certificated flight instructor

Announcing The Smart Flight Training Podcast!

28 October 2013 by Andrew Hartley 6 Comments

I’m pleased to announce some big news! Smart Flight Training now has a podcast!

It is available on iTunes (please leave a rating and comment!), and /or you can subscribe to get all future episodes at the RSS feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/SmartFlightTrainingPodcast

My goal is to release a new podcast episode every other Thursday. The host will be me (Andrew Hartley) most of the time, with other pilots and instructors discussing many topics.

I’ll be doing interviews as well, so if there is someone you’d like to hear on the podcast please let me know; you can reach me via Twitter (@SmrtFlightTrain), or by using our contact form, or leaving a voicemail message right through your computer using the “Send Voicemail” link on the right side of the screen, or even by leaving a comment or a quick post on the Smart Flight Training Facebook Page.

All episodes will have show notes & transcripts soon after the episode is released (please be patient, as I’m doing this all myself at this time!). My hope is that The Smart Flight Training Podcast will compliment the other good aviation podcasts currently available by providing good discussions and more specific and actionable information about how to become a pilot.

Funny story about the music for The Smart Flight Training Podcast – I struggled for months to find just the right sound for the show. Asking friends with bands for some of their music as instrumental, to finding the upbeat, rock-style music that is on most podcasts, I kept finding options but never committing. I finally sent a few options of music samples to my wife, who said “These all sound like every other podcast out there; you should find a sound that sounds like ‘you.'” So again I went in search of a more folksy, alternative sound for the upcoming podcast, and lo-and behold, the same day she said that to me, I found the music you hear on the podcast today. The name of the song? Fittingly: Learning to Fly. You can hear the full-length version of Learning to Fly by clicking here.

Please don’t hesitate to suggest topics for episodes and give feedback.

I’d also like to give big thanks for inspiration (and for providing great examples of good podcasts) to Pat Flynn, Jeremy and Jason at Internet Business Mastery, and too many aviation podcasters to list individually!

Andrew Hartley is a certificated flight instructor and commercial pilot in Columbus, Ohio. He is fated for great prominence, but is pacing himself nicely.

How Becoming a Pilot Can Help You Live a Better Life

3 October 2013 by Andrew Hartley 4 Comments

Flight Students circa 1939

You chose to become a pilot for some reason. Whether you are currently a student pilot or you are a professional with tens of thousands of flight hours under your belt, there was some reason (or reasons) you began your flight training.

You might have started to learn to fly because your father was a pilot. You might have started to become a pilot because you have a friend who flies and she took you up once and you got hooked. You might have started your flight training because, initially, you wanted to be able to tell other people you flew in “one of those little airplanes” and after your scenic flight or your introductory flight lesson, you actually found that it was fun, not scary, and you decided to get your pilot license.

My guess is that you did NOT start your flight training because you wanted to become a more rounded individual in general, or because you wanted to get a better understanding of physics and weather, or because you wanted to improve your decision-making skills. But even though those were not the reasons you started on the path of becoming a pilot, these were, indeed, results that you received – maybe without even realizing it.

This post is part of Month Six of the Blogging in Formation series, where six heavy-hitter aviation bloggers (or five plus me) post “in formation” on an agreed-upon topic for six days straight. October’s topic is “My Best Instructional Moment.” I have taken a little more license this month than other months in shifting away from one moment in particular to an overall impression and recognition of the entire flight training process, and how becoming a pilot can help you improve your life overall – beyond the new certificate in your pocket and the freedom and responsibility that it represents.

You may have started your flight training knowing exactly what you were getting into and what it was going to take to reach your goal. I’m willing to bet that you struggled through parts of your training anyway, even if you came from a long line of pilots and knew from the tender age of negative one that you would learn to fly. I’m also willing to bet that you came out of flight training as not just a new pilot, but as a better person overall.

“But, Andrew, aren’t most pilots egotistical, bull-headed jerks who think they know better than everyone else?”

Sometimes. But that stereotype comes from a small handful of pilots who have… let’s say “character flaws.”

The archetype pilot is one who has strengthened aspects of their personality like their ability to focus, or their penchant for individualism during their flight training, and just over-emphasized it. Often, you”ll find that a pilot who fits this mold also falls into the trap of one of the “hazardous attitudes” defined by the FAA:

antiauthority
impulsivity
invulnerability
macho
resignation

This is a danger of flight training, as much of the improvement or growth you can make in your life can lead to, in the extreme, one or more of the five hazardous attitudes above. Mostly though, if your instructor recognizes the impact of flight training on not just your skill handling an airplane but on your life overall, s/he can help nurture your growth while still avoiding the attitudes above.

“Okay – we get it. Can you please give us some examples now?”

Sure!

