CFI
TIPs
Q
Q
I have just started my
instrument training
and I am constantly behind the airplane. I don’t
know where to look or
else I stare at an instrument like the altimeter
and then the heading
gets way off. Any tips?
Think of watching the instruments like watching
a box of kittens. You can’t
fixate on one or the others will get out. You need to develop your “scan,” that is looking at each instrument with your
eyes and processing the information. At first you will find
that you are bobbing your head back and forth, up and down.
This can be fatiguing. But as your skill level increases, you’ll
begin scanning just with your eyes.
Before each flight my CFI makes me inspect the airplane with a checklist. But I know it’s airworthy because usually it’s just back from a flight. Worse,
when I am done my CFI double checks me! I feel like I
am being hazed. Is my CFI just being mean or what?
Your CFI is being a good CFI. Airplanes develop problems
during flight. The CFI is responsible for the flight—that means
your safety, too. If he or she didn’t demand that you do a preflight inspection, then check your work, I would question his
or her integrity. ✈
Meg godlewskI
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Meg Godlewski (WAI #8165) is a Master CFI and active flight
instructor. She also writes for www.General AviationNews.com.
Have you invited your parents to visit the school? See if you
can arrange for them to have a tour of the facility. Ask them
if they’d like to meet your instructor. If you can show them
what you do, that might go a lot farther than telling them.
QI have about 10 hours in the aircraft and I still over- control with the yoke when the weather gets bumpy. It scares me when we bounce around and I find my- self losing heading and altitude. What can I do?
I’ve encountered this many times. Have you tried slowing your airplane down to maneuvering speed? This helps
the airplane handle the bumps. Then focus on relaxing
your hand on the yoke and flying with your feet. It tends to
smooth out the bumps.
QI enrolled in an aviation program at a local college. The problem is my parents, with whom I live. I show them my books and my logbook, but they don’t be- lieve I am learning to fly. I am paying my own way,
but they are concerned that I am gone so long and I
am spending a lot of money. How can I prove to them
that I am really doing this? I’d really like it if they
could at least support me emotionally instead of saying “Oh, no you’re not!” I am at the airport each day.
