Showing the way

In house

John had his sights set on becoming a flight instructor relatively early in his own training. At the time he was undertaking his own flight training and aviation degree with UNSW where up to four undergraduates are offered the opportunity to nominate a flight instructor rating as an elective course.

Selection for the two places is competitive and merit-based, with successful candidates having

There is a genuine empathy with his students and their constant balance of tertiary studies and flight training.

Year after year experience filters off into other branches of the industry, while a core of hardy souls commit to flying training. . .

consistently high marks in CASA exams and having passed all flight tests at the first attempt. John was fortunate enough to be selected.

John is a product of the UNSW system and understands it from the ground up. Consequently, there is a genuine empathy with his students and their constant balance of tertiary studies and flight training. He was that student not so long ago and can appreciate the situation intimately and offer first-hand advice.

However, John relates that there are even more advantages in working within the university system. Each student comes from acourse totaling around 30 in number and in turn, each course has a very common focus. In the classroom the students are moving through the same stage and their theory training also progresses in-step. This results in the students sharing an almost identical foundation each time they strap into the cockpit. Combined with the facilities and resources that the university system offers, this translates into a relatively consistent standard of student for John to teach.

Such standardisation, modern aircraft and a common training philosophy throughout the Flying Operations Unit provides John with a stable work environment. This is a treasured commodity in a vocation that has a long history of instructors struggling to get by on retainers and sporadic hourly rates of pay. It stands to reason that instructors who are content and secure in their employment should offer a better outcome for their students. This would seem to be the case with John.

The learning curve

John currently holds a Grade Two Instructor Rating and was initially involved in single-engined VFR training. However, UNSW is pro-active in ongoing training for their instructors and he has further acquired instrument, night and simulator training approvals. The next step is multi-engine training approval and possibly an elevation to Grade One.

For many, multi-engine IFR training is the most challenging flying training. It is a stage that many capable students have difficulty in mastering and can place the greatest demands upon the instructor to see them through. Flying a complex aircraft in cloud, void of a natural horizon and a freezing level growing ever closer is a tough classroom, but this is the next level to which John aspires.

Even so, he draws a great deal of satisfaction from training students through their first 30 hours. He finds these ab initio phases particularly rewarding, watching students from varied backgrounds taking their first steps aloft. It is a stage of training where the rate of progression is astounding and there is a real sense of achievement for both the student and instructor.

Away from the training area and the circuit pattern, John also teaches the skill of navigation to his students. The opportunity to fly further afield to small country airports is undoubtedly a challenging task for the students, but it is also a pleasant change after hours confined to the Bankstown Airport and the training area immediately to its west. There is a chance to look up and breathe and appreciate the aeroplane as a mode of transport rather than a stalling, slipping, steep-turning training device.

In many cases flight instructors are tasked to perform secondary duties, be they administrative tasks or teaching ground theory. For John, this is not the case at UNSW and that is most likely because there is enough flying training to keep him busy.

He has averaged 700 hours of flying a year, which is a fair amount for a flying instructor when the associated briefings, simulator training and paperwork are factored in. These hours are provided by the constant stream of both aviation degree and graduate diploma students progressing through the university.

Conveniently, John is employed in one of aviation’s rare Monday to Friday jobs. The university doesn’t generally conduct flying operations of a weekend, although the flexibility is there to do so to accommodate longer navigation exercises and the like. And while his day normally begins at 8am, lunchtime starts are in order when night flying operations are rostered.

In the air John’s office is the Diamond DA40 and it is an aircraft he rates highly for training. The large canopy affords excellent visibility, which is particularly critical when the circuit area is being shared with five or six other training aircraft. John also makes note of the need to be sun-aware in the cockpit on those long summer cross-country flights.

Away from the sun and the sky, John also instructs the principles of instrument flight in the university’s Frasca trainer, complete with a 220 degree, wrap-around screen for visuals. He finds it a tremendous aid for the demands of IFR training without ever leaving the ground.

It is plain to see that John enjoys his job and that is undoubtedly good news for his students. When asked which qualities he believed made a good flying instructor, he replied without hesitation – “Communication”.

He went on to explain further that it is not merely a case of effectively relaying the information, but equally it is a case of understanding the student. The same facts may have to be presented in varied forms and using different analogies to convey the same message. Finding the best way to communicate with an individual student is one of the challenges that John really enjoys.

Beyond the cockpit

While John is the teacher he also recognises there is still learning. In his role as a flying instructor he is the pilot in command and that calls for him to make the final decision and some are harder than others.

In one instance, deteriorating weather had John assessing his options as a return to Bankstown was looking less and less likely. And while both John and his aircraft were instrument-rated, his currency had lapsed. In the end, he resisted any temptation to push the limits and chose to land at Tamworth where he and his student spent the night until the weather had passed. It was undoubtedly an inconvenience, but a first-class lesson for the student and instructor alike.

The majority of John’s students will go onto airline careers, with a good many progressing to the QantasLink ranks in recent times. It is a similar goal for John, as it is for most young instructors. Many airline careers have used flight instructing as a stepping stone, but there is a big difference between that and treating the students like a stepping stone.

Flight instruction may not be a long-term career for many people and for many different reasons, but when it is the job they are employed to do it deserves their full dedication and nothing less. John is an example of a dedicated flight instructor, regardless of where the road may lead him in the future.

The movement of instructors through the industry is an age-old conundrum. Year after year experience filters off into other branches of the industry while a core of hardy souls commit to flying training in the long term. It is a noble profession and like their school-teaching counterparts, deserves better recognition for the vital role they fill.

John has found his time as a flight instructor both rewarding and an opportunity to further understand and consolidate the lessons that he learned as a student. For the moment, he is content in his employment and enjoys flying with UNSW. While he recommends flying instruction as a vocation, he also understands that not everybody is suited to teaching others to fly, nor do they desire to.

For John, he has enjoyed the challenges afforded to him during his time as a flight instructor. What is apparent is that he is a dedicated and diligent individual. These are qualities that will hold him in good stead whether he is guiding a fresh face towards a first landing or perched in the flightdeck at some point down the road.

Even then, the skills learned as a flying instructor at Bankstown may yield benefits for an airline training department in the future. Once again John Lee and his flight instructor counterparts may find themselves showing the way.