When you choose to become a pilot, you begin a process that will specifically take you from zero time to becoming a safe, competent pilot. And while working on that, you and your instructor will be improving your ability to:

Focus

With so many things competing for our attention today, becoming a pilot requires you to focus on one thing for a pretty significant amount of time. I have had students who were/are learning to fly while working full time and going to college. Some of them are doing this successfully all at once, others struggled at it but moved along and were able to complete it. Still others recognized that it was all too much and took a break from flying so they could focus on the other aspects of their lives for awhile. No matter what the decision, part of flight training was them being able to decide where to focus. Even if it ultimately was not on flying.

Step out of your comfort zone

Call this courage or bravery, perhaps, but no matter how your phrase it, being able to step out of your comfort zone is critical to success in life. As a student pilot, I attempted a power on stall while flying solo and did not set it up correctly – scaring myself pretty badly and making me very uncomfortable with that maneuver. But I continued to demonstrate them for each and every rating and certificate I have achieved since. I also have an MBA in entrepreneurship and am a student of small business, and the idea of “getting comfortable allowing yourself to be uncomfortable” is a crucial first step to getting anything you start off the ground (pun intended).

Set and achieve goals

Commitment and perseverance is required to become a pilot. Commitment and perseverance is required to get where you want to go in your life, hobby, career, etc. It’s one and the same.

Make good decisions under pressure

This is simply good judgement. Some flight instructors and other experts say that you can’t teach good judgement; that a student either has it or does not. I don’t buy that. I think good judgement comes from really thinking through a situation and understanding what is happening. The stronger the foundation of understanding a student has, the more easily and more quickly s/he can run through possible solutions or courses of action and come to a conclusion as to the best decision. In aviation, we call it “Aeronautical Decision Making” or ADM; in life we call it decisiveness. You get there the same way – with a good foundation of knowledge and understanding of the topic. Whatever the topic may be.

Take responsibility

As a student pilot, you will quickly learn that being “Pilot in Command” is something that is a huge responsibility. you simply can’t do it if you lie to yourself about your skill level, your knowledge level, or anything else related to flight. I know that I learned that this applies to life in general as well during my training – taking ownership of your decisions and attitudes and situation is the first step to changing them and improving them.

And more…

Other ways that learning to fly relates to and improves your life in general is in helping you learn how to learn (as Ron Rapp points out as critical in his post in this month’s Blogging in Formation series); learning how to work better with other people; trusting yourself (increasing your confidence); improving your organization and time management skills (Cockpit Resource Management – CRM); becoming a more precise and clear communicator; and to see the positive in tough situations (remember struggling with your landings? You will…).

So, I guess I would have to say that my best instructional moment was realizing how much further into people’s lives becoming a pilot reaches. It goes much further than the pride of accomplishment; much further than bragging rights and better trips over long weekends. It reaches into people’s confidence in themselves in all areas of their lives when they realize (and prove) that they are able to gain skills and learn complex information; to memorize and make sense of cryptic rules and regulations (and apply them to what they are doing); and to simply understand that they can. That it’s up to them. Whatever they choose, they can.

Thanks so much for spending your time with me on The Smart Flight Training Blog. I really appreciate that you could spend your time anywhere on the World Wide Web, and the fact that you spend your time with me makes me incredibly grateful. Please contact me if you have any questions or suggestions – I would love to hear from you!

Additionally, don’t forget to check out the other Formation Bloggers:
09/29/13 The House of Rapp – “The Third Rail”
09/30/13 iFLYblog – “My Most Instructional Moment”
10/01/13 Adventures of Cap’n Aux – “There I Wuz! My Best Instructional Moments”
10/02/13 Flight to Success – “Secrets Of Success…”
10/03/13 Smart Flight Training – “How Becoming a Pilot Can Help You Live a Better Life”
10/04/13 Airplanista – “TBD”

Andrew Hartley is a certificated flight instructor and commercial pilot in Columbus, Ohio.

Oh, Hey! I just launched a podcast, too – please subscribe!

Aviation’s “King for a Day” – a “Blogging in Formation” post

5 September 2013 by Andrew Hartley 9 Comments

Crown

This month has been a whirlwind of great posts during “Blogging in Formation‘s” 5th month, and our theme is “If I had One Wish for Aviation” (or “If I were in charge”).

Please check out the other Formation Bloggers as well:

Sept 1: House of Rapp – Ron Rapp
Sept 2: iFlyBlog – Brent Owens
Sept 3: Adventures of Cap’n Aux – Eric Auxier
Sept 4: Flight to Success – Karlene Petitt
Sept 5: Smart Flight Training – Andrew Hartley
Sept 6: Airplanista – Dan Pimentel

So with that out of the way – let’s discuss what I would like to see change about the aviation industry…

There are just SO MANY things to pick from. As an industry, aviation is as imperfect as it gets. That said, I don’t really know of another industry that commands so much passion and interest from both its members and its non-members alike!

So I’m going to come at this from the perspective I know best: that of a flight student and a flight instructor.

