From The CFI

With the coming of the very light jets (VLJs), I’ve had many folks ask me just what jet type-rating training is like. Although it’s hard to evaluate the programs currently under development, there is a general format they will all have to follow: the Practical Test Standard, or PTS, provided by the FAA for the […]

As I mentioned in my last column, the best way to really learn your craft in aviation, the best way to become a better pilot — while not having to make the same mistakes others have already made — is to find a mentor. OK, that sounds easy enough — find a gray-hair and listen. […]

If you’ve read my previous columns, you know that I have advocated changing the way we train new pilots. The old, maneuvers-based training is no longer meeting the challenge of today’s technically advanced aircraft and the evolving national airspace system. We’ve got to spend more time teaching folks to make good, solid judgments and to […]

In a previous column I called for the need to change the way we train pilots and I suggested that scenario-based training (SBT) would be a way to meet the needs of the growing numbers of pilots who use their airplanes as transportation tools without leaving behind the purely recreational flyer. (After all, somebody has […]

After my last column on how to pass a checkride, one of you wrote in and asked for a column on how pilot examiners are chosen by the FAA and what kind of training and experience is required to be a pilot examiner. I thought that was a really good idea, and so here we […]

No one wants to fail when taking an exam, least of all a checkride for a pilot certificate. But there are some easy-to-learn ways of making sure that you pass your test on the first try, including how you train, what you study, whether your paperwork is in order and finally whether you can actually […]

Because of the nature of my job, I receive a lot of emails and phone calls from pilots wondering how best to prepare themselves for advanced training. This applies to any advanced training (beyond the instrument rating) from checkouts in high-performance aircraft to turbojet type-ratings. Now, there’s one disclaimer I need to make here and […]

You’ve heard it since you were a little kid — we all have. The old saw “practice makes perfect” has been drummed into us by mothers, piano teachers and just about anyone else who was trying to teach us anything. I’d be willing to bet that at some time or another, a flight instructor has […]

A lot of folks have been saying that the training system is broken. It is and it has been for several years. The advent of technically advanced aircraft has just made that breakdown more apparent. Now, with the coming of the very light jets (VLJ) there is much hand-wringing about “amateurs” in the flight levels. […]

A friend of mine called the other night. She’s a designated pilot examiner and we’ve known each other for almost 30 years. She had the usual list of complaints about the inadequacies of the current bunch of applicants she had examined. Very often, my friend arrives at the airport to administer a practical test only […]