Instructors

Helicopter Flight Information

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Instructor Qualifications

There aren't that many exceptionally good ones, so when you find one, stay with him or her.

There are many issues that some students face with a new instructor. Some of those issues are; The instructors age, his or her experience, sometimes how the instructor got his or her ratings, and more. Here we address a few of those issues, and some other important instructor issues that need to be discussed.

Age:

Does age really make a difference? Of course it can, we all know that. How much experience can a 25 year old have? It doesn't take a scientist to figure that one out does it? The fact of the matter is, age can make a difference, but that does not mean that it will. There are young instructors who are very well qualified, and likewise, there are older instructors (and pilots) who may not have the qualifications that an unknowing person might envision that they had. Perhaps the older person got his or her rating after retirement, and only looks more experienced.

The bottom line on age is that although it can make a difference, it may not. Don't be hasty to judge a person based on age alone. All pilots must meet certain flight experience to qualify for a given rating so if someone holds that certificate, it is certain that he or she has put forth a lot of effort to do something right.

Where age will come into play is when that pilot has also logged a load of hours. Then you will likely benefit a little more than with a pilot who does not have the hours.

Flight hours:

How many hours does an instructor have. Well, quite frankly, it doesn't take much experience to get an instructor rating as strange as that may seem. An instructor rating is the lowest paying pilot position that a new pilot can get into, and consequently, most students with a career goal will become instructors themselves.

The fact of the matter is, although not common, there are occasionally 500-hour pilots who fly like they have 1000, and 1000-hour pilots who fly like they have 500. There is no way to know until you learn the facts, and ultimately that means flying with the pilot.

In most cases, pilots with thousands of hours of experience have more to offer a student, however there are some pilots who never stop flying like a hotshot. It will get them sooner or later, of that you can be sure.

The bottom line is, if you are not happy with your instructor you should ask for a different one, or change schools. It is never acceptable to fly with an instructor who makes you feel uncomfortable in any way.

On occasion, a student may encounter an instructor or even an examiner who yells; this is unacceptable and should not be tolerated. This is also true with profanity, which is completely unacceptable. Professionalism in flight training is mandatory.

Professionalism (most important):

This is what separates the good from the bad. Some instructors are just clowns working to build enough hours hoping to move onto another job. This shows in their flight technique, and also in their communications habits. Just listen on the radio at your local airport, in time you will see who the clowns are. This behavior is unacceptable in the training environment, and in aviation overall.

Instructors must exhibit the best examples for their students. This includes not only their best flying skills, but strict adherence to procedure and communications technique. Never should an instructor joke about serious matters when performing the duties of Flight or Ground instruction.

Cowboy Flying

There are times when some instructors will exhibit wild flying habits. Some of this will include flying until dangerously low on fuel, and other unsafe techniques. Remember that running out of fuel creates an actual emergency that can have disastrous results.

Some pilots refer to a particular flight technique as "yanking and banking". This means abrupt control inputs among other things. This is inappropriate to say the least, and never acceptable.

What all pilots need to know and remember is that when things go wrong while flying a helicopter, they go seriously wrong. There is no going back. The helicopter will be seriously damaged, and occupants can be seriously injured or killed.

If an instructor ever says, "don't you try this", you are about to see something that is seriously dangerous and the pilot flying the aircraft should not be doing it either.

It is never acceptable to display flying techniques that are contrary to normal flight training for the particular level of flying that the pilot will do in the real world.

There are old pilots and there are bold pilots, but there are no old bold pilots.

Teaching and then forbidding maneuvers

There are maneuvers that must be taught, and also that the instructor may forbid students to practice on their own for a period of time. This is acceptable and necessary. All instructors should restrict their students from practicing dangerous maneuvers while solo, or while their flight time is low. This is due to the fact that the students just don't have the judgment nor the experience to fly those maneuvers.

Overconfidence can kill people.