nathanm@hp-pcd.UUCP (nathanm) (08/14/84)
The following was mailed to me as a response to my article requesting
opinions on the relative merits of SOBs versus mellow flight
instructors. It's a good article from someone at a site which is
incapable of posting to the net; I'm posting it with the author's
permission.
Nathan Meyers
hp-pcd!nathanm
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It is my opinion that the "old fashioned" shouting bear type of
instructor has no place in aviation. But then neither does Mellow Marvin.
A flight instructor should be fair, firm and friendly. Please let me explain.
Fair means that every student is treated exactly the same making only
allowances for personal backgrounds. Obviously an M.E. is going to pick up
flying a bit faster than, say, someone who has never had any technical
schooling. Fair also means being reasonable --- after all even student pilots
are human. Sometimes they feel down and just don't perform. We must be
understanding in these matters.
Firm means that we must hold and demand high --- indeed very high ---
standards of performance. So high in fact that when the check-ride comes
it's a "piece of cake". But the check-ride to which I allude is not with
the examiner: It's the one you get when the engine quits on take-off in
actual at 250 AGL in the soup. There is no room in flying for second-rate
performance. That kind of stuff gets folks killed! And it is the moral and
ethical responsibility of each and every instructor to not "sign off" his
student until that student is really ready. The regulations are nothing
more than minimum standards --- legal is not necessarily safe! For example,
no person should be signed off until she/he can safely demonstrate spin
entry and recovery from both the erect and inverted positions.
Friendly means that a flight instructor can't just be an impersonal
source of tutoring. A machine can do that. A student must have both faith and
genuine respect in and for the instructor. I don't really have faith, nor do
I really respect, folks I can't get to know. And the instructor must have
respect for the student. An instructor must decline a student if, on either
part, faith and respect is lacking.
So to answer your question of which is the better, I think neither.
All the "shouter" does is to make an already noisy cockpit noisy-er! And
Mellow Marvin probably won't have the guts to roll the bird upside down and
spin it. In either case the student is the loser. And that is exactly what
we need to strive to change. I would suggest to you two books which sum up
everything I hold dear in the philosophy of flight: Safety After Solo by
John Hoyt, (c) 1957 by Pan American Navigation Services, second edition,
LC # = 57-8283 (no ISBN number) and Happy Flying, Safely by Duane Cole,
(c) 1977 by Cole published by Ken Cook, Milwaukee, Wis. LC # = 77-79892
(again, no ISBN number).
These two guys have an impressive background of flying and instructing
and I have used their techniques for several years now. And I am very pleased
to say that using the techniques that they have taught me, with the grace of
God, I have never had a student screw up and get into trouble. Without
exception, they have all made the proper decisions before the situation became
critical thus avoiding a problem.
The superior pilot is he who demonstrates
his superior understanding so he will not
have to demonstrate his superior ability!
Nathan, there is no need for anyone to ever get hurt in an airplane.
It is our own ego that is the problem. But using the Fair + Firm + Friendly
technique we can train ourselves and our students to work around that. We can
create a new generation of really competent flyers who can shoot an ILS back-
course and execute a quadruple vertical outside snap roll with equal ability.
And with that I send you my warmest regards and the hopes for a long
lifetime of happy flying, safely!
Bill Wagner
ATP, CFIA&I, CGIB&A, UAW.
(hp-lsd!hplsdqa!bill)