I'll add one more think, the instructor/student relationship is very
personal. Instructors have plan and if a student flies with another
instructor who does not follow the principle instructors plan, it is a
problem. Often the INSTRUCTOR has a series of step by step lesson plans,
concentrating on mastering airwork, turns of all kinds, ground reference
maneuvers, airspeed control and is not ready for "landings" yet.
The student is happy because they are flying and working hard and learning
the basics. But if the instructor is ill and another instructor subs a
problem arises.
#2 instructor may just say to the student, "You've got 8 hours, so let's
stay in the pattern and practice take-offs and landings."

So far your student has been doing the take-off and the landing at the end
of the flight, after being briefed and warmed up with slow flight, glides
and stalls.But after an hour of concentrated TO&L, confused and fixated on
the traffic pattern.
When the INSTRUCTOR comes back, the student doesn't want to practice the
mundane airwork, those crosswind landings are a challenge and fun. The fact
that the skill to really learn don't yet exist means the student feels
overwhelmed. But it is hard to go back to those rectangular patterns,
glides and turns, slow flight and pitch control exercises. So it is
important that your instructors coordinate your lessons. It is valuable to
fly with more than one instructor as you progress in your training.

But you and your instructor are not married nor welded at the hip, if a
problem develops you can change and move on.


--
James H. Macklin
ATP,CFII-ASMELI, A&P
BE400/BE1900-BE300

--
Merry Christmas
Happy New Year
Happy Holidays
Bah Humbug
What Ever


--
The People think the Constitution protects their rights;
But the government sees it as an obstacle to be over-come.
"Dudley Henriques" wrote in message
...
| Chris L wrote:
| Hello, I know virtually nothing about flying, but am planning on
| getting a private flying license. I have already talked to a few of
| the schools in and around the Tukwila/Renton Washington area, and want
| to know which is the best all around school.
|
| (1) Pro-Flight Aviation Inc uses a relatively quiet airport (Renton),
| but it's still close to Sea-Tac International airport. It seems to be
| the most cost effective, has only 3 teachers, uses a DVD interactive
| course as the ground school, and one person has told me they are not
| very customer friendly. A person there said it's very very hard to
| learn ground school material in a cram 2 weekend course.
|
| I bought for $109.99 the "Virtual Test Prep an Aviation Ground School,
| Private 08 Pilot" to study and prepare for the airplane private pilot
| FAA Knowledge Exam by ASA. I also bought the book Guided Flight
| Discovery Private Pilot by Jeppesen, because the owner of the company
| said I would, basically, have to read certain sections.
|
| (2) Galvin Flying Service is expensive, has 25 trainers, but uses the
| busy (taxing time etc) Boeing airfield.
|
| (3) Acuwings is also uses the quiet Renton airport, says they're more
| customer friendly, will be "starting" a new/free ground training class
| in Jan, use old aircraft (80's), will teach me on a Tomahawk. A person
| there told me to learn from an instructor who I like.
|
| (4) Wings Aloft has 15 to 20 instructors, requires a membership, and I
| will call them back to talk to the right person.
|
| (5) PremAir is open Monday through Friday, but I have to call them
| back to see what they offer.
|
| (6) Northway Aviation is about an hour away, so it's too far to drive.
|
| It appears that I can get the license in about 6 months if I take
| lessons two to three times a week (Saturday, Sunday, Monday) for about
| an hour each time.
|
| So what should I do,
| Christopher Lusardi
|
| P.S.: It's all for fun and remotely work related. But, I can be able
| to pretend that I will to become an astronaut some day. [[:-))
|
| I don't know the location and the specific schools in this discussion
| but the general advice you have received from both Bob and Jim is
| excellent and I wouldn't add anything to what they have already said
| except to stress one factor they have covered; that being the most
| important aspect of this equation involves the specific instructor you
| choose after deciding on the venue.
| I can't stress this strongly enough. The instructor you choose and what
| you learn from that instructor will follow you into your tenure as a
| pilot. If the instructor is poor, you can pass the test and will most
| likely pick up on your own what it takes to be a good pilot in X amount
| of time.
| If the instructor is good, you will save all this "catching up" period
| between the test and X and reaching X you will be leaps and bounds ahead
| of where you would be had the CFI been bad.
| Pick carefully. It's a VERY important decision!
|
|
| --
| Dudley Henriques