New Private

So Jimmy my new private pilot had his first lesson today. We didn't go out flying, it was more of a get together and discuss plans and expectations. We talked about his goals, why he wants to do aviation, and what I can do as an instructor to meet his particular needs. I went over the importance of communication with him. I want to be able to do everything necessary so that this student excels and I feel proper communication is the key to that. I explained that I will be prompt to return his phone calls and I expect the same from him. We talked about the importance of being on time and how that will throw off everybodies flight schedule if we are not punctual. Preflight operations were also discussed, I expect a thorough preflight, knowledge of weather conditions, aircraft condition (maintenance), pilot reads, and a new weight and balance completed before each flight. We talked about the grading criteria and what kinds of things are considered valid absences and what are not. Overall the student seemed pretty excited and eager to begin his training, I am excited to instruct Jimmy.

New Student

So I have a new student that was transferred over to me because he couldn't coordinate schedules with his previous instructor. I went through their folder and it looks like they are a stage 5 commercial student, but they haven't actually flown the complex yet. It looks like they have completed the first lesson in stage 5. I checked to see if the instructor left any notes on the students performance, and it looks like there are some. The student appears to fly consistently, but has trouble finding time to prepare ahead of time for the lesson according to the notes. I need to go talk with the instructor about the students time constraints, activities, and academic constraints to figure out why this is the case. I would also like to see if the instructor can tel me a little bit about how the student performs in the air, and how they manage their workload. If any hazardous attitudes are present, what are they? If the instructor can shine any light on where the student is on their ground knowledge that would be helpful also. I will probably orally quiz the student on the ground and in the air to give me a basic idea of their knowledge level. If need be I may throw a briefing their way also to help refresh.

Stage I Private Student Pre-solo Issues

I have a student that is really struggling with landings. They are currently on lesson #8, and I don't think their landings will pass the stage check let alone allow them to solo. I was thinking of taking him on another review flight and seeing if any progress will be made. Perhaps a little time to relax might help too. I was thinking of giving the student a few days off, and then sending them up with another instructor. If after a couple flights with another instructor there is still no progress, I think I will need to go to the chief and see what she thinks.