We have a lengthy history of aviation threads here on the Dope, and I usually participate. But I can’t find an “ask the” on the subject of flight instruction.
So, if anyone’s interested…
I’m a full-time flight instructor in small, fixed-wing aircraft.
I teach both primary students (those training for a Private Pilot license) and advanced (Instrument Rating, Commercial, Flight Instructor).
Can you give me a ride? I haven’t been off the ground in two years and I need an altitude adjustment bad!
(OK, that probably wasn’t what you were looking for…)
More seriously - if a private pilot hasn’t flown for several years what is required, in your opinion, to get them safely back to safely navigating the skies? I intend to get off the ground again at some point in the future and I’d like to have a game plan for when that occurs.
I had a private ticket years ago. One of the first things my instructor taught me was how to recover from a power-on stall and a power-off stall. Certainly, not to pull back on the stick!
So, that crash in Buffalo. I realize both the captain and 1st officer wwere relatively inexperienced, but how in the merry hell could they know the wings were icing up, yet when a stall started, he evidenly pulled back on the yoke, and from what I read, did not push forward on the trottles either.`.
There are speculations that the pilot might have mistakenly believed that his tail has stalled. If that had been the case, pulling back on the yoke would be the correct response.
Ever flown a gyroplane? I run across ads for ‘build-your-own’ gyro kits, and plans, on a regular basis.
http://members.cox.net/arrio/gyrobee.htm
Sounds like a blast to build, but I’m not sure if they are as easy to fly as people claim. Does autorotation really make it almost crash-proof? If it’s from scratch or a kit, what sort of, if any, license is necessary?
So, I am a type 2 diabetic, have never had either a hyper nor hypoglycemic event with or without meds … am I hosed with regards to learning to fly?
Yeah, me too! 
How much money and how much time would it take me right now to get a private pilot’s license? Something that would let me rent a small plane and fly it around with a couple family members onboard.
How much does renting a plane cost? Is it hourly? Daily? Is it cost effective to rent a plane and fly it to the bahamas or something?
I would love to get a pilot’s license, but I really don’t know where to start. It’s going to be one of the first things I pursue when I’m back in the states.
Not necessarily, but I’ll let the CFI answer that one. Unless he’d rather I did - I’ve known several diabetic pilots, including the man who gave me my private checkride.
I’ve actually been becoming more and more obsessed with MS Flight Simulator X and one thing I absolutely suck at is lining up runways for landing. I get that the runway number corresponds to its directional heading, but it seems like I always will line up with that heading but will still be left or right (and parallel to) the runway. What are some tips you give to your students for such a situation?
Thanks for the questions, everyone. Taking them one at a time…
That depends on the person’s previous experience, how long they’ve been away from flying, and what they intend to do. But in general:
Review of basic flight with empahsis on rudder coordination, stall/spin awareness, landings and emergency procedures.
Review of airspace (particularly in this day and age, where, if you get in the wrong place they’re liable to fire a warning shot that hits you).
Navigation, and this one again depends on how long they’ve been away. A lot has changed in the last ten years because of GPS.
Radio procedures
Weather, especially if the person has an instrument (IFR) rating.
No, and I think I would decline a ride if offered one. This raises a larger point, which is that I am careful about getting into unfamiliar aircraft. While I’m a fairly experienced instructor, I don’t just jump into unfamiliar types of planes. Even if I’m going into a slightly different version of one I already know, I try to do my homework.
And that’s fixed-wing. Besides being unrated, I wouldn’t even know which end of a gyroplane to point forward.
As for certification, from what I understand, there are very few people in the country qualified to give gyro instruction or checkride. Whether it’s certified or built from a kit, I believe the license needed is “Rotary wing - gyroplane” (or gyrocopter perhaps). Not an easy rating to achieve just in terms of pure logistics.
Probably not completely hosed, but you will need to jump through a few hoops.
I seem to be a magnet for students with medical issues. I’ve taught several diabetics, a cancer survivor, a guy with one eye, a guy with one leg, several vision problems, various medications… Almost all got certified.
Do some research online, and then go to an aviation doctor who knows his business. It’s a process, and it’s annoying, but it’s do-able.
I tell people to plan on spending $8-10k for their Private Pilot’s License. As for time, that depends on you and the weather. How often can you fly? Will you do the book work studiously?
When I learned to fly, it took me about 7 months. That included two changes of instructors, and most of a summer spent training and studying intensively.
At my flight school, a 4-seat Piper Warrior rents for $110 per hour (including fuel, which is called “wet time”). The instructor is $40 per hour. The FAA requires 40 hours of training at a minimum. I tell most people to plan on about 65.
As to your last question, there is NOTHING cost effective about flying an airplane anywhere. It’s just fun!
Sims aren’t that good for “stick & rudder” flying. And unless you have a very nice multi-monitor setup, they’re not great for doing visual flight exercises apart from just looking at scenery. In the real airplane you have a much better view, and I think you’d find it easier.
But I do sometimes see students who have trouble lining up on the extended runway centerline. It’s often just distraction (things get very busy during landings). But interestingly, this happens more at large runways because… they can get away with being imprecise. Then I bring them to a small, narrow runway, and they’re right on centerline because they HAVE to be.
I think you mean “attitude” adjustment. 
