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Old 02-20-2009, 10:47 PM
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RVSM Certified
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Joined APC: Feb 2009
Posts: 52
Default Tailored Flight Training? [very long]

I care about the details. Details matter to me. Structure, protocol, mode, strategic, procedure..., these are the words that define my professional life. This is how my brain works. This is how I learn best. I need some help here guys in figuring something out.

I'd like to ask a question about whether or not tailoring my flight training to match the way my brain works best, is the right thing to do, or a waste of time, energy and effort.

Here's what I mean:

Every flight (it seems to me) can be broken down into six (6) major segments:

1) Take-Off
2) Climb
3) Cruise
4) Descent
5) Approach
6) Landing

1,2,3,4,5,6. (not including ground ops - only flight ops).

Every student pilot has to demonstrate that they can manage the aircraft through these six segments (including ground ops, specific aircraft maneuvers, written and oral exams), according to the PTS outline.

Not every student learns every subject at optimal levels the exact same way. This is because as human beings, we don't perceive the world around us in exactly the same way. Some of us filter the world around us visually, some kinesthetically, some auditorially. Many filter the world around them through neurological filters comprised of visual, kinesthetic and auditory ratios to one magnitude or the other.

I just happen to be a visual/kinesthetic split with a fairly low threshold for auditory penetration. If you start "talking" to me, then I have to really work hard at "hearing" what you are "saying" to me. But, if you "show me" what you desire to communicate to me and allow me to "see" the "picture" you are "painting" for me and then allow me to "touch" and "feel" that "idea" or "concept" that you are attempting to communicate, then I catch on lightening quick. All because, I'm a V/K split. I need to see it FIRST and THEN touch it SECOND. That allows my brain to transform the communication into meaningful knowledge at a much faster rate and at a more optimal level of neurological saturation.

Ok, since that's how I learn things the best - here's my question:

Is it possible, to put ALL flight training into a Visual Matrix reminiscent of a Flow Chart, containing all questions that can be asked about the six (6) major segments of flight: What, Who, When, Where, Why, How?

What would this flow chart look like?


[Begin]
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What: Take-Off
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Who: Executes the take-off?
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When: Is the take-off executed?
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Where: Is the take-off executed?
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Why: Is the take-off executed?
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How: Is the take-off executed?
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Notes:
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[End]


There are literally no more possible questions to ask about the Take-Off. Once you learn those six questions - you know everything that can possibly be known about the Take-Off.

Now, envision this for an entire flight:


[Begin]
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What: Mission/Flight Profile
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Who: Plans & Executes Mission/Flight Profile
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When: Is Mission/Flight Profile Planned & Executed
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Where: Is Mission/Flight Profile Planned & Executed
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Why: Is Mission/Flight Profile Planned & Executed
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How: Is Mission/Flight Profile Planned & Executed
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Notes: IFR cross-country from KOAK to KSEA with navaids and alternates.
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[End]


Once again, there are no more questions that can be asked about the Mission or the Flight Planning process, once all these questions have been dealt with.

So, I think you get the idea behind this. Inside of each question of every matrix, there could possibly be another six dimension matrix depending on what is required to answer the parent question. A visual, parent to child relationship answering all questions that could possibly be asked about everything relevant to anything having to do with flying the aircraft.

Now, putting it together - take the first matrix given [Take-Off] and map it into the Mission/Flight Profile matrix. Where would you place it? You would place it under the "How" of Mission/Flight Profile. Why? Because "how" is the act of doing a thing and the Take-Off segment is one of the acts required to fulfill the Mission/Flight Profile. In fact, all six matrix clusters for each segment of flight, would be placed under the "How" inside the larger Mission/Flight Profile matrix.

As a student, you could put me in a chair, spin me around a thousand times until I puked on the floor, shove me inside the aircraft blindfolded and launched me up to any altitude along this KOAK to KSEA flight, take the blindfolds off and then asked me any quesion you liked about my planned flight to Seattle and I'd have no problem in pinpointing exactly where I am in the trip, how I got there and what comes next.

Why? Because if I'm in the aircraft and the aircraft is airborne, then by definition I must be in the "How" section of the Mission/Flight Profile. And, if I'm in the "How" section, I simply look at which "navaid" was encountered. At that point, I know exactly where I am and what comes next. I may have nausea, but I won't be clueless about what I'm doing next.

Of course, this is not the way I would suggest flying - dragging around a bunch of paper into the cockpit and reading a matrix in-flight. The idea here is that as a STUDENT, I could learn the fundamental elements of everything involved with successful flying by training my brain to think about the entire process of flying, like a large [Visual] flow chart.

Some of the components will be redundant, like "Who." That will typically be the PIC. For the components of the matrix that are not redundant, those would be the areas that I would focus on and study the most. Again, this is ONLY from a "learning" standpoint - not something I'd need to do once I became a proficient pilot.

The matrix would be just a visual learning aid that integrates the entire universe of flying into one organized, hierarchical, visual structure, where as a student train my brain to understand what comes "next" and why.

Imagine, not having to repeat the same things to your student, over and over and over again, only to have your student fumble around with their notes, trying to "recall" something their brain never properly categorized in their memory.

From something as small as practicing stalls to executing a cross-country flight, if a matrix is composed first, then the student can train their brain to answer all the procedural questions in existence, giving them the freedom to focus on the physical skills development necessary to carry out the "How" component more fluently. For me, it would create a lot more space in my brain to work on those things with my instructor that I naturally struggle with.

This is different than merely following a syllabus [which I think is a great idea]. The syllabus would still remain - not taking that away. What I'm talking about here is neurological mapping of the entire flight training process, into a visual/mental matrix that ultimately removes the fear that comes from not knowing what should happen next.

Ok, so - CFI tells student: "Hey, we will work on stall recovery on Thursday." Instead of student getting into their car and driving away with chapter and verse in a Jeppesen manual to read, student sits down with CFI and fills out a "Stall Recovery Matrix" answering the six questions about Stall Recovery. Now, the student can go home, read the next lesson in the textbook and begin the process of training the brain on the Stall Recovery Matrix for Thursday. Student arrives on Thursday with everything properly categorized in the brain for Stall Recovery training with the instructor.

Student now has no fear of not knowing what comes next because there are no questions outside the only six questions that can be asked. Though the student may not be able to perform the Stall Recovery perfectly the first time, the student's brain knows exactly where to go for the theoretical answer and there are only six places the brain needs to go for the answer with some of them being redundant and easily rejected as the source of the answer.

It is like turning your brain into a heat seeking missile for answers to questions. After that, it should be just a matter of physical skills development - mucle reflex. And a monkey can do that part. The hard part is training the brain to properly categorize information so that the "look-up" process is expedited within the neural net(s). That's what the Matrix does.

Does any of this make any sense relative to flight training? And, would you be able to help your student build such a tool as their CFI?

I think of this as FMS for the STUDENT's brain. [my brain] Not for actual flying, but for learning.
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