Flight Instructor issues....

[MadProfessor8138]

jedi.....I understood what you wrote and it's good information.
However,I'm going to disagree with you a little bit...and this statement is from my personal time with the instructor.
The instructor IS NOT seeing large corrections during my approach...he is seeing MINOR corrections of pitch and rpm and they are not constant.
My corrections are smooth and minor...
He just thinks that once on final you should be configured from that point all the way to the deck.

I just have differing opinions about a few issues when it comes to flying my plane.
Hopefully,I will work them out and we can get on the same page with each other.

Another issue that I have been having with him is carb heat.
I pull carb heat when passing the numbers and take it out before I turn onto final.....
The instructor constantly tells me not to use the carb heat and that it's not neccessary....
Difference of opinion again......

Kevin

 

[bmcj]

The instructor IS NOT seeing large corrections during my approach...he is seeing MINOR corrections of pitch and rpm and they are not constant.
My corrections are smooth and minor...
He just thinks that once on final you should be configured from that point all the way to the deck.

MP, I’m on your side and this may be true, but if you were largely self taught, then you might not be in the best position to judge this for yourself. A flight with a different instructor or even a proficient Tomato Hawk pilot could confirm this objectively.

 

[Victor Bravo]

Yes but how will he find anyone else willing to be seen in a Tomahawk?

 

[Topaz]

Yes but how will he find anyone else willing to be seen in a Tomahawk?

I actually liked the Tomahawk.

 

[MadProfessor8138]

Thursday night I had a very skilled pilot fly with me in the Tomahawk so he could critique me.
I respect his opinion very much and paid attention to what he was saying.
He gigged me for the shallow banks,large pattern and the high landing speed.
I explained that the instructor gripes if I dont fly that way.
I literally heard him roll his eyes...lol
He then told me to fly the **** plane the way that I fly because he knows that I can fly it.
We shot about 8 landings flying the way that I fly and greased them all in.
When we taxied back in and I shut her down I told him to critique me on those landings.
His comment was " what's to say ?! Why the hell havent you soloed yet because you land better than most of the guys at our airport.".


Saturday morning.....fly with the instructor and grease about 10 landings.....same stuff...you're turning to steep,your pattern isn't big enough,you're correcting during your approach so it's not stabilized....etc,etc.

Kevin

 

[Topaz]

... Saturday morning.....fly with the instructor and grease about 10 landings.....same stuff...you're turning to steep,your pattern isn't big enough,you're correcting during your approach so it's not stabilized....etc,etc. ...

So, not to be difficult, but what exactly are you asking of us at this point? Every single answer has been, "go get a different instructor." Your own experience with someone familiar in-type was that how your instructor is telling you to fly the type is almost certainly wrong.

I know you said that "finding another instructor in my area is difficult," but I really don't understand what you're looking for from this thread. Validation that he's not a good instructor, for you, in this particular airplane? You have that. Suggestions as to what to do about it? You have that, too, but don't seem to want to adopt them.

How can we help you?

 

[Rockiedog2]

.you're turning to steep,your pattern isn't big enough,you're correcting during your approach so it's not stabilized....etc,etc.

Kevin

Sounds like he may be not only a poor IP but a general DA too. I only see one solution.

 

[bmcj]

MP, I see you live in the Midwest. There are probably lots of old time crop duster pilot’s out there that have instructors licenses from their earlier days but don’t instruct (or advertise) because they are dusting. If you can’t find an instructor through more a conventional search, try asking around the crop duster strips.

 

[Rockiedog2]

"During a "stabilized " approach....is it acceptable to make moderate pitch and power changes to stay on the glideslope and keep your approach stabilized?
Moderate adjustments not panic adjustments."

T
I.

