Instructor Idiosyncracies

Over my years flying I have been fortunate enough to have been instructed by quite a limited number of people.

There was Aaron in Orlando who took me through my initial training. Then there was Simon at Thruxton who took me mostly through to my PPL check ride. The check ride itself was taken by Bob - a long time instructor and examiner. Since then I've done a couple of check flights and these have been taken with instructors I've not met before.

What is actually very interesting is the individual idiosyncrasies of the instructors themselves. Obviously my major influence was Aaron who took me for 75% of all the hours I've flown. I knew what he was looking for when flying, I was comfortable with his teaching style and we worked well together as a unit.

Simon was very similar. His teaching style was identical to Aaron's. He focused on the same things and conveyed the same sense of relaxation as Aaron. However, because of the differences in teaching between the US and UK he did tend to look at some things with a more critical eye than Aaron. This was good and I enjoyed it.

But having now taken 2 check rides with two other instructors it is obvious that there are 'pet' items that each instructor looks for.

For example. When doing a pre-engine shut-off, both Aaron and Simon would happily snap the key round to the off position several times to check that the magneto's cut out. One of my other instructors went apoplectic when I did that recently. He was convinced it damaged the engine and tried to stop me doing it.

Last week, for example I was doing a check ride, and as I turned downwind the instructor reminded my to do my landing checks. As I turned downwind! We had barely reached circuit height by then. I politely told him I usually left the checks until later, waited until we had turned base and started the checks. Then - as I dropped the Carb heat lever on - he put his hand over that and said 'Leave that on until we land now. The engine will be fine' Now I understand the issue with carb ice and how the heater is important - especially in cold weather - but I was sure that it is not recommended to leave the carb heater on for too long as it brings warm air directly from the engine bypassing the filter.

Ah well. It's the idiosyncrasies that make instructors different.

(Photo by Flyguy92586. Releases under a creative commons attribution, share-alike license)