From the Log Book
Building A Pilot By Age 17
Truthfully and rightfully, I look at the job of teaching kids to fly as a chore simply because that’s what it is. I get calls from past students and friends in high places who tell me they are sending me a client, and the reason they are doing this is because they believe that I can do the job in the allotted time. Thanks, buddy!
Actually, in the beginning I treat them the same as I would an adult candidate, but that only lasts for a few moments. I do an initial interview with parents present and try to lay out the syllabus for the upcoming two years of meetings and training. Everything that is going to happen, on my part at least, can be programmed at this meeting. How the student is going to react is yet to be decided.
You must remember that the years between 14 and 17 are very formative periods, and a lot of changes are taking place. Remember also that the parents are looking for all the help they can get during this period and are certainly willing to pay for it.
What do I require? First and foremost the candidate must want to learn to fly. I don’t care what the parents say or how much they are willing to pay, the kid has got to be on my side from the start or this partnership is doomed for failure.
Second? Is there time in the kid’s schedule for the training to take its natural course? If this is to be just a fill-in between soccer and baseball or anything else, I’m out of the loop, and quickly, too.
Third? What brought on this interest in aviation? Heredity, insanity, daredevil urges? What I’m looking for is a tiny bit of maturity on the part of the kid to tell me that they really think this is a very formative period in their life and any type of education will help them be better prepared for the future. It usually doesn’t happen, but I’m still looking.
Fourth? Is this affordable? ($10,000 +/-) I do not want to start on this project if there is some chance we are going to have to stop because of funding. I have started on these projects knowing in advance that money was going to be a problem and had them work out just fine. I can find the future pilot a job, get them in Civil Air Patrol and try for a scholarship, and eight or ten other things if they are willing to put out the extra effort in order to learn how to fly. Some are, some can’t, some won’t.
Almost an hour has passed in the initial interview by this time, and we have really looked deeply into the souls of the parents, the student, and me. The next hour will be decision time for both sides. Remember, I don’t have to take this student nor do they have to decide on me. Fortunately for both of us, there are about 80,000 other flight instructors left in the world to choose from.
A course of action is now discussed and the demeanor of the instructor is described, his expectations, his demands of excellence, homework, skill level, time involved in each step, and some of the disappointments we can expect to work our way through as we progress to the 17th birthday and a Private Pilot’s certificate.
Throughout this two hour period, I have forced the kid to take part in the conversation, and I am weighing the answers and interest shown or not. We are both beginning to undertake a two year project to transform this youngster from where he is today into a member of a very elite society. Approximately 99.8% of the population of the United States does not fly an airplane; only l/20 of 1% does. One person out of 400 can fly an airplane . . . 660,000 pilots out of 270,000,000 people can fly. Our question is . . . can this kid do that? Do they really want to? Do we want to help them achieve this distinction? Is the family up to the strain?
If we both decide that it is doable, we are still going to allow both of us an out. Step checks, if you will, about every six weeks for the first few months. This allows the parents to see if this is going to be too tough on their little baby, it allows the kid to find out if the interest was just a passing fancy or not, and it allows me the leeway I need to get out of the relationship if all that I was promised does not materialize.
Does it happen sometimes? Yes, but not as often as you might imagine. The initial interview is so thorough that nothing is left to chance except a change of mind.
I personally fly with over 150 people in any given year if you count the flight reviews, instrument proficiency checks, pilot checkouts for my FBO, various children’s programs and aircraft checkouts for prospective new buyers. I also train pilots from student through Airline Transport Pilots and produce 15 or 20 flight instructors in a year. Last year I brought 31 people up to the level required for a successful checkride, and two of those were a part of my long-timers, as they call themselves.
I don’t know whether I was glad to see them finish or just proud to see what a partnership can accomplish given the right attitudes and enough time. But I certainly made a point of telling everyone who would listen what we had done and where they were going next in the education process and probably everything else we had done together in the past two years or so.
The learning process that we complete must be fully explained and planned and certainly funded. My kids or long-timers or slaves, whatever they are calling themselves today, are a very close knit group because out of all those I fly with in a given year only four or five make up their group.
They fly shotgun with 50 or more pilots during their training, holding down the back seat and listening and charting and making changes on a make believe flight plan because they know when we get back that first we debrief the front seat pilot with them present and then we start with the questions for the back seat rider. Questions that are just as tough and complete as the other guy’s questions . . . and we expect an answer. Otherwise the trip was wasted on their part, and I remind them of this quickly. We deliver airplanes together, their planning. We run to other airports and pick up stuff for the mechanics at our FBO, their planning. We go together when we check out new airplanes, and they get to spend time with and meet a couple of hundred pilots in this training period and learn how to interact with other humans. I along with a dozen real pilots make a point to take a couple with us to Sun & Fun, Oshkosh or Reno.
I watch them closely. I allow other instructors to fly with them so they can know there are many ways to skin the same cat as long as it’s done by the regulations and done safely. Together we visit the FAA and FSS. I require that they attend as many safety seminars as they can and critique them the next day to see what and if they learned anything.
In closing (the two greatest words any writer ever uses), I hope I have been able to convey to you, some parents who might read this, and certainly the prospect, or suspect, if you will, that should you decide to undertake this adventure, expect at least what you have read in this article. If it is done right, expect much, much more from you and the instructor. Actually, I kind of like to take them on. I am limited by time, but I still manage to keep four of five of them at a time to mix in with the others I work with.
No matter which category you fall into, look at this as a challenge that you do not wish to fail, and as an instructor look deeply within yourself before accepting this responsibility. If you give up, you will be marked as a failure forever, at least by the parents, the student, and me. If you don’t want to do it, just say so. Have the kid call me and I’ll try to work them in or find someone who can. Really!
Finally, and this time I am really going to close it up, the rewards. They are skimpy at best if you think of money as a reward because there is simply no way you could possibly be well compensated for your time and effort for a period of time that as yet has been unmeasured. Each candidate requires a totally different amount of time and training. However, I do get some personal rewards from time to time. A call from medical school where one is becoming doctor, a letter from the Naval Academy where another is becoming an officer, and calls from everywhere in between from lots of used-to-be kids who are flying, working, and going on with their lives, hopefully a little better because a flight instructor gave some extra time to a family that asked for some help as the kid was growing up.
I’m glad I was able to make that contribution of information and education, and I am so proud of all those who have made me a better pilot and flight instructor over the years. I swear to you, student pilots will keep you humble! And I usually need some help with that. I’ll see you at the airport!
JAMES E. (Jim) TRUSTY, ATP~IGI~CFI~AGI was named the FAA/Aviation Industry National Flight Instructor of the Year for 1997, and the first ever FAA Southern Region Aviation Safety Counselor of the Year in 1995 and then again in 2005. Comments, questions, complaints, or compliments, please e-mail them directly to him, ae Lrn2Fly@Bellsouth.Netwww.jimtrustycfi.com