What is your training strategy?
I was one of those people who launched into flight training for the pure thrill and joy of flying, and for years, I was happy flying most anything with a single engine in visual conditions. All of my flying was for fun. Heck, I was still in high school. It was much the same while in college in Southern California. Flying was for fun and to explore new places.
Years later, as the president of an association with travel throughout the eastern half of the country and occasionally out West, something a little more complex and high performance was required and I started flying a 2003 Beechcraft Bonanza A36. Initial training in the Bonanza was at FlightSafety in Wichita, and I have returned every year for recurrent training using its simulator, where every imaginable incident has been explored. Simulator training can be much more effective, and safer than exploring the edges of the envelope in a real airplane. And it doesn't have to be a multimillion-dollar model-specific sim. You can learn valuable lessons and reinforce your flight instruction just "flying" something such as Microsoft Flight Simulator. Our AOPA Air Safety Foundation used this program to model the scenarios in its online safety program Do the Right Thing. And now ASF has a major study under way to see if home computer flight simulators can improve primary flight instruction.
Most of my flights today are business related, flown IFR using dual Garmins and the autopilot, exactly as I have been trained to do in an aircraft that has proven very versatile.
Here is my point-I have always tried to have a strategy for training that matched both the type of aircraft I intended to utilize and the type of missions I expected to fly. My training strategy has been stretched out over decades and continues to this very day. As the aircraft and the missions have become more complex, so too has the training.
There was never a point in my training where the strategy was to get a rating quickly. The strategy was never to rush. In fact, one of the great pleasures of flight training for me has always been to set the agenda of the rest of my life aside and to fully immerse myself in the training process. So, although I have not wanted to rush through any training, I also have never stepped in and then stepped out of the process, stretching the training over months and months. That would not work for me either.
In a recent conversation with one of the folks at FlightSafety, I realized I had been fortunate in another way: I have never tried to substitute training for experience. My progression has allowed me to build time in various aircraft in all types of conditions. And, with my instrument rating, I amassed a few hundred hours flying IFR before moving up to more complex and high-performance aircraft. No matter how good your training is-and I feel I have really had the very best-there is no substitute for experience to prepare you for your next step.
Of course the strategy that worked for me will not be right for everyone. Some people find they can acquire an aircraft for use in business and hire an instructor and a pilot. They can do their training along with using the aircraft as an essential mode of transportation. Actually, this makes a good deal of sense in that the training and experience of using a private aircraft are combined.
Wherever you are in your training, take some time to think about your training strategy. Flying is going to make a difference in your life, hopefully for the rest of your life. Look at your training in stages and make sure there is time for both enjoying and learning from the experience of flying in between the checkrides and ratings. Not only will you enjoy the experience more; you will, in my view, be a safer, more confident, and a better pilot for having done so.
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