This is a question for you CFI's out there. I have a student who is nearing the end of his instrument training but is still having quite a bit of difficulty. I think it all boils down to a lack of confidence. His knowledge isn't that bad and he can fly an airplane ok, but he can't demonstrate that he can do everything on his own. He is constantly behind the airplane.

I am constantly having to remind him to do his checklists and tell him what to say on the radios. Every time approach gives him a clearance or instruction he then looks at me and asks if we should do what the controller told him to do. He also begins over-controlling anytime his workload increases. He also demonstrates very poor situational awareness and judgement. To give you an idea, recently while VFR and practicing holding patterns, approach told him there was traffic inbound to the VOR he was holding over at the same altitude and only a short distance away. He failed to acknowledge the controller or take any corrective action to avoid the other traffic. When asked if he heard the radio call, he said he did but showed no concern for the other traffic and continued holding at that altitude.

I give him positive reinforcement when he does something right and have tried to let him fly approaches, holds, etc. without any help from me to try and build his confidence. I literally have had to sit on my hands and let him fly, brief approaches, talk on the radios, etc but he continues to be behind the airplane. It seems as if he has plateaued the last several weeks as he is not making any real progress. I am trying to arrange for him to do a flight with another instructor so maybe he can hear it from someone else other than me, but it is likely that won't be possible for another week. I am confident if I were to sign him off for a checkride he would not pass on the first attempt.

Any tips or advice would greatly be appreciated.

 

From what you describe, it sounds like the student may really be sub-par.

- Attempt to determine if the student is doing sufficient outside prep (chair flying, listening to ATC freqs, practicing radio calls, etc.)

- Use the sim, if you haven't already, to solidify his comfort level with various IFR tasks before going back into the airplane.


If this doesn't work, you have to look at the students goals:

- Commercial wannabe: You may have to explain to this guy that his odds of making it as a professional are low. IFR is the meat-and-potatoes of professional flying, and a low aptitude for multi-tasking is not a good thing. It is possible that he can eventually "get-it" by spending extra time and money training, but his first airline job will NOT provide extra training when he struggles with the simulator.

- Recreational Pilot: If he's willing to spend extra time and money, he may be able to get it done by brute force. HOWEVER...he needs to be warned that his low multi-tasking ability makes him a high-risk IFR pilot...ie he needs to be VERY careful about using his ticket in IMC, if he uses it at all.

It's blows to have to have this conversation, but you owe it to the student to provide an honset appraisal.

 

Thanks rick.

He wants to fly commercially and you make a good point. We fly again this afternoon and I'll emphasize that. We've used the sim quite a bit but the result is the same. I'll also assign him a different approaches today than the local ones we routinely practice to give him something new. We'll have to go out of our way a bit, but I think it will be well worth it. Thanks again!

 

Sounds like he needs to learn how to be a private pilot first. Not everyone can get all their ratings in 100 hours. He may very well turn out to be a good all around pilot but it sounds like he is way behind the aircraft. He sure seems overwhelmed at this point.

Unfortunately for professional pilots.....Wannabes get to play on our playing field. If you don't think he is ready, don't sign him off. He will be flying in our airspace.

 

This is the most important thing you can do, or I guess not do.

On with what's actually wrong with your student. How many hours/week are you flying? Could it just be a general over-load of information on top of daily life issues? You're idea of another instructor flying with them is great!!! I recommend it to all CFI's to split time with anothers' students, especially when some kind of problem occurs, or it's coming up on check-ride time. Everyone learns differently and it's just about finding that certain way to bring it across to them.

You are doing a great thing, and as a fellow CFI-I I'm glad you brought up questions about a problem student. I had the same problem, except my guy was an older, recreational pilot. I doubt he'll ever be 100% proficient. Been there, done that, unfortunately I never saw the end of his training(not sure if he did finish or not even) since I moved on in the career.

Good Luck!!!!

 

Thanks for everyone's posts so far. I appreciate everyone's input.

Ewf -- we fly anywhere from 1 to 3 times a week. At the moment we only have two instrument trainers and about 50 - 100 instrument students so scheduling is a pain in the neck. He did ok this afternoon, not to PTS, but better so thats good i suppose. Today we went back to review some BAI and then shot a VOR approach where the final approach fix is a NDB magnetic bearing from an NDB 15 miles away.

 

Getting back to basics is a good thing. In the zeal to get people finished fast or when picking a student up from a different instructor I've noticed that something critical was missed and is now painfully obvious.

I'd break it down a bit like you're doing, then build back up with an emphasis on flying the plane first and foremost.

 

Hey multipilot, I feel I am that student for a reason or another. I am just about to finish my IFR training, and I do the exactly same things that your student does. I am not an instructor, but I can give you a feedback from the other sit. I work full time (is your student working?) and I am studying full time. I try to fly as much as I can since my goal is to fly commercial. When I fly during the week, it is usually late after work, so that all my energy are gone by then. Concentration at that point of the day is fairly poor. I try to do the best I can, listen to liveATC every morning, practicing with COMM1sim, flight simulator, etc.. The only thing I do not do often is "chiarflying", which I believe is really helpful. My instructor is great, but sometimes I feel like I am too "pampered". Like you were saying about trying to stay ahead of the plane. He takes corrective action before I realize that I made a mistake. For instance with radio com. If I dont answer the radio after the first call, He will do it automatically so that after a couple of times I think that it is ok not to answer or I just think that he will do it out of pitty. Also there is always a friendly relationship between us so that I feel he does not want to tell me what he really thinks about my way of flying.
Another point is that I am part 141 and the syllabus we are using has just two stagechecks. I feel like I need to fly with some other instructor to have a different opinion.
I hope I am not that student but the things you said, really opened my eyes about my future. I think that us students need to know what you instructors think. Even if that means that flying is not our destiny.

 

Baron,

It's one thing to have difficulty because of that pesky thing called life getting in our way. I think at one point or another we all experience that. However, there are some people that simply don't belong in a plane for a variety of reasons. Some simply don't grasp it.

When I was a "new" instructor (I've only been doing it for a year, still learning new things every day) I had a commercial student who had been flying for a few years and had as many or more hours than I did tell me "I know how to fly, don't touch anything when I make a mistake unless it's going to kill us". Not realizing it, I was stepping in every time he made did something such as missing a checklist item. As a result, he was constantly missing these items. Since then I've done my best to just make a note of it or step in only when the situation dictates it.

If you feel your instructor is doing too much pampering as you put it, tell him to stop. He's not doing either of you any good. Once my student had this talk with me, I noticed a vast improvement in his progress as well as many of my other students who were at a point where I didn't need to "hold their hand" as much as a 3 hour student.

 

I've been stuck being the instructor to tell a few guys flying might not be their thing. It sucks. If you and the other instructor(s) who work with a student come to this conclusion, there is nothing like letting the student fly the sim into a mountain, and then having the "talk".