My 'Performance' On teaching Aircraft Performance..... the CFI training saga, continues..... :)

The week before was tough. I managed to finally catch the nuisance cold
that my wife had the previous week. I tried to make good use of the time
and study when I felt up to it.

My morning started with me going to my surgeon for an annual checkup for a
male breast exam of all things because of my surgery for male breast cancer
May 2004 (I described it in the middle of my Instrument Rating training
'diary' if you're interested).

All worked out well as expected with the exam... I was doing fine with
nothing to worry about. So, I'm due for my next exam in a year which
promises to be just as uneventful (still feels kinda 'spooky' walking into
that office recalling the memory of the news for the first time). All is
well,, as I tell friends who keep tabs on my status; I smile and tell them
that "all is well and nothing new is falling-off!" <G>

After my exam (a couple of hours later) I had the ground session with my
instructor scheduled to 'teach' him about aircraft performance - off to San
Jose, CA I drove! :)

Those of you that may know are well-aware I was really 'punishing' myself
over concern about getting all the right information in the right proportion
with the proper scope into my presentation. I toiled and fraught over the
details until a day or so before I was to give the presentation an
'epiphany' washed over me <g>. I was making this process into something
big, complex and involved when all I was really being asked to do was just
explain some of the basic aspects of aircraft performance to someone who
wanted to know about it. I've always liked helping people figure stuff out
and that is all I really needed to do.

I know the latter may seem like a realization that should have seemed
'obvious'; but I guess I was just getting so intimidated by the notion of
some sort of 'official teacher' role I was to fulfill that I overlooked what
was a much simpler task: I was a human being with some knowledge that a
fellow human being was trying to understand. I've been explaining things
all of my life (in my I.T. work I've had to describe some of the most
seemingly mundane aspects of computers and networks to clients all the way
up to the most complex concepts). I've taught music (theory, guitar and
basic piano) in college to make pocket money to pay for dates back in my
college dorm days. So, I had done this 'teaching', already. I suddenly
felt myself relax, recognizing that I would do fine, because I understood
the concepts I was to teach and in my own learning of them had learned
various approaches that helped me assimilate the knowledge.

Suddenly, I didn't feel the (self-imposed) 'ominous' weight of providing the
instruction. I was going to have a 'talk' with someone to help them learn
more about a subject and in the process I'd be getting to share something
that I've loved all my life; flying. How cool is that! I wasn't expected
to be some scholarly professor with a tightly-pressed suit, stepping up to
some chalkboard to present a lecture in some very staid manner. Not at all;
I was just helping someone understand something that I've come to learn and
all I needed for that was a clear idea of what I wanted to share and a good
ear to make sure my student was grasping what I was communicating. That was
all I needed to teach! :)

The session went well, not without a hitch, but no major 'bumps'. My CFI
seemed very pleased that at one point after discussing the performance
charts in the Cessna 172 POH that I was using as an example, that I went on
to stress that these figures represented values that were achieved with a
spanking-brand-new aircraft with a 'test pilot' on-board; whose sole duty
was to produce the best possible results for his employer (the aircraft
manufacturer).

I fielded most of my student's questions quite well (IMHO) although I did
get a little out of step when I was talking about why humidity affects
aircraft performance (that is after a discussion on how temperature and
altitude affect aircraft). Rather than beginning with the explanation that
water vapor molecules displace the air molecules, somewhat; creating spaces
between the air molecules making the air less dense with air molecules - I
first started in on how molecular water was 'lighter' than molecular air.
The original reason I had planned to even get into that aspect of the
discussion was that I (thought) it would help address any thoughts the
student may have about molecules of water being 'heavier' than molecules of
air. A better way of doing it (my CFI later pointed out to me) was to
present the fact that the presence of water vapor takes up some space that
would have been occupied my air molecules - effectively making the air less
dense and THEN if the student asked the question; "Doesn't water weigh more
than air?",, go on with the discussion about molecular water versus
molecules of air.

Wasn't the worst thing I could have done but I did see how I might be
needlessly complicating things for the student.

For the most part I felt REALLY good about my presentation; wasn't perfect,
but then again the whole purpose of these presentations is for me to learn
and I'm bound to make some mistakes along the way.

Well, next Tuesday I 'teach' an in-flight session to my 'student' (played as
always by my ever intrepid CFII <g>. It will consist of teaching a
short-field takeoff and landing to a primary student followed by teaching
some of the Commercial Maneuvers to a Commercial student. Then later that
week I'll teach a ground session on airspace, charts and airport signage,
etc.

My work is cut out for me, but at least now with my 'revelation' I can
approach it with less trepidation! :)


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=-----
Good Flights!

Cecil E. Chapman
CP-ASEL-IA

Student - C.F.I.

Check out my personal flying adventures from my first flight to the
checkride AND the continuing adventures beyond!
Complete with pictures and text at: www.bayareapilot.com

"I fly because it releases my mind from the tyranny of petty things."
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery -

"We who fly, do so for the love of flying. We are alive in the air with
this miracle that lies in our hands and beneath our feet"
- Cecil Day Lewis -


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