And yes, I would be glad to. Standing offer to all Dopers: If you are in my neck of the woods and will cover the airplane rental - I’ll instruct for free for one flight. PM me for location.
Rotorcraft - Gyroplane
(My license says ‘Rotorcraft - Helicopter’, as well as ‘Airplane - Single Engine Land’. No Gyroplane rating though. I’ll have to fix that some day.)
'Nuther flight instructor checking in here… with a question.
I’m contemplating a ‘new’ method of introducing complex aircraft* procedures to students, and I’m curious if you have ever tried this (for any training, not just complex). We’re going to make the first flight with me in the pilot’s seat, while the student watches my actions and the guages. Some students have told me they gathered more about some procedures from just watching while on a ferry flight with me, than they did spending an equivalent amount of time doing the actions themselves. Always looking for a better way, I’ve decided to give it a shot next week and see how it works out.
The lesson plan is (roughly):
It seems that the intro complex flights always have the student hopelessly behind as I try to encourage/coach hiim thru the first power reduction, and handling that new lever (prop) whenever we change configuration. I want to remove the pressure of actually flying while they incorporate the new tasks.
What do you think?
pullin, (Commercial, Instrument, Multi, CFI, CFII)
*For the nonpilots, “complex” refers to aircraft with retractable gear and controllable pitch prop. These aircraft are normally introduced as part of Commercial training.
Have you ever come close to crashing or other disaster due to a major student screwup? Like you give them control, and they immediately push the stick as far as it can go in a bad direction?
What percentage of people don’t pass the course? And how early on do they fail out of the course?
Way back in the day when I was still brave enough to do flight instruction, I found that being able to really communicate and going slow enough to explain what and why I was doing each every little thing was a big help to those who did not know. (Why I was pulling the power (throttle) back first before reducing the RPM.) etc. I am not good at learning a procedure (Just because the instructor said to do it.) as I need to understand why I am doing it. Some things are too complicated in larger aircraft but at the level we are talking here, I do not believe that is so…
YMMV
One actual crash. Long story short. The day I learned I was not cut out to be an instructor. (*:: I do not have the patience nor skill to put up with those who REFUSE to follow directions after they have been shown and explained to why it is bad again and again. Just because they ‘know’ better & it is their airplane. :: *)
I showed him what would happen, except I did it at altitude where nothing bad happened.
I saved us at the last second during instruction.
I had other instructors back me up.
I saved us at the last second during instruction.
I introduced him to another pilot who survived a crash doing the same thing.
I saved us at the last second during instruction.
Sent him out with two other instructors. He did not like them either.
He would not follow their instruction either.
They saved the day at the last second during instruction.
It was his airplane, A little Champ. Like this Champ
This was back in the day when they were common and one of the cheaper small airplanes you could buy.
So I finally said to myself at the last second, “F’it”, folded my arms an let him crash it. (Well, I helped keep it from being too bad with my feet on the rudders, I could not help myself.) Bent the poor little plane a bit. Last hour of official instruction I ever gave.
No, I did not lose my instructors license over it, that is another long story.
One of my sisters was an instructor for a long time. Once she had to use a ‘church key’ that she carried in her purse to make a male student get off the controls as he was trying to commit suicide.
She was at San Diego for a while and she had many fun stories about the NAVY jet jockeys who came to check out in C-150’s so they could take a girl for a ride…
Watched a friend die at an fly-in with unicom on speakers as his passenger / student screamed at the world as she put the Pitts
into the ground…
Pitts
Does not really happen all that often, just a few things from 50+ years of being round small airplanes.
I have a completely aircraft obsessed 7-yr old. His avowed goal in life is to become a fighter pilot instructor (no less:D). He seems to be developing aptitudes for math and geography/navigation. He is very good at 3-D visualization and processing. I hear of all these young teenagers as early as 12-14 taking courses for their license. What do you suggest I look for to determine when he’s ready to start lessons and classes? I know I have a few more years, but I don’t bump into flight instructors all the time. Do you have a lot of young students?
Also, are there any non computer-based* activities that might help him learn in the mean time? He’s getting pretty good at flying his new basic Air-Hog RC toy, but he’s already complaining about not having separate elevator & rudder controls.
He tried a yoke-only (no rudder, up/down buttons for the throttle control) full cabin flight simulator at the science center, and was all excited he managed to do two split-S’s without crashing.
**:I know about flight simulator PC programs, but we have to limit his screen times already just with web-based flash games. I shudder at the thought of tearing him away from a flight sim. *
So am I, and hypertensive too, but I have a medical anyway. It isn’t a big deal anymore, as long as the condition is under control with oral meds (and diet and exercise, per any doctor’s standard lecture), your hemoglobin A1C is in the “good” range (4.5 to 9.0), and there are no other symptoms. I have to submit updated test results every year, though. If you are insulin-dependent, that’s when the restrictions become, well, onerous, but even then it isn’t an absolute bar.
And if you can’t, or don’t want to, go through any of that, you only need to be medically qualified to drive a car as long as you operate only as a Sport Pilot. That basically means flying only a Light Sport Aircraft, VFR only, daytime only. You don’t need a pilot’s medical at all to do that, and that approach is becoming very popular among people who have begun to have trouble holding theirs but still want to fly. There’s a lot more detail but that’s the gist.
Most countries have something similar, btw.
I think she knew what she was typing.
