Empowering Students to Think as Pilot In Command From The Start

What if instructors began the process more gradually, helping students more each flight?

Michael Wildes

Monday, December 13, 2021 at 10:00 AM ET

Verified

Empowerment, and understanding how to deploy it can offer all the training leverage in the world. Credit: Adobe Stock

Key Takeaways:

Flight students often struggle with a lack of ownership and confidence, stemming from a perceived power imbalance with their instructors, which can hinder their training and decision-making.
Effective flight instructors empower students by treating them as "Pilot in Command" from the beginning, encouraging them to take ownership of their training, set priorities, and learn autonomously from mistakes.
Successful training strategies involve instructors setting clear expectations and goals early, providing resources, and gradually transferring responsibility for flight controls to cultivate confident decision-makers.

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When I was completing my new-hire training to work as an instructor in my flight department, I hit a series of delays that offered me important lessons later on. Finally, I was on the penultimate flight I needed to complete before being officially hired and was flying with an instructor who was widely recognized around the department as the top guy.

Naturally, I was nervous. For one, this being the pre-check-ride flight, I was anxious to get it done. I was finally in a position to earn my first paycheck as a pilot, and I didn’t want to do something wrong and embed in this ace’s mind that I might not be a good pilot, after all.