Learning to capture sight picture is an important element for student pilots. [Credit: Meg Godlewski]
Key Takeaways:
Student pilots commonly struggle to prioritize looking outside the cockpit due to the overwhelming array of instruments.
Developing a "sight picture" using external visual cues is crucial for situational awareness and determining aircraft attitude, with 90% of attention ideally focused outside.
Flight instructors play a key role in teaching students to interpret these outside references during all phases of flight, including maneuvers, takeoffs, and landings, emphasizing their importance over constant instrument scanning.
To the student pilots out there: Show of hands—how many of you reading this wish you had a dollar for every time your CFI told you to look outside the cockpit? I’m willing to bet the flight instructors who read this are wishing they got a buck as well.
One of the first challenges a student pilot faces is getting your eyes outside the aircraft.
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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.
![Learning to capture sight picture is an important element for student pilots. [Credit: Meg Godlewski]](https://www.flyingmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Sight-Pic-1-Large.jpeg)
