Brandon Templeton has had a number of flight instructors over the years, but only one really stands out. That is Jessica Smith. Together, they are working toward Templeton's multiengine instructor rating and instrument instructor rating at Rocky Mountain College in Billings, Montana, where Smith has been instructing for two and a half years.
"She is not only extremely knowledgeable, but has also mastered the fine skills of teaching in a way that is purpose driven, professional, upbeat, and lots of fun," said Templeton.
For example, Smith realizes the perceived notion that NDB approaches are hard and therefore "bad." Templeton recalls their first conversation about them.
"She started off by saying, 'NDB approaches are awesome! They don't have to be tough at all,' and pointed out the cool aspects about this type of navigation right from the start to help grab my attention," he said.
Smith prefers using scenario-based training. She creates vivid situations that can directly and safely be applied to real-life circumstances--like asking her students to imagine landing on a 2,000-foot runway in an airplane with no brakes after losing its hydraulic fluid.
"I think she knows this helps students not just recite facts, but truly understand the real-world applicability, which in turn allows a much more energetic and positive learning environment," said Templeton.
"It's just easier for the students this way. I read a book, [Arlynn McMahon's] Train Like You Fly: A Flight Instructor's Guide to Scenario-Based Training, and since then I try to find out and implement as many things as I can," said Smith, adding that, as a flight student, her flight instructor would only teach her what she needed to know at the time.
"I would hear, 'don't worry about that right now,' and it frustrated me a bit, I guess," said Smith. "So, the approach I've taken is to provide my students with everything they need to know. What's the point of holding out when they will need to know it eventually anyway? I don't know everything, but I want to give them everything I do know.
"Instructing was definitely a time builder in the beginning, but now that I've been doing it and I look back at how much I've learned, I realize that my students teach me more than I can read in a book. Because of my students, I've expanded my knowledge so much," said Smith, who plans to pursue a career flying corporate, or for the government. Currently, she has secured a place flying a Citation on occasional trips cross-country, building turbine time.
"What sets Jessica apart is that she always has a positive attitude. She uses praise for things done well to lift students' spirits when they're having a rough flight instead of dwelling on the negative," said Templeton.
That praise has been known to come in the form of freshly baked chocolate-chip cookies. "I've offered them up a few times for my students who need some motivation to do something right. It's something they remember and it builds them up and they begin to know they are capable of doing the same thing every time they fly," said Smith.
Smith laughed when she mentioned the fact that she's received personal requests from students. Could it be the homemade cookies? Maybe, but she would like to think it's her successful training ability that keeps her schedule busy--either way, Smith has established a reputation as a good flight instructor and is happy to continue training future pilots.
Kathryn Opalewski is a former editorial assistant for AOPA Flight Training magazine.
Name: Jessica Smith
Age: 23
Certificate: Private, commercial, Citation 550 type rating for second in command, CFI, CFII, MEI
Flight time: About 1,200 hours
Aircraft flown: Piper Archer, Beechcraft Bonanza, Piper Seminole, Beechcraft King Air, Cessna Citation II
Home airport: Billings Logan Airport (KBIL), Billings, Montana)
