Fright instructor
This is a reflection on my current experience as a flight instructor. As some of you know, I'm instructing an initial CFI applicant and trying to get him ready for his checkride before my time here is up. I thought before that I was too immature as a CFI to take on this task, but the help God sent my way through Stefanie Gates and J.C. Harder is uplifting my eyes to see that God is helping me. And with Him everything is possible. Moreover, as i have given my CFI student ground lessons and critiques on his own ground lessons, stuff comes into my head and words come out my mouth that i never conceived before. God is making all grace abound to me so I can be sufficient in this (2 Corinthians 9:8), so I am thankful to Him for that today.
I am also thankful that He is keeping me alive! I discovered more vividly today that my student is not so keen as to the location and/or importance of the airplane relative to the centerline (The centerline is the place where, if you stay over it at all times, you're guaranteed to not hit anything along the runway edges). We flew during this screwy-wind day, and I found I should not have let him takeoff or land by himself, especially since he has just a couple landings and takeoffs from here under his belt. On both takeoff and landing, we were flirting with probably a 10-foot displacement from runway centerline. And he didn't think a thing of it! Understanding the geography of our strip, one knows that such a diversion from the ideal can quickly turn fatal if one is not active to correct it. I am aware that the right seat is new to this guy, but if I can't instill the value of sticking the airplane over the middle of the runway, then i'm letting him be a dangerous pilot and CFI. I've was a little frightened today, something i've not had to feel in awhile. I usually see and avoid the danger before it gets close enough to frighten me. But today I was instructed that i can be frightened. A goal of mine, therefore, is to turn my little fright instructor into a flight instructor.
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On a side note, i won't claim personal infallibility as either a pilot or flight instructor. I am still clumsy with airplanes. When back-taxiing on Hal's strip on Sunday, I strafed a branch with the right wing because I wasn't paying enough attention. Then on Monday, while my CFI student was taxiing down the Gakona strip, we strafed an even larger branch because we both were not paying attention. The first worst part of that is it could have been a tree stump. The second worst part of it was that Dwayne saw it happen! He did the hands-on-the-head and was gasping in horror like he does when something terrible happens. I was very penitent that I allowed us to hit a branch with the airplane. Nothing was damaged; it left just a small streak of discoloration on the leading edge.
More confessions: i forgot to close my flight plan that day. i forgot to close my flight plan the next day. I didn't put the fuel cap back on the left tank after I refueled it and did a speedy preflight that didn't include checking the fuel caps. My CFI student found out about the missing fuel cap during his preflight today and told me about it. Then I remembered.
In the future, i will wear something around my finger or wrist to remind me to close my flight plan. I will take a step back in preflight and look at the airplane as whole.
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I am also thankful that He is keeping me alive! I discovered more vividly today that my student is not so keen as to the location and/or importance of the airplane relative to the centerline (The centerline is the place where, if you stay over it at all times, you're guaranteed to not hit anything along the runway edges). We flew during this screwy-wind day, and I found I should not have let him takeoff or land by himself, especially since he has just a couple landings and takeoffs from here under his belt. On both takeoff and landing, we were flirting with probably a 10-foot displacement from runway centerline. And he didn't think a thing of it! Understanding the geography of our strip, one knows that such a diversion from the ideal can quickly turn fatal if one is not active to correct it. I am aware that the right seat is new to this guy, but if I can't instill the value of sticking the airplane over the middle of the runway, then i'm letting him be a dangerous pilot and CFI. I've was a little frightened today, something i've not had to feel in awhile. I usually see and avoid the danger before it gets close enough to frighten me. But today I was instructed that i can be frightened. A goal of mine, therefore, is to turn my little fright instructor into a flight instructor.
---
On a side note, i won't claim personal infallibility as either a pilot or flight instructor. I am still clumsy with airplanes. When back-taxiing on Hal's strip on Sunday, I strafed a branch with the right wing because I wasn't paying enough attention. Then on Monday, while my CFI student was taxiing down the Gakona strip, we strafed an even larger branch because we both were not paying attention. The first worst part of that is it could have been a tree stump. The second worst part of it was that Dwayne saw it happen! He did the hands-on-the-head and was gasping in horror like he does when something terrible happens. I was very penitent that I allowed us to hit a branch with the airplane. Nothing was damaged; it left just a small streak of discoloration on the leading edge.
More confessions: i forgot to close my flight plan that day. i forgot to close my flight plan the next day. I didn't put the fuel cap back on the left tank after I refueled it and did a speedy preflight that didn't include checking the fuel caps. My CFI student found out about the missing fuel cap during his preflight today and told me about it. Then I remembered.
In the future, i will wear something around my finger or wrist to remind me to close my flight plan. I will take a step back in preflight and look at the airplane as whole.
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posted by Radar | 9:00 PM
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