Dear Rod:
I'd like your opinion about a matter that has caused me a great deal of anxiety. I was working with a primary student, preparing her for the upcoming solo. I'm not sure what I said or what I did, but she began crying during the flight. I felt terrible and apologized immediately. After thinking about it, I suspect I may have been overly demanding during this stage of her training. My student didn't make much of the event, and we seem to be getting along fine. Please tell me if I'm a meanie or if this type of response is a relatively rare event. (P.S. She soloed a few days later and did a fantastic job.)
No name given
I doubt that you're a meanie. What I don't doubt is that your demanding nature during that flight exceeded your student's sensitivity threshold that day. So let's be clear about one very important thing here. Different people have different ways of expressing emotion when their personal performance is pushed to the limit. Some become silent, some become loud, some take over small countries-and, yes, some cry. Crying is only an expression of emotion and shouldn't be interpreted as anything other than that. It's not necessarily a sign of weakness or resignation. If that weren't so, then anyone who's cried during a movie would be a helpless weakling, including me. In fact, I've been known to cry at movies, especially when I'm informed of the ticket price.
Crying isn't necessarily a sign of irrevocable damage to the relationship between you and your student. It's more likely a sign from this individual that you were probably pushing her too hard that day. You did the right thing by apologizing. The lesson for you is that you should pay more attention to how you affect your students during flight training. Remember, you're there to teach them, not make them cry (let the movie theater do that). Frustrating them to the point of high emotional arousal certainly doesn't aid in their learning.
Why switch tanks before takeoff?
Dear Rod:
I did a checkout in a Piper aircraft, and the check pilot had me do something I thought was a bit unusual. After completing our runup and taxiing to the runway threshold, he told me to switch the fuel selector to the other tank (the right wing) to check that fuel could flow from the new tank. I did, but then thought that this might not have been a good idea. Is switching tanks a standard practice just before takeoff? Thanks for your help.
Terry
Greetings Terry:
There's just no compelling reason to switch the fuel selector to another source just before takeoff. Doing so means you run the risk of a fuel flow problem at the most critical time of flight-on takeoff. The fact that you know fuel is flowing from the original tank is why you want to leave the selector on that tank.
If you need to check fuel flow from another tank, then do so in the run-up area, so that you have adequate time to detect a fuel flow problem before takeoff.
If you absolutely insist on switching tanks just prior to departure, I recommend only departing over mattress factories while wearing a helmet and a roll bar.
When to flip the switch
Dear Rod:
At what point is a pilot supposed to turn off his transponder? Several authors say that a pilot should avoid reconfiguring his airplane after touchdown, and just do it after exiting the runway, prior to entering the taxiway, so the pilot is able to dedicate his full attention to controlling the airplane after touchdown.
What is your opinion and experience about it? Thank you.
Rolf
Greetings Rolf:
As a general rule, during the landing, it's always best to focus your full attention on one thing-the landing! You shouldn't consider the landing completed until you've completely exited the runway and brought the airplane to a stop.
At this point, and only at this point, it is wise to clean up the airplane and finish your post-landing chores. This means leaving the transponder in its On position (normally that's the ALT mode) until you begin the cleanup. This won't cause any problems with ATC at all.
Just to be clear, this procedure also means that you don't raise the flaps immediately after landing, either (unless there's a compelling reason to do so). It's just too easy to mistake the gear handle for the flap handle, despite each handle being designed to feel like the item it controls (flaps switch is flat and gear switch is round).
Rod Machado is a flight instructor, author, educator, and speaker. A pilot since 1970 and a CFI since 1973, he has flown more than 8,000 hours and is part owner of a Cessna P210. Visit his Web site.
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