A Study Partner Makes for Better Pilot Performance

Finding a partner during flight training can help improve your performance as a pilot, making good use of the way humans learn from each other using mirror neurons and other elements of learning.

Michael Wildes

Monday, December 27, 2021 at 09:33 AM ET

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Finding a partner during flight training can help improve your performance as a pilot. [Courtesy: Adobe Stock]

Key Takeaways:

The author's personal experience and examples from elite athletes demonstrate that observing peers and collaborating significantly enhances learning and performance in flight training.
This observational learning is scientifically supported by the concept of "mirror neurons," which facilitate the brain's ability to implicitly learn and replicate actions by watching others.
Aspiring pilots are strongly encouraged to find training partners, actively observe other students' ground and flight sessions, and use technology like flight tracking tools to accelerate their learning and avoid "going it alone."

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I was working on my initial multiengine rating and commercial certificate, and as I approached the check ride, I recall tucking away at my university’s library, anxiously going through the commercial practical test standards (PTS) at the time. I compared it against my notes, reviewing all the references that it listed. On top of that, I scoured the internet for anything that might have helped. Overhearing my classmates talk about how difficult and unpredictable their commercial check rides were with a specific designated pilot examiner (DPE), I wanted to be as prepared as I possibly could be.

So, that summer, I would find a quiet room at the library each morning to review notes to prepare for the ground portion of the check ride, then review checklists and chair-fly procedures. Frankly, it felt as if I had the ocean to boil.