There’s no hiding the fact that earning a pilot certificate will most certainly involve some study.  While certain topics will come easier for some, we all will face unique challenges and concepts we find difficult. We’ll also encounter regulations, procedures, checklists, and much more, deserving of additional study and effort to master.  And we’ll be better pilots for it and begin to formulate the right habits to maintain proficiency and the desire to continue learning.

 

Tip #1 – Schedule Study Time

Having trouble finding time to study? Try setting a scheduled, recurring appointment. Committing to specific days and times for your study will increase your likelihood of accomplishing your training on schedule and lessens the opportunity for distraction. Experimenting with various times of day to study can also be a valuable exercise to find your optimum energy level. It will also help you determine the right amount of study that’s right for you per session.

Once you’ve found that optimum time of day, try committing to the same time each study session to help reinforce the habit. Sporty’s video training is divided into small, manageable segments to make it easier to fit your schedule.

 

Tip #2 – Focus on Manageable Segments of Information

For some, having all of your training material in one convenient location can seem a bit overwhelming. But for others, this same grouping of resources makes it tempting to fit in as much as you can in one sitting.

While everyone is different, it generally helps to space your studying and focus on one topic at a time. Focus on general topics first and then on the fine details. It also helps to take frequent short breaks. This method will allow you to retain more of the information as it will be easier to remember the information that was presented first and last.

Finding the right length of study time for you and then making that study session a daily routine will allow you to still meet your goals in a reasonable time frame. Test yourself to identify deficient knowledge areas and then begin each session with a review of what you’ve previously identified as a weaker area.

 

Tip #3 – Notes Can Help

Taking good notes can help many students stay organized and provide a clear, succinct method for remembering key topics which can be reviewed.

Notes should be kept in the same location and as obvious as it sounds, kept in the same order as the course. The course is already organized to provide a logical, building-block approach to your learning. Dating each entry will also help with recall and provide additional motivation to stay on task.

While your notes should contain a complete record of general topics, it should not be a record of every word spoken. This will prevent you from truly understanding what is being taught on screen. When you study, your notes should call back to mind the entire sequence of topics presented. In a separate location from within your notes, make room to jot down terms or acronyms you may wish to expand on later or research further.

Also keep in mind that any text presented on screen or topics emphasized by the instructors are important and should be included in your notes. If possible, try to take your notes in some kind of outline form. The organization of ideas is as important as the content of those ideas, especially when it comes to learning the material for the exam.

Finally, you might find it useful to review your notes right away while the information is fresh and have a highlighter available for important ideas.

 

Tip #4 – Consider a Group Setting

Never underestimate the power of your peers, especially when working through difficult concepts with everyone working toward a common goal. Tapping into the knowledge and insight of your “partners” is an effective way to reduce your workload – and to make sure you understand the material. You might even forge some long-lasting friendships along the way.

Students tend to learn faster working within a group versus working alone. If you were working on your own, there is risk of wasted time puzzling over a specific topic. While working in a group setting, you have the opportunity to explain concepts, review material, exchange ideas, and disagree/reason with one another about why one person’s answer differs from another. You can seek clarification and learn faster working in a group setting while gaining personal skills.

There are always ways to enhance your studying methods/techniques in your study skills. Joining a study group will provide you the opportunity to observe a wide variety of study methods and incorporate them into your study habits. Additionally, studying by yourself can get boring and monotonous. A study group brings a positive social aspect.

Airmanship can be defined as the ability of a pilot to properly assess the environment in which the aircraft is operating and properly managing that aircraft taking into account both the aircraft’s and the pilot’s capabilities. Recently, there have been a number of high profile accidents that have focused attention on the airmanship of the pilot(s) operating the airplane.  Let’s examine a few of these, determine their relevance to our flying and see if we can improve our airmanship from the mistakes and success of others.

 

Maintain Thy Airspeed Lest the Earth Will Arise and Smite Thee

On July 6 this year Asiana Airlines Flight 214 was cleared for a visual approach to runway 28L at the San Francisco International Airport (SFO).  At the time of the accident the weather was reported as light winds with visibility unrestricted.  The Instrument Landing System (ILS) for that runway was not operational and a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) had been issued to that effect.  The Precision Approach Path Indicators (PAPIs) were working to provide glide slope advisories to the crew.  The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has not released its final report, but has provided preliminary findings.

During the last 90 seconds of the flight, the crew disconnected the autopilot and was hand flying the visual approach.  The target approach speed for the Boeing 777 was 137 knots.  During the final seconds of the flight, speed was allowed to decay to 103 knots or 25% below the desired speed.  As a result, the airliner with 307 people on board landed short of the runway shearing the main gear off on the seawall and losing its tail section. The aircraft slid 2400 feet before coming to rest south of the runway. Remarkably only 3 people died as a result of the crash and subsequent fire.

 

It’s an Airplane, Not a Wheelbarrow

In this age of skid-steer loaders and concrete pumps, you don’t see wheelbarrows around construction sites anymore.  That contraption, with its single “nose wheel” loaded with dirt or concrete, made moving the stuff possible because of the mechanical advantage of its second class lever. But was inherently unstable (we called it wobbly), because the load was significantly top heavy.  The unskilled, despite their brawn, would often dump their cargo short of its destination.  On July 22, Southwest Airlines flight 345 landed nose-gear first causing it to collapse.  The Boeing 737 with 149 on board careened down the runway like an out-of-control wheelbarrow.  16 passengers suffered minor injuries.  The NTSB reports the captain took control of the aircraft from the First Officer (FO) when the airplane was just 400 feet above the ground and seconds before touchdown.

 

If It Can Happen to Them, It Can Happen to Me

This report indicates nearly half (48.8%) of general aviation accidents occur during approach and landing.  Fortunately, probably because the airplane is travelling slow and is configured for landing, the fatality rate is very low.  So how can we learn from these highly publicized foul ups by highly trained flight crews in high dollar jets with the most modern avionics and flight control systems?  It may all go back to common sense – and airmanship.

I think I am fairly typical for most general aviation pilots.  I will painstakingly stick to the checklist for start-up and run-up,  diligently scan the runway for dogs and deer during the takeoff roll, and have suitable landing sites picked out during the climb should my one and only rubber band decide to break.  At some point, however, complacency will set in.  The engine is running, all the needles are in the green, the ride is smooth and I begin to feel as nothing untoward is going to happen.  I become less diligent.  During approach and landing I may be tired (long flight sitting in one place), dehydrated (pilots often self-dehydrate to avoid any in-flight urges or leaks) and maybe a bit hypoxic.  Everything has gone well to this point and chances are the approach and landing will go well too – until it doesn’t.  Complacency in the approach phase can allow us to get too low, too slow and land too short or be too high, too fast and try to force the aircraft on the ground – nose-wheel first.

As competent pilots we must stay spring-loaded to initiate a go-around.  While a botched approach, especially with passengers on board, may be a blow to our ego, a botched landing can be a more serious blow to our wallet and our certificate.  So prior to every landing, I like to squirm around a little bit, stretch as much as the confines of the cockpit will allow to help get the old blood flowing to my arms, legs and brain.  I like to turn off the auto pilot for a few minutes before I begin the approach – even if I am going to use it on the approach – just to get my body back into “flying mode.”  Prior to calling approach control, or about 10 miles out at a rural airport, I will tell my passengers that I have pilot stuff to do now and turn the intercom to isolate which is my version of the sterile cockpit rule.

I hope I can learn from the mistakes of others.  I try to be especially diligent during the landing – it’s when most accidents occur. Wadding up an airplane is NOT the perfect end to the perfect flight.