The Learning Plateau Is Always Challenging

Learning plateaus are as much a part of becoming a pilot as making mistakes.

Meg Godlewski

Tuesday, December 26, 2023 at 03:57 PM ET

Verified

Learning plateaus are as much a part of becoming a pilot as making mistakes. [Shutterstock]

Key Takeaways:

Learning plateaus are a natural but challenging part of flight training, often occurring just before a student's first solo, marked by a stall in perceived progress despite consistent practice.
Ineffective instruction, characterized by a lack of specific feedback or incomplete ground knowledge, can significantly prolong plateaus, as seen in a case where a student misunderstood basic flight controls and procedures.
Overcoming these plateaus requires patient and communicative instructors who identify and address specific deficiencies, along with strategies like seeking a new perspective, reinforcing ground knowledge, varying flight activities, taking short breaks, and having students verbalize their understanding.

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One of the most challenging parts of flight training is the learning plateau. Anytime a person learns a skill, there is a period where rapid learning takes place, then the learning levels off (the plateau), then learning begins again. It is part of the process. Getting past the plateau can be a challenge, so you have to be patient and have an equally patient and (hopefully) creative CFI who can break the logjam.

Signs of a Learning Plateau

We learn by drill and repetition, but if you fly consistently—at least twice a week—and don’t seem to be making progress as measured against the syllabus and airman certification standards, you could be on a plateau. These are particularly common just before the first solo. This is why there are so many people who get frustrated and quit when they are “just about to solo.” Instead of quitting, try asking for a change of instructor, if only for an evaluation flight. This different perspective might be what you need to help you get past the logjam.