Flight training, if you had to do it over...

wrote:
The questions
1. What is the best frequency of flying lessons, how many flights per
day, per week, per month?

4 flights per day?

4 flights per week?

How many flights would you recommend per day or per week and why?

This will vary on a day by day basis with both the conditions and the
student. One of the hardest things an instructor has to learn is when a
student is about to hit 'overload'. At that point, not only does
learning stop but there is evidence that 'unlearning' starts.

So, the instructor should realise when a student appears to be in danger
of overload and wind things down at that point. It may only be necessary
to take a break (say for lunch) or it may need a longer time (eg
overnight) for a student to absorb what has already been taught and be
read for the next lesson (which is always going to include consolidation
of what has already been learned).

It has been my experience that people starting gliding 'from scratch'
generally progress best if they fly at least every two weeks. Less
frequent flying will generally result in much slower progress.


2. Should full training including 10 solo flights be completed in 2
weeks, or 1, or 2, or 3 months, what is the best and the most enjoyable
for the student?

This will vary with the student - let them make the choices (subject to
1 above). The instructor can help with this as they have experience of
many students, but the student should decide what is enjoyable!

3. What is optimal training program on tow, minimum, average, maximum
number of dual flights before solo, what the release altitude should
be, what the duration of each flight should be etc?

This will depend on the student and the conditions. It has been my
experience that no two students are alike and each processes the
training in their own way. Some learn quickly and others learn slowly -
but this appears to have no influence on their eventual abilities as a
pilot.

For those that learn quickly, one of my major concerns is that they have
developed sufficient 'airmanship' before they fly solo. People whose
learning takes longer have generally had more time to develop the
situational awareness that is the core of airmanship and will also have
been exposed to a wider range of conditions.

All flight training is competency based - it takes as long as it takes.

4. Is there any program available for each flight-lesson for teaching
on tow from start to solo and beyond?

Well - here in Australia the instructor manual provides a model for the
teaching of "exercises" (ie parts of a flight or particular parts of
safety training such as spinning). Again however, these need to be
modified to 'tailor' them to the individual student.

5. What is the best glider for teaching gliding on tow?

There is a huge choice of suitable two seaters - the best one is
probably the one that is at the field closest to you!


--
Robert Hart
+61 (0)438 385 533 http://www.hart.wattle.id.au