Yes it's OK. Whatever it takes to stay on glideslope and speed. Not so much the power but it's not uncommon at all for pro pilots to make large and abrupt flight control corrections if the conditions require it. I've seen it many x. Usually TRWs around or CAT in hot arid conditions. In your case, it that's necessary you probably shouldn't have gone or you got caught out in deteriorating conditions. Regardless, it's whatever it takes. He's wrong when he says control movements indicate unstabilized. I wouldn't fool with him. It probably won't get any better. I've seen IPs like that and never have seen one change. I know one that teaches groundloops. Yeah...shoves the rudder to it on rollout to see if the student can save it. A definite DA. Some of em never do get it.
I'd probably do without before I stayed with him. Find Plan B.
Good luck

 

[MadProfessor8138]

Topaz.....for the most part ,"YES".
I'm a backwoods pilot that hasn't flown while being under a watchful eye nor have I cared about regulations & procedures while I previously flew.
I was taught to fly the plane....not quoted rules & regs when I was learning to fly.
So naturally I'm having a difficult time adapting to the policies that I will have to follow to acheive my PPL....its a lot of info to assimilate.
My basis for starting this thread was to ask whether my common sense about flying the Tomahawk was more appropriate than what the CFI is trying to teach with the manuals & regs.
I can't quote the books verbatim because I'm still in the learning stage and getting up to speed on appeasing the FAA/CFI/FLIGHT EXAMINER/ETC....
Therefore,I asked opinions if I'm the problem by not conforming or if I have a CFI issue that I need to resolve.
I think we have established that I need to seek out another CFI and I'm doing that.
So,YES.....I wanted confirmation that it wasnt my lack of knowledge that was causing the issue from guys on this Forum with much more experience with the FAA than myself.
I've come to respect many of you on this Forum and I value the opinions....
I know what needs to be done and I'm going to do my best to make it happen...

Kevin

 

[jedi]

MP;

Great! Now tell us where you are and perhaps someone can recommend a CFI for you.

 

[Mark Z]

First of all you’ll need to pass the knowledge test. Not only will you need to pass it, you’ll need to know the information you are tested on. Oral examinations can go on for hours and you’ll need to convince the examiner that you know the rules and regs for VFR flight in all airspaces. You’ll have to be good on navigation logs, performance charts, and weather. If you can climb this mountain he’ll let you fly him around. Flying the airplane is the easy part. The PP is the most difficult of the exams. You’ll need to want to get there much more than the feds are determined to discourage you.

 

[MadProfessor8138]

I'm located outside of Louisville Kentucky....

Kevin

 

[MadProfessor8138]

I've been making some calls today...
But the pickings are slim for CFI'S in this area.
I'll find one though....

Kevin

 

[Pops]

Only one I know in the area is Rich & Ginger Davidson, up the Ohio river at Lee Bottom airport, 64I , Handover , Ind.
About 30 miles NE from Louisville, Ky.

 

[BJC]

I ask the student what he would think as an airline passenger if the pilot went full power then idle as he flew the final approach.

That, plus no flare, equals former Navy pilot.


BJC

 

[Topaz]

Topaz.....for the most part ,"YES".
I'm a backwoods pilot that hasn't flown while being under a watchful eye nor have I cared about regulations & procedures while I previously flew.
I was taught to fly the plane....not quoted rules & regs when I was learning to fly.
So naturally I'm having a difficult time adapting to the policies that I will have to follow to acheive my PPL....its a lot of info to assimilate.
My basis for starting this thread was to ask whether my common sense about flying the Tomahawk was more appropriate than what the CFI is trying to teach with the manuals & regs....

Thanks for clarifying. That helps.

Yes, your current instructor is doing a poor job with you, IMHO. I don't like many of the ways he's teaching you to fly, and in particular some of the ways he's saying you should fly that particular kind of aircraft. They're directly in contradiction to the way I was taught (by a couple of different instructors, long irrelevant story) to fly the same type.

However, no, your "common sense" is not better than what you will learn from a qualified, capable, flight instructor that's a good match for your personality. We have comprehensive flight instruction because learning to fly is not really a "common sense" activity. Even though you "already know how to fly the plane," you absolutely do need to know the rules and regulations, and the so-called "FAA way" of flying the airplane. You can't "do it your way" effectively unless you know the "book" way to do it, so that you can find the strengths and weaknesses in that way of flying and then modify them to your own purpose.

