Instructor Effectiveness

Hi,

In article ,
Ol Shy & wrote:
Who did you learn the most from and what was the drill?

I think it's very dependant on the type of personality you are. I learned at
a Flying Club where all the instructors were basically volunteers. As a
result, throughout my training I had something like 7 or 8 instructors, all
with differing style.

Personally, I found that I learned more from the instructors that let me
make my mistakes, and allowed me to realise I'd made them and have to learn
from them myself.

I had one instructor that took me on my first Nav flight. Every time I got 1
degree off course, or 100 feet off altitude, or 1 knot off airspeed, she
would point it out to me and force me to correct it instantly. To my mind, I
learned little from that, because there wouldn't be someone doing the same
in the cockpit once I'd qualified.

Another instructor (who I completed my training and I found incredibly
beneficial) would let me make the mistakes. One I remember in particular was
rejoining the circuit at my home base (military field). I made the call to
enter the zone, then called joining Right Base, and was asked to report
final.

In the UK, the military 'final' is a curving turn that starts at around the
same point as the base leg would start on a standard rectangular circuit. I
got all the way down to about 300 feet before the lady on ATC called

"G-ABCD, you *are* now cleared to land, try not to forget to report final in
future"

I looked over to my instructor and she was grinning away, she said:

"I was wondering when you were going to notice!"

I definitely didn't forget again!

I think what I'm trying to say, is that different people will require a
different style of intruction. The mark of a *good* instructor is
recognising the style the student needs, and tailoring their instruction
accordingly.

Andy