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4 Answers

Teaching Maneuvers

Asked by: 12810 views Flight Instructor

I've been practicing explanations of the various maneuvers using a whiteboard in preparation for my CFI checkride.  Some will be longer than others, but in general, how long should each take? Currently, the more complex maneuvers are taking me about 15 minutes. This is continuous speaking - no student questions/comments.

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4 Answers



  1. Nathan Parker on Dec 06, 2011

    I recommend that you focus on covering the material well, rather than on any specific amount of time. A basic requirement of any presentation is what I call “closure”, meaning that your entire explanation fits together with no missing gaps that leaves the audience confused.  This can take a few minutes or it can take an hour, depending on the level of detail you choose to include.  A short presentation might be superior to a long one if the short one achieves closure, but the long one doesn’t.
     
    The lower limit will depend on the number of PTS items that must be included, but I would also recommend that that you try to involve the student in this discussion, not only for his benefit, but yours, too.  It’s awkward to talk for a long time with no feedback.  I know this is harder to do with an examiner, because he really isn’t a student and you feel stupid for treating him like one, but you will be much more relaxed if you can get a dialog going with him.

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  2. Bill Trussell on Dec 08, 2011

    I have found that if you include some brief background information in your talk  you can cut down the amount of time you are presenting.  An example would be to take the maneuver given and assess what basic skills you are building upon.  You can sumarize those skills in one sentance and then proceed to explain what additional skills are to be developed by demonstration, execution and practice of the maneuver under discussion.  I would also include a brief description of why the maneuver is done as part of a practical test at all.  This should be done at the beginning of your presentation as well.  The examiner will appreciate that you are using the building block system and will offer addtional information on his “skill set” for your discussion immediately after your background information.  The rest of your discussion will be interactive and fun!

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  3. Micah on Dec 12, 2011

    Teaching maneuvers to a student is different than the teaching demonstration you’ll be doing for the CFI exam. When you teach a student, if you go longer than 15 minutes you risk overload; teaching a manuever to a student is a progressive experience for both. Both in the air and on the ground you’ll likely teach the manuever several times before you are confident of the student’s understanding.
     
    For the checkride, I would still keep it to 15 minutes. You are demonstrating both your teaching ability and your understanding. You’re not expected to yet be an excellent teacher, but you are expected to understand the manuever and to be able to converse about it. Your examiner should have follow up questions to test the depth of your understanding and your responses during this interaction will probably tell the examiner more than your time at the whiteboard.
     
     

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  4. Jason on Dec 12, 2011

    Thanks for your answers. I’m working on longer ‘checkride style’ explanations, but hope to involve the examiner as much as possible to make it more realistic. Almost the big day! 

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