Teaching Flight

Guidance for Instructors Creating Pilots (EPUB Ebook edition)

LeRoy Cook

• Publisher: Aviation Supplies & Academics, Inc.
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9781619548497
• eBook ISBN: 9781619548503
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Aviation
• Index: Technology & Engineering

Beginning or part-time flight instructors are not always fully aware of what to expect as a student pilot progresses through the flight training process. In "Teaching Flight: Guidance for Instructors Creating Pilots" author LeRoy Cook lends his half-century of experience as a guide to motivate, inspire, and mentor new instructors.In his latest book, LeRoy Cook writes to new flight instructors but his guidance regarding how to teach people to fly is a must-read for any flight instructor — or anyone aspiring to become one. LeRoy Cook's book is of the kind sorely needed in the aviation community. Though airplane and cockpit technology has changed over time, the basics of flying remain and must be mastered all the same — Cook emphasizes the basics along with the eclectic craft of teaching those basics. To make the process less daunting for both student and instructor, Cook organizes training into four phases and advises how to work through each one: solo flight; dual, and eventually solo, cross-country; passing the checkride; and passing the knowledge exam. Cook's lessons take flight training beyond the mandated curriculum to give instructors the tools to provide pilots practical flying know-how.Cook never stopped learning about piloting; even after almost 60 years of flying he is still exploring the magic of lift, the symmetry of balanced flight, the mystery of the perfect landing — in this book, as flight instructor he is happy to share his learning quest on these topics with those that share his love of flight. He writes in the introduction, "Flying, unlike many other activities, cannot be evaluated from afar. There has to be an initial period of participation before a decision can be made about continuing to devote time and treasure to the training."Cook is author of numerous articles and books about flying and they range from the techniques of piloting an airplane to the joys of being in the air. He writes with a quiet, plain-spoken philosophy that encourages flyers to do their best. Flight instructors following his steps will find a mentor in LeRoy Cook, while taking their students from first flight through certification. "Teaching Flight" offers a plethora of ideas for instructors to keep their students inspired, encouraged, confident, and competent on their road to earning a certificate and rating.

As said in the introduction, any structure must be built up on a solid foundation. Each row of bricks must be firmly tamped in place, settled and evenly aligned, before the next layer is added. Thus it is with learning a skill like flying; the fundamentals are the foundation upon which all else rests. We cannot proceed on to advanced work until we’re familiar with the basics.

In the first hour or two of flight instruction, we’ll set the tone for an entire career of flying. In addition to the fundamentals of flight, however, it’s necessary to spend time explaining the cryptic confusion of cockpit management, what the instruments are telling us and how they are used. This training can be started on the ground, but a lot of it only makes sense when it’s demonstrated in the air. Let’s cover the fundamentals first, then round out the introduction with supplemental subject matter.

THE FOUR FUNDAMENTALS OF FLIGHT

No, the four fundamentals are not to be described as stall, spin, crash and burn. Gallows humor joking is a time-honored pastime in aviation, but we must avoid such pointless confusion here. Students are often laboring under some apprehension already, thus we must teach them how to manage risk to enhance safety, not dwell on poor outcomes.

In truth, there are only four things you can do with an airplane: climb, glide (descend), turn and fly straight and level. All else is made up of these four fundamental maneuvers, perhaps combined with one another or chained together, but they must be learned so well that they come automatically, as with driving a car while talking to a passenger. You don’t think about turning the steering wheel to round a corner, it’s just an automatic response to following the curve of the road. And so it will be in flying, with practice.

The advantage one has when learning to drive, however, is that we saw our parents move the wheel, shift gears, brake and accelerate, from the time we started riding with them. It lost its mystery long before it was our turn to try it. Flying, however, is seldom learned in this way. We come to it entirely unschooled, and students have to adjust to its strange language, uncomfortable feelings, strident sounds, and unfamiliar gauges and controls.

