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:

Many student pilots struggle with taking full ownership and leadership in their training, often deferring decisions to instructors due to self-doubt or a perceived power imbalance, despite having the necessary skills.
Effective flight instruction, as demonstrated by the success of record-setting pilot Shaesta Waiz, involves empowering students by treating them as professionals, allowing them to lead their training, and giving them space to learn from their own in-flight errors.
Instructors should cultivate decision-makers by setting clear expectations and a progressive plan from the start, gradually transferring responsibility and fostering the "Pilot In Command" mindset throughout the training, preparing students for real-world scenarios and check rides.

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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.