Instructor Report

Has one of your students who just landed an airplane ever looked over and asked you, “Did I do that?”

If so, it’s clear that the student thought you helped with the landing, or perhaps you did it all yourself. What would cause a student to think this way? How about your hands being in constant contact with the flight controls (or hovering over them like a cat over an aquarium) during the landing roundout and touchdown?

Sometimes flight instructors are unwilling to let their students assume complete control of the airplane during landing. This is certainly reasonable during the introduction to landings. After five or six landings sorties in calm weather conditions, however, the average student should be fully capable of assuming responsibility for the majority of airplane control during landing. Of course, your hands should be in the “cocked and loaded” position close to the yoke (but not necessarily hovering over it). Keeping your hands connected to the controls deprives your student of the necessary confidence-building feedback needed to eventually solo an airplane.

Unfortunately, some instructors lack the confidence themselves to relinquish physical control of the airplane at the appropriate times. Why? Maybe they’ve had a student scare them during a landing. Maybe they lack confidence at landing themselves (yes, that’s possible, too). Maybe they simply don’t know how far to let a student go before taking over the controls. In any case, these issues are often remedied by flying with an experienced instructor and learning how to evaluate when a landing has gone or is going bad.

It’s important to remember that if you won’t let them fly, then you won’t let them learn. So let them fly.

Has one of your students who just landed an airplane ever looked over and asked you, “Did I do that?”

If so, it’s clear that the student thought you helped with the landing, or perhaps you did it all yourself. What would cause a student to think this way? How about your hands being in constant contact with the flight controls (or hovering over them like a cat over an aquarium) during the landing roundout and touchdown?

Sometimes flight instructors are unwilling to let their students assume complete control of the airplane during landing. This is certainly reasonable during the introduction to landings. After five or six landings sorties in calm weather conditions, however, the average student should be fully capable of assuming responsibility for the majority of airplane control during landing. Of course, your hands should be in the “cocked and loaded” position close to the yoke (but not necessarily hovering over it). Keeping your hands connected to the controls deprives your student of the necessary confidence-building feedback needed to eventually solo an airplane.

Unfortunately, some instructors lack the confidence themselves to relinquish physical control of the airplane at the appropriate times. Why? Maybe they’ve had a student scare them during a landing. Maybe they lack confidence at landing themselves (yes, that’s possible, too). Maybe they simply don’t know how far to let a student go before taking over the controls. In any case, these issues are often remedied by flying with an experienced instructor and learning how to evaluate when a landing has gone or is going bad.

It’s important to remember that if you won’t let them fly, then you won’t let them learn. So let them fly.