"C J Campbell" wrote in message ...
"Robert M. Gary" wrote in message
om...
"C J Campbell" wrote in message
...

I also believe tailwheel training should be required for all CFIs.
Your students will try to land sideways every time (actually BFRs for
rated pilots are usually worse).

Ain't it the truth? However, rather than being ready to 'save' a student
every time, I prefer to talk him through it. I only step in if it appears
that serious damage to the aircraft is imminent. Students feel like they
have 'failed' and become discouraged if the instructor is constantly taking
over. They also feel like they have 'failed' and they become discouraged if
they blow a tire, so it is a fine line. Knowing when to intervene is quite
possibly the essence of being a good flight instructor.

I think it's both. You try to talk them through it but if they start
to go off into the weeds you need to let them go a bit before you jump
in. They need to feel the plane and don't need CFIs jumping in all the
time. Then you taxi off and talk about what happened (usually the
student asks). Probably the most important thing a CFI needs to be
able to do is give instant feedback. Whether a student is doing turns,
stalls, etc if something doesn't come out right we need to be right
there with a reason. Also important is to keep a mental count of the
number of things you've corrected a student on and make sure you
balance than with the number of thinks you've given them a pat on the
back for. Learning to fly can often leave you feeling pretty low, its
important that, as CFIs, we really show excitement when students do
well. I think the job is 50% psychology. The reason I got into CFIing
(in my spar time) was that I noticed that there really were not a lot
of active "real" GA pilots teaching. Most CFIs either only teach or
flying airlines or something else. There aren't a lot of CFIs out
there that can tell you about their IMC trip last weekend down south
and impart that personal experience from flying the family around.
CFIs should actively be doing the type of flying that students plan to
do.

Every now and then I learn something odd, such as how a student's cowboy
boots might be contributing to his inability to use the rudders properly.


I agree. In the J-3 I found the oddest things would happen when people
try to fly with sneakers because they couldn't hit the breaks with
stiff soles (I wore slippers). You need to curl your feet to fit your
heal into the space where the brakes are.