The order of demonstrating things as they occur usually introduces a climb as the first fundamental maneuver. As we climb away after takeoff, the nose-high attitude of the aircraft is pointed out, and the best rate of climb airspeed is shown on the dominant instrument. Then, the student can see that raising the nose, by pulling back on the control wheel (or stick, or yoke, or whatever you call it), produces a response, with a slight delay, of a slower airspeed. Lowering the nose attitude gives the opposite response; airspeed increases after the nose goes down. Only one attitude is correct, the one that results in the best climb performance.

By now, there’s frequently a need to turn the aircraft away from the runway heading to depart the traffic pattern. This generates the next teaching moment, illustrating how the turn is initiated with some aileron input and how the relatively shallow bank angle is stabilized by neutralizing the control. The turn continues as long as the bank is maintained, just as a bicycle leans when rounding a corner. When the desired direction is reached, opposite aileron lifts the lowered wing back to wings-level and the turn stops. Simple, no?

But, how do we know the wings are level? Look out at the wingtips, one after the other. There should be equal distance between wingtip and horizon on each side. No bank, no turn. At this point, I like to illustrate the effect of P-factor in the climb, showing that a slow progression into a left turn occurs when all control pressures are released (assuming a right-rotation tractor propeller). Then, I show that the merest pressure on the right rudder pedal stops this left-turning tendency, which is strongest at low airspeed and essentially disappears in level flight.

As we reach a safe maneuvering altitude, the nose is lowered to stop the climb, demonstrating the change in nose attitude relative to the horizon, and power is reduced to a cruise setting as airspeed builds and emphasis is shifted to the altimeter, which now becomes our primary performance instrument. Ah, but we haven’t retrimmed the aircraft. I release the cleverly-concealed forward pressure I’m holding on the yoke and the nose starts upward, as the airplane attempts to seek its trimmed speed, which was back at best-climb. I then demonstrate that adding some nose-down trim allows us to achieve hands-off flight, as we did in the climb.

This is the proper time to demonstrate the E=MC² of aviation. This begins with the concept of attitude (the relationship between the aircraft’s nose, as seen from the pilot’s seat, and the natural horizon line, where the earth meets the sky) and adds the variation of power to achieve performance. To be forever inscribed in the student’s cerebrum, we chant “Power Plus Attitude Equals Performance” as we write it across the cockpit on a chalkboard of air. Pull the nose up, but with the throttle reduced, and no climb results; it’s plain to see, half of the equation is in error. Add full throttle, but with the nose on the horizon, and only noise happens—there is no climb. Again, one half of the required inputs is wrong. Only when BOTH power and attitude are correct does the desired performance take place, something that must be learned for each maneuver we use in our flying.

To complete the four fundamentals, we then demonstrate the glide maneuver, as an antithesis to the previously-learned climb. What goes up eventually has to come down, and there’s a proper, precise way to descend for a landing, just as there’s a way to maximize climb performance. The power setting is reduced to dead idle, to emphasize that the engine is not totally necessary for flight. We note that the nose is now heavily weighted toward dropping over into a hands-off dive, so we have to oppose this nose-heaviness with back pressure on the yoke until a handful of trim adjustments are made. By now, the airspeed has slowed to the best-glide number and we point out the nose attitude, which is below level-flight position. Obviously, we’re traveling down a hill, but at a stable rate of descent, in full control. There is, then, no immediate danger when the engine’s power is taken away, although an eventual landing will result.

The point made, power is reapplied and trim reset to level cruising flight. The student has now flown in all four regimes of flight; climb, turn, straight-and-level, and glide. That’s all there is to know, we stress; all else is based on those four basic maneuvers. Not only can you do it, it’s been proven; you’ve already done it. All you need now is practice and development.

Inquiring minds often want to know, before the first flight, “how much of the flying will I get to do?” My answer is always “most of it,” because we’re not out for a ride, but rather for a flying lesson. There should be no wasted minutes, so from the time the checklist is picked up, the student should be involved in a tactile sense. The first time out, I’ll hold the checklist and read it with the student, but they will move the control or switch in response. Once we’re safely underway and I’ve demonstrated the proper ground steering technique, taxi control is passed to the student and they learn how to follow a yellow line, slow down for turns, apply the brakes and watch out for the protruding wingtips.

