CFI- Ideas for Instructional Aids
 

I’ll be going for the CFI practical test in about a month. During preparation, one of my instructor’s recurring criticisms has been the lack of spice in my lectures. Specifically, I need some interesting/entertaining ways to teach basic principles. For example, the blowing of air over the top of a piece of paper to demonstrate Bernoulli’s principle.


Also if you can remember any part of your training that left a particular impression I would be all ears. I’m specifically looking for anecdotes or anything that helped achieve a jump in learning or understand a difficult concept.


Lastly, I have a few die-cast model planes that I use for teaching. But what I really need is a sturdy model airplane with moveable control surfaces. I would be grateful if someone could point me in the right direction.

Thanks everyone.

One visual aid my instructor used years ago, that really stuck in my head, is he took the rim from a ten speed bike, and used that to demonstrate the gyroscopic precession principles. He would hold it by the axle and spin it both horizontally and vertically, then would aplly diferent force at different locations on it, so we could visually see the result. I thought it was very creative.

I always liked to use a door when explaining "moment" in weight and balance. The door knob is far from the hinge for a reason, obviously more leverage. That explains "arm" as well as the force applied. A little more practical in a classroom than the see-saw approach in my opinion.

I don't really understand what your instructor is saying. Honestly, unless you're a bore and not explaining things correctly, as instructors, we have one HUGE advantage over other types of teachers: People have come to learn exactly what we are teaching. Aviation is interesting. If it weren't you'd have no students.

That said, the aid I used most often were a whiteboard to draw, make lists, etc. Many other aids, especially things you buy at sporty's are way too specific to be worth the money. I also used a model airplane (on which were taped-on post-its for ailerons, etc). We had large fixed card ADF aid that I had a student hold as I pushed them around an empty room that had a cone in the middle as the NDB. The student had to determine their bearing, etc.

However, this is the "aid" that I found most helpful.
Tim's Air Navigation Simulator

I think that whole blow on the paper thing is just stupid and doesn't demonstate anything useful.... Some "examples" like that just dumb down the original point, if not miss it entirely.

Yep, I agree with you on the paper example. It was just an example.

Usually if it is systems based, the mx hangar is a great place to show how things work (i.e. govs, starters, alt air system, etc).

It may depend on the student - some are more theory/book based as others are hands on.