Making The Grade

Self-evaluation can be an important component of a pilots ongoing training and currency efforts. If we dont know how well we did on a given flight, how will we know what to practice on the next one? How will we know how well well shoot an ILS when it counts if we cant manage one in severe clear on a nice day? Presuming you, like me, always want to fly with the fewest mistakes, some kind of self-evaluation is both necessary and appropriate. How you go about it is key.

Joseph E. (Jeb) Burnside

Monday, January 30, 2017 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Pilots should consistently self-evaluate their flights to identify areas for improvement and maintain proficiency for ongoing training and currency.
Effective self-evaluation requires setting pre-flight goals, honest assessment, and comparing performance against established standards like airmen certification standards.
Evaluation metrics should include both tangible flight parameters (e.g., altitude/heading precision, ILS deviation) and less tangible skills (e.g., efficient ATC communication, situational awareness).

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Self-evaluation can be an important component of a pilot’s ongoing training and currency efforts. If we don’t know how well we did on a given flight, how will we know what to practice on the next one? How will we know how well we’ll shoot an ILS when it counts if we can’t manage one in severe clear on a nice day? Presuming you, like me, always want to fly with the fewest mistakes, some kind of self-evaluation is both necessary and appropriate. How you go about it is key.