by Michael Schuster, Chief Instructor, Aviation Solutions
At one of our recent Flight Instructor Refresher Courses, we had an unusually large number of Class 1 and Class 2 flight instructors in attendance. We put their collective efforts together as part of a special assignment. We asked them a question, and their responses were near unanimous—whether the instructor worked at a small school, or a large one.
We asked them:
“What would you like new flight instructors to know about their role in supporting the instructor supervision program?”
Here are their answers:
- Follow the instructions laid out by your chief flight instructor (CFI) or supervisor. Whether in an Operations Manual or verbal, they are there for a reason you may not be aware of yet.
- Conduct training in accordance with the school’s syllabus, policies, handouts, and procedures. There is a reason those were developed the way they were. If you have an idea to improve them, please share with your CFI so that it can be evaluated by experienced eyes. If it’s a good idea it will be incorporated for everyone. If there is a problem with it, the CFI will explain why the change can’t happen.
- Whether a CARs requirement or a company requirement, both are equally important. Company requirements are there to address CARs requirements or other issues that have come up in the past. If you are unsure why you are required to do something, just ask.
- The CFI and supervisors are there as mentors and it’s normal to have questions. Please ask as soon as you run into concerns with a student; don’t think you have to fix it on your own—it can result in unnecessary stress and cost.
- Supervision isn’t just about a supervisory flight. It’s about briefings, preparatory ground instructions (PGIs), groundschool, planning training, paperwork, and everything else in the flight school environment—supervisors support all aspects of this.
- Supervision should be an ongoing dialogue, not a single top-down event. Take initiative, ask questions, and work as a team with your supervisor. Then when a need for an additional supervisory event comes up, it doesn’t have to be a big issue.
- Standard 426.22 (5) (b) requires supervision of all flight instructors, of any class, working at an FTU. Two supervisory flights for Class 4 instructors is simply a minimum floor. The CFI determines how and to what extent supervision will take place, based on a variety of factors. Best practice in industry for newer instructors is that each student gets a supervisory flight every 10 hours. During this flight the supervising instructor samples a variety of exercises and may teach a new topic as well.
- Paperwork is a required part of the job. PTRs, logbooks, and licence applications need your constant attention to ensure compliance with the CARs. It also provides a customer-service-driven training experience.
All of the above are indicators of your professionalism as a flight instructor. There is a lot to instructing, and no one expects everyone to know everything. But there is an expectation that instructors know and follow the foundational regulatory and company requirements, which create a safe and effective training environment.
Be sure to keep an on-going and open dialogue with your supervisor; they are there to be a mentor. And if you find that your supervisor isn’t providing the guidance described above, take the time to ask.
A version of this article originally appeared on aviationsolutions.net. Michael Schuster is an experienced Class 1 flight instructor who has taught at all levels, from ab initio to airline. He is the Chief Instructor at Aviation Solutions, which is an authorized Flight Instructor Refresher Course provider for rating renewal.