Originally Posted by
XHooker
Bryris, first let me say attitudes like this shouldn't be tolerated. If the sim instructor thought you weren't up to speed he should have failed you and given you some constructive critique and extra sim sessions. If he thought you were OK with room for improvement (which is apparently what he thought), he should have offered constructive criticism and sent you on your way. In no case is belittling someone acceptable. You should inform the head of your training department about this instructor and tell them what happened. I'll bet it's not the first time they've received complaints about this instructor and you owe it to your fellow pilots to speak up..
Exactly right. Sounds like the instructor is a jerk. Don't sweat it. It will come around to him eventually. One interesting thing that happens as you get more experienced is that you become just as, or more knowledgeable than you instructors. Pretty soon some instuctor is going to tell you to do something a certain way but you are going to have a strong opinion that it should be done differently. If you know what you're talking about, stick to your guns. Here is an example of what I mean:
A few years ago we had a sim situation of a cargo fire indication that would not go away. The ariport we just departed has now gone to Cat III mins or below. There are no other options in the immediate area. Most guys decide to make an autoland at the local departure ariport. (so far so good). On final something fails in the airplane to make a autoland unavailable. It's still working though. About this time the FA says the floor is hot. What do you do?
Most guys proceed with the autoland and see how it goes. They will hand fly below mins if necessary. Oh no! Not correct according to the instructor. He wants you to go around and fix the problem before trying again.
Well I can tell you that he got an ear full from most of the pilots. I don't think he is still instructing.
Originally Posted by
HSLD
Great thread!
The only think I'd add is remember that you're not burning gas, you're burning electrons when you fly the sim - configure EARLY and slow down so that you are nice and stable. On the line this would be draggin' it through the pattern, although in the sim I don't want anything rushed.
Use the autopilot whenever you can. On the line hand fly as much as needed to maintain proficiency, but in the sim your being checked on standards and procedures - let the airplane do as much of the flying so that you can do most of the thinking. The V1 cut for example is a handflown manuver up to minimum autopilot engage altitude when I'm getting the check, unload yourself and let the automation do it's job.
As everyone else has mentioned - know your profiles cold. Know what's required to fly those profiles - aircraft equipment, ground equipment, and pilot requirements (wx, currency, etc.). Add in the pitch and power settings for the sim and everything should be more relaxed for you.
Also great advice. Slow down. It is your checkride. If the guys wants you to fly 180 to the marker for trafic following you and you are feeling rushed just slow down. Do you guys have an ILS profile that is 180 to the marker? I didn't think so. As long as you fly the book proceedures you won't bust. Now the instructor may get upset but that is HIS problem. It is your checkride. If he starts yelling just call the ride off. Tell him/her you want a different instructor. He has no right to badger you or throw unrealistic curves at you. That being said you still might want to play his game to avoid the problems associated with calling off your own check ride.
One last thing. Sometimes we skate through thousands of hours without really getting good at a proceedure. That weakness can show up years later and bite you in the butt. V1 cuts for example.
I had a FO in the sim one time who was weak at V1 cuts. He made it but it was ugly. We happend to have a great instructor that day so he stopped the checkride and said, "Lets do some V1 cuts for a while." We did about 10 in a row. By the end the FO was nailing them perfectly. All he needed was a little more time. We are so used to "expensive" sim time and time pressures that sometimes we don't get enough training. That FO has probably never had a problem with V1 cuts again.