Instruction in ground handling continues throughout the pre-solo phase and beyond. Often given short shrift in training, control of the aircraft on the ground should be honed continually. While it’s easy to learn how to steer a tricycle gear airplane, sloppy taxiing creeps in unless the instructor insists on correct technique. Even when they’re inert, one must hold onto the flight controls, in anticipation of encountering a wind gust or prop wash. Taxi on the centerline, not in a parallel universe off to one side, and reduce speed for turns by throttling back in advance to minimize the need for brakes. Brakes, I always maintain, are a substitute for brains; plan ahead so you won’t need them (except for airplanes built without nosegear steering).

Concepts for ground handling are foreign to nearly all beginning students; the throttle does not snap closed on its own, like a car. Rather, it requires a manual pull to achieve an idle. The primary steering control on the ground is accomplished with one’s feet, with the hand-operated controls relegated to a secondary role. In the air, the situation is reversed—hands are primary, feet are secondary, and during takeoff and landing, there is a shift from one system to the other. A beginning student has to absorb all this, and they need to be assured that it’s normal to spin the control yoke frantically from one side to the other until foot-steering becomes second nature, which can take five lessons or more.

The first takeoff or two are a shared responsibility; the student has already learned how to taxi, so following a runway centerline while the airplane accelerates toward liftoff is no mystery. I will take care of raising the nose when airspeed is sufficient, and point out that the airplane lifts off entirely on its own, the result of speed creating lift with the wing at a high angle of attack. By the time we’ve accelerated to V_Y, where the airplane will be in trim, I can turn the controls over to the student and begin the teaching of fundamentals. The next time we take off, I’ll track the centerline for the student, while they raise the nose and fly through the liftoff, and if all goes well the third takeoff is all theirs.

This does not mean, of course, that instructors can retreat from responsibility, most particularly when flying close to the ground. Never, ever, doze with unguarded controls when the runway is near. Even students with several lessons under their belt can react unexpectedly, and it only takes an instant to damage a nosewheel, depart the runway edge or zoom upward into a stall. I maintain, only half facetiously, that students teach themselves to fly. I am only there to protect life, limb and property, and to shorten the process by explanation, demonstration and tedious repetition.

CLEAN-UP WORK

The first few lessons are where we must slip in the tidbits of instruction that have to be learned to foster understanding. Once the process of turning is learned, by entering a bank and rolling out of it, we have to answer the unvoiced question, “but what about the rudder? I thought it had something to do with turning the airplane.” And so it does, but only in a secondary role, I say. Its primary purpose is to swing the nose from side to side, something that’s not normally desired. However, a turn begun without rudder input, I demonstrate, is a sloppy, hesitant maneuver, and the aircraft occupants are tossed sideways until the turn stabili...

Table of contents

• COPYRIGHT
• BIO
• FOREWORD
• INTRODUCTION
• CHAPTER 1: FUNDAMENTAL FOUNDATION
• CHAPTER 2: CHANGING PACE
• CHAPTER 3: TRACING A PATH
• CHAPTER 4: GAUGES AND GADGETS
• CHAPTER 5: CIRCUITS AND NON-BUMPS
• CHAPTER 6: THE ART OF ARRIVAL
• CHAPTER 7: ALONE AND ASSURED
• CHAPTER 8: PUSHING ON
• CHAPTER 9: THE WORLD BEYOND
• CHAPTER 10: THE PROVING RUN
• CHAPTER 11: BABY STEPS, BIGGER STEPS
• CHAPTER 12: IN PURSUIT OF KNOWLEDGE
• CHAPTER 13: ESCAPING WEATHER
• CHAPTER 14: DEMONIC DARKNESS
• CHAPTER 15: EMERGENCIES
• CHAPTER 16: IN PURSUIT OF PERFECTION
• CHAPTER 17: THE FINAL TEST
• INDEX