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 highlights that collaborating with a training partner and observing each other's ground and flight sessions significantly improves learning and accelerates progress in flight training.
The article draws a parallel with elite athletes, showing how sports stars like Draymond Green, LeBron James, and Tom Brady extensively use observation (e.g., watching game film) to enhance their psychomotor skills and anticipate scenarios.
The scientific basis for learning by observation is explained through mirror neurons, which facilitate the brain's ability to process and prepare for actions simply by watching them being performed.
Pilots are strongly encouraged to find training partners, actively observe others' sessions, and utilize technology for self-review to avoid isolating themselves in training and to optimize their learning journey.

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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.