How to Avoid Junk Instruction

Your relationship with your flight instructor is key. Here's how to teach your instructor how to teach you and get the most out of your lesson.

Meg Godlewski

Tuesday, December 13, 2022 at 11:46 AM ET

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If you don't feel like you are getting much out of your flying, talk with your instructor. [Credit: Stephen Yeates]

Key Takeaways:

Effective flight training necessitates instructors adapting teaching methods to individual learner styles, as demonstrated by the creation of 3D models for tactile learners to grasp complex concepts like airspace.
A significant issue in flight instruction is the prevalence of "junk instruction" from inexperienced CFIs, prioritizing hour accumulation over purposeful learning, which contributes to high checkride failure rates.
To combat inadequate training, the article emphasizes quality over quantity of flight hours, advocating for structured lessons with clear objectives, instructor and learner actions, and completion standards to ensure meaningful learning occurs.

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Flight training can be overwhelming. The education is mental, physical, and to some extent emotional, and as it is non-compulsory sometimes it can feel a little on the masochistic side as you put yourself in this situation. The relationship with the flight instructor is key, as you will teach him or her what works best for you. In short, you teach us how to teach you.

The Process

Everytime a CFI teaches a lesson with a new learner, we have the opportunity to acquire a new perspective. When we introduce a concept or a maneuver, we develop more skill in its presentation, and depending on how the learner responds, we may adopt a different approach to the presentation.