I have flown with hoards of people (more every day); from those just wanting to scratch “fly in a little airplane” off their bucket list, to others who are committed to getting their pilot certificate and flying professionally, and everything in between (including engineers and doctors who own their own plane and are getting current – some after 2 years, some after 30 years, some fly regularly and just need that check mark checked in their logbook).

And I always thought that most people – at least those who know they want to commit to getting their pilot license – come to aviation through a family member or friend who flies. But what I have found (and my experience may not be typical) is that many of these people don’t know anyone who flies. They just thought it sounded interesting and fun (which, as we know, it is), and they thought they would like to do it.

These people astound and humble me. And here’s why:

Flight schools are generally NOT customer friendly. For such a social industry, I’m always a little amazed at the suspicion in which we hold people who don’t fly (yet). I imagine my students walking into a flight school or airport, knowing no one, knowing nothing about the industry or flight training at all, not really knowing what it is going to take to become a pilot, and not getting any help or greeting from the person at the “front desk.” They just get completely ignored.

And yet, they push through and get out of their comfort zone and ASK. Someone. Anyone. And at some point, they get to the right person, who sets them up with an instructor. And then the instructor meets them… maybe cordially, maybe not, and so it goes.

I’m beginning to think that aviation self-selects people who are decision-makers and risk-takers not because flying requires it (it does), but because people who do not have these qualities won’t make it past the front door! I know that I wouldn’t have, if I had not already had an aviation background.

But I’m disturbed and saddened by the HUGE number of people who possibly just need that one bit of information – the right person to talk to at the airport – to get into the left seat of a small plane and start the process of learning to fly. If they could just get that far… just take that ONE EXTRA LITTLE STEP and ask the question, this entire aviation world of wonder would open up for them! But they might be too shy or too afraid to step out of their comfort zone that one little extra bit. And it’s AVIATION’S loss, not just their own.

I was recently in San Diego for my “normal life” job, and the office I was in has a view of both San Diego Brown Field and of the Tijuana International Airport. So I’m not sure how much work I actually accomplished. But I DID go to Brown Field more than once after the work day was over, and the situation I described above was EXACTLY the scenario. I walked in to a completely silent terminal building (other than the jukebox in the airport bar at the end of the hall), and there was no indication of where to go if I wanted to talk to an instructor; no signs, no flyers, no balloons, not even little airplane stickies on the floor to mark my path to the person or place where I can ask about learning to fly. Aviation (especially flight training) needs a good shot of customer service and marketing.

Which leads me to my “King for a Day” declaration – newbies and strangers to aviation should be celebrated, not shunned. Maybe that’s too harsh – there are great programs out there to get people interested, like EAA’s Young Eagles program which introduces children to flight. As I write this, I am sitting at an airport in northern Alabama, looking at a local program called “Fantastic Flight” which is an elementary school program using kids’ natural interest in flight and outer space. I have no idea if it is still active, but it sounds fantastic (as the name would suggest).

I know that AOPA and NBAA and EAA and all the other alphabet groups are hemming and hawing over the declining interest in learning to fly. And they are pushing flight clubs and experimental homebuilt aircraft and alternative fuels and efficiency and numerous other ideas to bring the cost of flying down, in the hopes that that alone will revitalize the industry (even our own Formation Bloggers Ron and Brent discuss the cost issue in this very series!). And certainly cost is a factor.

But people spend exorbitant amounts of money on things that they want – even if none of these items will ever pay them back a penny in any way. That boat won’t make you money – it will cost you for the entire time you own it. That big screen TV won’t, either… it will, in fact, cost you time you could be spending enjoying the world. At least your boat makes you happy – when you have time to use it after you have worked the extra hours to pay the bank and the registration and the dock fees and on and on and on.

Becoming a pilot, on the other hand, will cost money, yes. But it will actually pay you back in so many ways. You will have done something that less than one-half of one percent (0.005) of the population of the world has ever done – become a pilot. So it pays you back in pride.

You can save more time than you ever thought possible… try going from Columbus, Ohio to Fort Payne, Alabama and back (including several hours of productive work on the ground in Alabama) in one day by car. Not gonna happen. If you value your time, aviation may have the best return on investment of any other business expense you could make.

You might even get paid back in money. Yes! Show me the Benjamins! Become a commercial pilot or flight instructor yourself and the money you spend on this journey will, indeed, come trickling back into your pocket (albeit slowly).

So let’s get on it, aviation industry! As your King for the Day, I command you – get creative; get serious; and get customer service-y! Make it EASY for people to start learning to fly, and make it fun, and the entire aviation industry will reap the rewards!

Thanks for reading the Smart Flight Training blog – I am truly honored and humbled that you are spending YOUR TIME to read this blog. Please leave your comments telling us what you would decree if you were King of Aviation for the day! Tailwinds, and have a great week!

Andrew Hartley is a certificated flight instructor and commercial pilot in Columbus, Ohio.