Register

The Importance of Mentors

It takes a village to raise a pilot.

Mentorship can take different forms. [File Photo: Adobe Stock]
Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • The article emphasizes the importance of effective and engaging flight instruction, contrasting impactful teaching with merely reciting information, exemplified by the author's experience with the Rusty Pilots Seminar.
  • It profoundly highlights the role of mentors in a flight instructor's professional development, detailing specific valuable lessons learned from three key mentors encountered at an aviation conference.
  • These lessons encompass diverse aspects of teaching, including communication, instilling learner responsibility, continuous improvement through critique, and the overall benefit of cultivating a supportive "village" of experienced pilots and instructors.
See a mistake? Contact us.

Last weekend I attended the Northwest Aviation Conference (NWAC) in Puyallup, Washington. In addition to hunting for stories for FLYING, I had the privilege of presenting a Rusty Pilots Seminar (RPS) for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. 

The RPS, which runs about 3.5 hours, is a PowerPoint-driven interactive lecture that uses scenarios to refresh a pilot’s knowledge and decision-making skills. AOPA provides a scenario guide and reference materials for the participants. The seminars are often sponsored by aviation organizations or flight schools. The latter often have CFIs in attendance because the RPS can fulfill the ground requirement for a flight review—leaving the CFIs to handle the flying portion.

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.

Ready to Sell Your Aircraft?

List your airplane on AircraftForSale.com and reach qualified buyers.

List Your Aircraft
AircraftForSale Logo | FLYING Logo
Pilot in aircraft
Sign-up for newsletters & special offers!

Get the latest stories & special offers delivered directly to your inbox.

SUBSCRIBE