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Teaching Someone to Fly by Osmosis Doesn’t Work

Learner decides they don’t want ground instruction refresher or CFI input while in the airplane.

A learner who had a bad experience wanted a CFI to sit in the airplane but not talk during the lessons. [Credit: FLYING Archive]
A learner who had a bad experience wanted a CFI to sit in the airplane but not talk during the lessons. [Credit: FLYING Archive]
Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • A student pilot, frustrated by past sporadic and ineffective training, sought an instructor merely for legal flight compliance, refusing any ground or in-flight instruction, a request the instructor declined due to their responsibility for safety and actual learning.
  • The article critiques traditional ground instruction focused on rote memorization as ineffective and disengaging, advocating for teaching methods that progress learners from basic recall to deeper understanding, application, and correlation.
  • Effective aviation education, especially on the ground, should be active and interactive, utilizing techniques like physical models and hands-on exercises to help learners grasp complex three-dimensional concepts and ensure proper skill development.
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The learner was looking for an independent flight instructor. He said it had been years since he flew, and this summer he was determined to finish his private pilot certificate.

He had his own airplane, a hangar to keep it in, a student pilot certificate issued some 10 years ago, and a lapsed medical certificate.

Meg Godlewski

Meg Godlewski has been an aviation journalist for more than 24 years and a CFI for more than 20 years. If she is not flying or teaching aviation, she is writing about it. Meg is a founding member of the Pilot Proficiency Center at EAA AirVenture and excels at the application of simulation technology to flatten the learning curve. Follow Meg on Twitter @2Lewski.

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