We get comments here. And email, SMS, even phone calls. Some of them raise issues that deserve a one-sided know-it-all response from a highly opinionated pilot like, er, Carlo 😛
We’ll call these posts, Par Avion. Air Mail.
Hi Tonet,
I saw your pictures at Hua Hin on WingsOverAsia website. I hope someday I’ll be able to join you guys on cross border flying expedition. Not that until i have my PPL.
I have started flying the Cirrus SR 20. I have 1.3hrs in written in my logbook and I hope I can fly more often despite my instructor raising his voice every time I make mistakes. It’s me who chose him. All I need now is word of encouragement in case of emotional breakdown as a result of constant pressure.
My roommate is thinking about changing instructor (same instructor as me) once he clears his first solo. He just can’t tolerate being scolded furiously during circuit training. I hope I will last longer than him, at least until my PPL.
Some of my friends abroad advised against flying with this instructor but I just hope I can stay resilient despite the harsh remarks during flying. Hahaha. I know it will be good for me someday.
Would like to hear your opinion…and encouragement perhaps…
Captain, if I were you (and I’m not you), I would change instructors now.
Shouting has no place in a teaching environment.
It has been proven in education, consulting and leadership that shouting doesn’t make anything clearer.
Shouting is great for getting the student’s attention (“I have the airplane!”), or in increasing stress levels. Some aspects of military training — preparing you for stress — benefit from a shouting instructor (“WHEN I WANT YOUR OPINION, I’LL GIVE IT TO YOU, LIEUTENANT”).
Shouting also works well when you want to show you’re angry.
But shouting drowns out comprehension and retention. You don’t understand, you don’t remember. And you’re paying by the hour to be shouted at.
It’s also dangerous. You’re flying an airplane, and you’re being shouted at.
Meynard, my instrument and aerobatic instructor, does raise his voice, but it’s not personal. He does it to get your attention. In class or in the simulator.
He also raises his voice to dramatize a point, to lead you to a climax in the lesson. You sit there watching the passionate performance. At the end, you want to applaud.
I’ve never heard Meynard raise his voice in the air. Ever.
Flight training is distracting enough. You are drinking from a fire hose.
You’re climbimg in the circuit after a bad landing, and should be fully engrossed in an activity that needs a very high percentage of your brain power — flying an airplane! You barely have bandwidth to absorb advice, never mind a shouting rant.
If your instructor shouts for the wrong reasons, change. You are paying for training. Get training.
Having said that, it’s natural for you to feel overwhelmed at the start. And many flight instructors are dedicated, passionate and sincere. Consider enduring this behavior if he has these redeeming qualities. And when you earn his praise, you know it’s really earned 🙂
Posted from Amsterdam, March 18, 2009
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Hello!
My dad told me he offers a new student two options in the beginning: 1. With shouting/hitting on head 2. no shouting/hitting on head. Haha. His students are said to be more successful than the rest. I’ve heard other teachers want to teach “so that they can play god”.
Greetings from Chicago. We have good weather today. (that means, 32 degrees Fahrenheit. *chilly laugh*)
Regina
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Well, I was at the National Geographic store in Singapore yesterday. They had a freezing chamber you could walk into.
They set it for minus 12 Celsius.
You pay S$1.00 for one minute inside.
You haven’t shivered until you’ve shivered at minus 12. Uh, that would be 10* Farenheit, for you Yankees.
You should know that its 29 right now in Bangkok.
Greetings back!
I love your Dad’s stories. Couldn’t get enough of them, that day in Omni.
😀
.
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🙂 The coldest I’ve experienced in Chicago was -15 degrees. Fahrenheit. I touched my eyebrows just to make sure they didn’t fall off.
Did you go inside the freezing chamber? 😀
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He certainly did, Regina. I’d submit the photo as Exhibit A but it’s in his camera — Frosty wearing a light Gore-Tex jacket and a goofy frozen grin. The transparent freezing chamber is a brilliant marketing device by Gore-Tex, btw. Nice to hear from you!
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I just saw the Exhibit A pictures now. And Exhibit B, C, D… .
Minus 12*C is 10*F. My hands were stinging, my ears quickly turned numb. There was a big fan, too, to simulate wind chill. The expressions of people outside fell into two categories.
1. What a complete dork idiot moron, about to get the only case of frostbite in equatorial Singapore.
2. Ah, good Gore-Tex, la!
🙂
.
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My last winter vacation in Finland was back 2002. Then temperature was below -35*C for few days!
Just try to imagine how it feels outside and what car is like after you get it running!
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That was a vacation?! Man, I could never live in a cold country. I used to look forward to experiencing winters in temperate climates, but after spending a few long nights when it was simply too cold to sleep!
Nice to hear from you again, Timo!
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hello tonet,
my story. The day before my first sortie with Capt Nordin, i decided to go and introduce myself to him as his next student.
He’s an ex air force guy, age about 50 something and has been flying for the past 30 years. He’s a transport pilot (assigned on RMAF’s C-130 Charlie and after that an instructor on Pilatus PC-7). He’s one of the 4 instructors in our school who has AE license. He also can sign any checks with new instructors and he failed them if he needs too, he’s a guy with very high standard.
Me : Hello good day sir, im your new student, i have finished my DCA technical papers and will commence flying soon, hopefully with you, i…..
Capt Nordin : So you want to change instructor?
Me : No, sir..i want to fly with you, but today for area familiarisation sortie i’ve flown with Capt Kamis.
Capt Nordin : You said you wanted to fly with me, but you flown with captain Kamis, so you can go to him…why you fly with him today?
Me : Actually Keshan programmed me to fly with him since it’s just area famil sortie sir, after this i hope i can fly with you until PPL BHT.
Capt Nordin : Ok
Me : So sir i would like to know what you want me and what i need to do to prepare before flying with you and your expectation.
Capt Nordin : You do what things you should do, before your next sortie you come and see me. If they program you to fly with me.
Me : Thank you sir
There goes my first conversation with my instructor. He aint got many student as other instructor, 2 of them changed instructor because they cannot stand him, and many people avoid him, and it’s my choice.
Now i’ve finished Stalls sortie and will commence Circuit training this Sunday. Total hrs now is 8.3 hrs, i hope i can stand at least until PPL.
Thanks tonet for your advice, But i think i’m doing just fine with him now. He craves for a perfection in every things he taught. When we’re up on air, he become what he is accustomed to be, to give us pressures but when on ground, he’s a completely against what he has been on air, he’s very relaxed and very professional. Flight brief and debrief are very informative.
Like Regina said, “His students are said to be more successful than the rest” that is the same thing they said in this school, well i hope it’s true. About hitting, yes he did it occasionally when he’s frustrated with me, but i’m okay with that, i take it as a gentle tap on my hands and shoulders as a reminder to practice good habit…hahaha
Now before every sortie, all i can say to myself “Come on, if all shit today, it will be just one hour…”
My roomate, also his student, become the first guy in our batch to clear for his first solo yesterday…
As for the Cirrus, i found the aircraft sometimes are very difficult to stall, i’ll write about it after i clear my first solo….
If you happen to be around KL do let me know…
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