In the end, too, you're going to have to know the rules, regs, and "FAA way" of flying to pass the Knowledge Test and your Practical Test as well. Those are the standards to which you'll be held as a pilot, and they've proven to be an excellent "starting point" on learning to be the best possible pilot for the kind of flying you'll be doing in practice.

I don't like how your current instructor is training you, no. But you need to have a good instructor, not just so you can "parrot" back the FAA spiel, but also to fill in the holes and knock off the rough edges on the piloting skills you've already developed.

"I think I know better than my instructor" is a really dangerous mindset for a young pilot. That may or may not be a fair assessment of what you're thinking, but it sure sounds like it from several of your posts. This instructor is bad, but they're not all bad. However hard it is to find a better one, it's not impossible, and "hard" shouldn't be used as an excuse to hand-wave away the value of instruction in general.

 

[MadProfessor8138]

Topaz......I agreed with 99% of your post except 1 thing,and let me clarify so you can better understand my viewpoint and then you can make a judgement on my position.
I absolutely agree that the "I know better than my instructor" can quickly bite you in the butt....totally agree with no aguments.
But when an instructor has you do things that you know,without a doubt,are wrong...then yes,I'm going to stand my ground.
Examples :
1. Having me take off from midfield of the runway on a balls hot day while we are at gross weight with half the usable runway behind us.....yep,I know better than the instructor.
2. Having me land at 75 knots when the plane has a stall speed of 53 knots,and she gets REAL SQUIRRELY on the ground at that speed.....yep,I know better than the instructor.
3. Telling me to quit using carb heat,even though it specifically says to use carb heat in the POH.
What happens when I forget to pull carb heat on the wrong day because he keeps teaching me that...yep,I know better than the instructor.
4. Frowning at me when I decided to abort a landing because we were low and slow on a very hot day while almost at gross weight...the plane was about to get ahead of me and I made the decision to get out of the situation before we got behind the power curve and paid the price......
I may possibly have been able to salvage the landing but why take the risk...I made the choice to play it safe...yep,I know more than the instructor.

I'm not trying to be arrogant by any means.....but common sense takes over and drives decisions at times.
You are free to judge my decisions from the few examples that I've given but I'm going to stand my ground and say that I know better.....

Kevin

 

[Topaz]

Topaz......I agreed with 99% of your post except 1 thing,and let me clarify so you can better understand my viewpoint and then you can make a judgement on my position.
I absolutely agree that the "I know better than my instructor" can quickly bite you in the butt....totally agree with no aguments.
But when an instructor has you do things that you know,without a doubt,are wrong...then yes,I'm going to stand my ground.
Examples :
1. Having me take off from midfield of the runway on a balls hot day while we are at gross weight with half the usable runway behind us.....yep,I know better than the instructor.
2. Having me land at 75 knots when the plane has a stall speed of 53 knots,and she gets REAL SQUIRRELY on the ground at that speed.....yep,I know better than the instructor.
3. Telling me to quit using carb heat,even though it specifically says to use carb heat in the POH.
What happens when I forget to pull carb heat on the wrong day because he keeps teaching me that...yep,I know better than the instructor.
4. Frowning at me when I decided to abort a landing because we were low and slow on a very hot day while almost at gross weight...the plane was about to get ahead of me and I made the decision to get out of the situation before we got behind the power curve and paid the price......
I may possibly have been able to salvage the landing but why take the risk...I made the choice to play it safe...yep,I know more than the instructor.

I'm not trying to be arrogant by any means.....but common sense takes over and drives decisions at times.
You are free to judge my decisions from the few examples that I've given but I'm going to stand my ground and say that I know better.....

Kevin

No argument with any of that. All I'm saying is, and this is based (possibly incorrectly, but it's what I'm seeing) on some of your replies here, please don't extrapolate that notion to all instructors. You need a good instructor. You don't have one right now. That's why everyone is saying that, despite whatever difficulties it may create, find a new one.

That's it.

 

[MadProfessor8138]

Topaz.....oh,I absolutely agree with you.
I'm not judging all CFI's by this because I know there are some good ones out there and I just need to find one.
I'm the type of person that will call b.s. when my common sense kicks in and would hope that I've been justified in my assessment of the sitiation...

Kevin