary to excel at what the CFI is trying to teach. It's the same in every profession. A doctor's diagnosis is often only as good as the symptoms presented by the patient. If the patient misrepresents the symptoms, then the diagnosis is potentially flawed.
The point of all of this is that I take some offense to always simply bashing the CFI for a student's lack of progress. As a manager, I see some students take on a personality change when they switch to a new CFI. It's as if they are making a more sincere effort to impress the new instructor. They actually start coming in prepared. Because of this, the new relationship is a success as long as it's new. I often wonder what would have happened if the student had taken that new attitude to the old CFI.
Back when I was a fledgling student, I had a bad experience with my first CFI. But I recognize my first mistake was not telling him that I felt uncomfortable. My second mistake was thinking that the CFI's job was to spoon feed me the material. I recognize to this very day that I did not meet my first CFI halfway.
H. J. Villalobos
Via the Internet
Illustrating The Art Of Autorotation
I read "The Art of Autorotation" in the June issue and the author did a very good job of explaining the complex aerodynamics behind autorotation. He could have spent a little more time, however, on the step-by-step approach to performing an autorotation - procedures that the pilot should memorize until they come naturally. The author refers to the pilot's control movements as a "well-choreographed dance," but he doesn't describe the dance steps in simple terms.
However, I feel that the photo of the Robinson R-44 in a flare is extremely misleading and almost frightening. The attitude is all wrong. The helicopter should be level (or nearly so) that close to the ground, not nose high! The tail rotor is only a few feet off the ground and appears ready to make contact. Such contact would sever the tail boom, sending the helicopter out of control. Illustrating the procedure the way you did in your magazine is sending an incorrect message to student pilots.
Maria Langer
Wickenburg, Arizona
Support For The NDB
I enjoyed seeing some support for the venerable NDB and its counterpart, the ADF, in the June 2000 issue of AOPA Flight Training. However, station passage is indicated by a complete 180 degree reversal of the needle. The wording in the article implies that the ADF needle head falls to 90 and stops. Also, the ADF should be used most of the time to track and not simply home in on NDBs. It might be worth a mention to point out the instant situational awareness that the ADF supplies once tuned-in (and identified, of course). The VOR/OBS setup lacks any type of directional indication and simply tells you what radial you're on or tracking to, leaving the pilot with the task of determining direction from the station.
Unfortunately, most students do not know the value and ease of use of the ADF. I'm working on that!
Rob Artac, CFI
Via the Internet
Don't Work Around Weakness, Increase Strength
Usually Rod Machado is right on the mark. But he was way off course when he gave advice about what to do with a petite student pilot who lacked the strength to flare with a single hand on the yoke ("Since You Asked: One hand or two," March 2000).
The obvious solution is for the woman to do a little strength training.
Machado's suggestions for working around the problem - using two hands, using extra trim, etc. - are less than perfect and carry an element of risk because they do not follow proper pro- cedure. And what will happen if some sudden emergency such as a wake vortex encounter demands arm strength that she lacks?
Machado suggested that "the alternative is for your student to give up flying." No way. The most obvious and best solution is for the woman to get into a gym and learn about curls and presses.
Joel Amkraut
Glendale, California
Don't Forget About Theory
I enjoyed reading Ralph Butcher's article "Frustration" (April 2000). I agree that "dwelling on theory" does not improve your flying skills. However this should not mean that studying well and acquiring a profound knowledge is not important. On the contrary, this is the basis for all good decision making.
The fact that there is too often a lack of knowledge found with pilots is, in my opinion, the result of an insufficient learning process. Though you should never stop learning, there is a point when a student does not need an instructor anymore - when he reaches the highest level of learning called correlation. Too often instructors and students stop learning at the level of application and sometimes at the lower level of understanding. That's why pilots repeat what they have memorized without being able to elaborate.
If someone tells you the lift formula because he or she learned it by rote, that is dwelling on theory. But if someone understands it and is able to correlate what the formula states then this is good knowledge even though you don't need it for flying.
I hope Butcher's statement is not being misunderstood so that people think he is recommending that you forget about studying and knowledge.
Achim Beck
Berlin, Germany
No Excuse Not To File
I would like to comment on Jakob Funkenstein's letter about VFR flight plans in the May issue. I've been flying in Europe and North America since 1966. I've recently retired from the Oakland, California, flight service station after 25 years, and I know of no pilot who has been charged money for not closing a flight plan. Occasionally, pilots are counseled by their FSDO for repeated infractions. There are many reasons, or excuses, for not filing a VFR flight plan; this shouldn't be one of them.
It's true that in many countries the tower closes VFR flight plans automatically. In the U.S. tower controllers are required to pass on VFR flight plan closures at the pilot's request. However, the sheer volume of VFR traffic, and the fact that most VFR aircraft are not on a flight plan, makes this procedures cumbersome and inefficient at many of our airports.
Terry T. Lankford
Pleasanton, California
We welcome your comments. Address your letters to Editor, AOPA Flight Training, 421 Aviation Way, Frederick, Maryland 21701. Send e-mail to [email protected]. Please include your full name and mailing address. Letters selected for publication will be edited for length and style.
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