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Flight School: Judgment

Johnny Lye / iStockphoto
Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • Good judgment in piloting develops from experience and making decisions, not direct instruction; instructors should focus on teaching decision-making skills and providing tools for effective decision-making.
  • Learning from others' mistakes, including real-life stories and accident reports, is crucial in developing good judgment.
  • Instructors should allow students to actively participate in preflight, in-flight, and post-flight decision-making, even allowing for errors as learning opportunities.
  • Effective instruction emphasizes explaining the "what," "why," and "how" of procedures, fostering situational awareness and better decision-making.
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Harry Kraemer is an ATP, CFI-I, MEI, Master Flight Instructor and president of Kraemer Aviation Services (flymall.org) He says:

“There is an old aviation saying: ‘Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment.’ And another that goes: ‘A superior pilot uses his superior judgment to avoid those situations which require the use of superior skill.’ But how do we get that ‘good or superior judgment’? The FAA does not tell flight instructors how to teach judgment. However, FAA manuals do define pilot judgment as the mental process by which pilots recognize, analyze and evaluate information regarding themselves, the aircraft and the external environment. And they go on to say that good pilot judgment can be developed as part of a flight-crew training program.

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