How to Avoid Flight School Frustrations and Common Pitfalls

When was the last time you learned something new?

One of the more challenging aspects of being a flight instructor is that sometimes you forget what it is like to be a learner. This is particularly true if it’s been a few years since you added a new certificate or rating.

It is possible for an instructor to become complacent with the teaching process, as if a cookie-cutter approach will work with all the learners. News flash: It won’t. The learners don’t know what they don’t know, and they expect and trust the instructor to have their best interests in mind as they do their training. 

Problems arise if the CFI’s and learner’s expectations are divergent. For example, if the CFI plans to begin the first lesson by teaching the learner how to perform the preflight inspection and the learner perceives it as stalling to pad the lesson, and therefore, the bill.

Direct communication is key. The CFI needs to be clear on what task is being taught and how and why it is performed and when. It also helps to get some insight into the learner’s mindset: 

Why are you seeking flight training? Is this a bucket-list item? Are you striving to complete something you started years ago? Are you seeking a career change?

Learners seeking careers tend to want to fly more frequently and need an instructor and a flight school that can accommodate that goal. Having a lesson once a week might work if you are learning a musical instrument, but it doesn’t work in aviation. Strive to fly at least twice a week—three times would be better for best results.

To the learners: Be very careful about school selection. Note the size of the fleet and the number of CFIs. For example, if there are just four aircraft and six instructors and 40 active students plus certificated pilots who are aircraft renters, the numbers don’t add up for expedient training. You may wait weeks between flight lessons, especially when the weather turns sour or when airplanes go down for maintenance.

Note that many schools have waiting lists or limit post-instructional aircraft rental to accommodate their student loads.

It is important for the CFIs to be clear with the learner about scheduling limitations. Most primary “out-and-back” lessons are scheduled in two-hour blocks, of which 1.1 to 1.5 will be time in the aircraft. The aircraft is expected to be back on the ground and ready for service 15 minutes before the next flight. 

Scheduling four-hour blocks for primary lessons that are not cross-country flights only benefits the CFI. Most learners reach saturation well before the two-hour mark and are simply along for the ride after that.

Some learners will ask for special accommodations to facilitate their learning that may not be in the best interest or logistically feasible for the flight school.

I worked at a school where a particular learner lived 40 miles away and didn’t want to make the drive twice a week. Instead, he expected the CFI to fly one of the school aircraft to an airport closer to him for his lessons.

At first the CFI the learner was paired with was enthusiastic about commuting in the aircraft because it was more solo time for him, but the learner didn’t want to pay for the CFI’s solo time or the time on the aircraft for the commute. The flight school owner wasn’t about to eat the cost either, as the school was losing revenue when the CFI wasn’t actively teaching and the aircraft wasn’t being used by a client.

That relationship terminated one flight in.

Use the Three-lesson Rule

One of my mentors, who is now a captain at a major airline, taught me the value of the “three-lesson-rule.” He advised each new client that they would fly three lessons together, then discuss if the instructional relationship worked for both of them. He was the chief CFI, and his time was limited due to stage checks and the like, as it was a Part 141 school, but he still took on ab initio clients.

If the relationship didn’t work, the CFI would help the learner find a new instructor. Another instructor was skeptical of this mindset, arguing it was the CFI’s job to teach people to fly, and that doesn’t happen when you turn away a client.

The chief CFI replied: “If they aren’t learning, you’re not teaching, so you’re not doing your job. What you are doing is wasting their time and money.”

He was absolutely correct, and his reputation for putting the learner’s needs first, combined with his skill as an educator, made him one of the more sought-after instructors at the airport.

Faster Not Always Better

Learners who seek training for a career as a pilot often opt for accelerated programs. Some do very well with the faster pace. Others do not and end up discouraged and out of money.

Learning which camp you fall into can be an expensive lesson, especially if the program demands money up front and doesn’t give refunds. Check the contract carefully, and don’t put down more than you can afford to lose. Also, make sure they have a DPE on staff (get their name), so you don’t have to wait weeks or months for a check ride.

Insist on the use of a syllabus so you can keep track of your training. Do the required preflight studying, and keep track of your progress. If you are “supposed to solo” by lesson six, which is about eight hours in, and you’ve logged 10 hours and haven’t made it past the skills of lesson four, this is not a good sign.

Beware of “check-the-box” instructions where you perform a maneuver or task once but don’t really understand why it is required. If learning has not taken place, you’ve wasted time and money, and those hours in your logbook aren’t worth the ink they are printed with.

It is particularly challenging when the CFI was trained through an accelerated program and expects the students to learn quickly too. If this doesn’t happen, it is frustrating for both. It could be that the CFI learned the check rides and hasn’t had the time to develop teaching skills, or they could be there strictly to build their hours. Either way, it is the learner who loses.

Don’t Wing It; Plan It

If the CFI insists on using a syllabus (required under Part 141 and recommended for Part 61), do it.

Your CFI should brief you for your next lesson by having multiple plans of action dictated by the weather on the day of the flight.

For example, if the weather is VFR and the ceiling and visibility support it, the lesson of the day will be slow flight, stalls, and steep turns. If the weather is MVFR, ground reference maneuvers and pattern work will be practiced. If the weather is not conducive to flying, be ready to learn about aircraft systems or airspace, etc.

Be Careful About Switching Aircraft

There will be times when the lesson requires a certain aircraft in the fleet.

For example, if the lesson is an IFR flight, per cFAR 91.205 (d), the aircraft must be equipped with a “clock displaying hours, minutes, and seconds with a sweep-second pointer or digital presentation.” The digital timer on your phone won’t cut it. Putting the learner into the VFR-only aircraft with the inop analog clock kills the lesson.

CFIs need to advocate for the learners when a particular aircraft is required. Leave a note in the dispatch binder, put one on the electronic schedule, have a face-to-face with the person dispatching the aircraft—whatever it takes. One of the quickest ways to lose a customer is to switch them into an inappropriate aircraft because someone didn’t read the dispatch notes.

Celebrate Their Successes

The best part of being a CFI is celebrating the learner’s successes. CFIs, make sure you do this. 

This is more than praise for their first unassisted preflight, takeoff, landing, etc. It can be other things. For example, when they find something during the preflight inspection that renders the aircraft unairworthy—such as a flat spot on the tire with the cords showing—it provides the opportunity for the teaching of the “squawk” procedures but ends up in a “no-go.”

Learning will most definitely take place.