"EDR" wrote in message
...

I have to go out on the limb a little and say that I somewhat agree
with Lee.
I find the instruction in my area (and probably true for most of the
country) to be very lacking in basic aircraft handling.
The best indicator is to watch how a pilot handles the controls on the
ground. When taxiing, does the pilot hold the yoke full aft? When
taxiing around, does the pilot use the propper aileron input?

If that is your measure of good instruction, then you probably could use
some remedial instruction yourself. The elevator should be neutral or down
when taxiing, depending on wind direction.

In flight, does the pilot provide the propper rudder input and keep the
the aircraft coordinated in turns?

Actually, I have not seen uncoordinated flight to be a serious problem in
either my students or in the students of other instructors. I don't know
where people keep getting this as not being covered in flight instruction.

Rick has written about the failure of instructors to teach students
how/when/where to scud run. That's a survival skill. Just think what
else the instructors aren't teaching that the student needs to know
before they go out on their own.

Since instructors do not control the weather, scud running as a survival
skill is not always available. Everybody has their own ideas of things to
add to the training syllabus. I have plenty of my own. It seems harsh, but
training is market driven. If training becomes too expensive, no one will
get training at all. Basic flight training is just that -- an attempt to
teach the minimal skills needed to fly an airplane. No one likes it, but we
live with it because we know that no one will buy 1,000 hours to get a
private pilot certificate. It may be true that a pilot with a new
certificate is no more competent to fly than a new college graduate with a
business degree is competent to manage, but at least he has the foundation
needed to learn what he does need to know.

We seem to have a pretty good balance now. Accident rates are far lower than
they were back in the old days when all these gripers learned to fly.

All these people that keep criticizing the flight instructing structure need
to show how things could be done better instead of just saying that the
instructors aren't doing their job. One thing I have noticed is that those
who are the most critical of flight instruction are those most interested in
perpetuating their personal theories and hangar myths about how airplanes
should be flown (as in taxiing with the yoke full back).

Suggesting that the designated examiners are passing incompetent pilots is
just plain silly. The examiners test to the practical test standards.
Candidates either meet them or they don't. If you don't like the practical
test standards as written, you are free to submit suggestions for changes.