Letters

I just finished reading Ian Twombly’s timely article in the May edition of Flight Training magazine (“Right Seat: It’s Not the Economy, Stupid”). Thank you for taking the time to address one of the burning issues in our industry: the lack of basic knowledge and/or execution, which many flight schools have, surrounding what it takes to keep (and get) customers. Most flight schools offer a pretty good product, genuinely care about what they do, and have a passion for this industry. Clearly, for most schools, offering a quality product isn’t the challenge. However, for many, earning more business is.

Our firm helps the small to medium-size flight school evolve and improve their sales and marketing practices. One of the first things we do in the course of reaching out to a prospective client is conduct a “mystery shop.” We demonstrate to the prospective client how they perform in the eyes of a new flight-training prospect. This is what we’ve found so far: 85 percent of schools never ask the shopper’s name; 0 percent of schools ask how the shopper heard about their school; less than 10 percent of schools invite the shopper to come in to see their facility; less than 95 percent of schools do not make any attempt to follow up with the shopper; and more than 70 percent of the time, a CFI is handling the initial call to the school.

P. Jerry Lee, CFII
President, Mach 1 Consultants, Inc.
Wichita, Kansas

To rate the economy and the high cost of flight training as quite insignificant in the whole flight training industry is a denial of harsh reality. Our school has trained hundreds of pilots in the last 40-plus years and in the past five years I can think of no student who dropped out because of incompetent instructors. Yes, our enrollments are way down. But it’s because of the economy. Not because of carelessness, insensitivity, or incompetence.

Lester Zook
North East, Pennsylvania

I take issue with the article “What It Looks Like: Control Yoke Position,” in the June 2010 issue of Flight Training. Of special concern is this advice: “The goal is to keep the wings level throughout the takeoff roll.” In strong crosswinds with gusts, that’s a perfect set-up for having the upwind wing lifted up and the airplane skipped sideways downwind, possibly beyond the pilot’s ability to correct before losing control and flipping over or, in a tailwheel aircraft, ground looping and flipping over.

A safer (proper) crosswind takeoff technique for high wing and low wing aircraft is to maintain pressure on the upwind main wheel with yoke into the wind throughout the takeoff roll and liftoff, adjusting aileron as necessary to prevent the aircraft skipping downwind as it transitions through liftoff. Generally, that interprets as actually lifting the downwind wing (and main wheel) and flying off the ground from the upwind main gear wheel. Conversely, achieving a wings-level attitude throughout the takeoff roll and lift off could be dangerous in a situation in which the pilot rotates abruptly and prematurely, leaving the ground effect only to stall and drop back on to the runway in a sideways downwind drift or skip.

Bob O’Quinn
Palatine, Illinois

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