I’m at a Part 61 school. Instructor is 800+ hours and done time in Part 135 and 121 returning to ‘family life’ as a CFI.
They have provided me with a checklist and flight procedures manual to be used during my studies.
The checklist I found 5 typos ranging from spelling errors to the most egregious error on the ‘speed page’ listing Vy and Vx both as ‘best climb rate’.
While studying slow flight this weekend, I became confused by speeds listed, and questioned, only to have discovered another error. (Luckily it was ‘fast’)
I have decided not to fly during our next lesson and opt for ground school and chair flying the maneuvers so that I may further inquire.
What would you do if you were in my shoes?
(12 hours flight time; nearing written; presolo written complete and student license in hand)
Your instructor’s reasons for returning to being a CFI are dubious at best, but that is a different discussion.
I would have serious reservations about continuing at this school. If they cant get even a simple checklist right, it makes you wonder about other things.
An editor’s perspective for what it’s worth. I’m a technical editor for NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration), and one thing I have learned over the last two years is that even the most brilliant engineers can be notoriously bad writers. I don’t know who is putting these study materials together, but it doesn’t surprise me that typos are showing up. What does surprise me is that no one seems to be vetting these materials. The Vx-Vy confusion is, as you say, particularly egregious (particularly as Google just easily explained it to me). So, there may be good people where you are, but my concern would be more about their attention to detail and their ability to accurately transfer knowledge across all relevant domains.
As for the typos I’m a 10,000hr+ airline Capt but if you judged my flying abilities on my spelling skills I might lose my license. I’m also not sure I’d call the Vx/Vy thing egregious?
However, since 2013 you can’t fly part 121 with less than 1500hrs and even before then most 121 mins were 500+ so I seriously question your 800hr CFIs creds.
Personally I’m a huge proponent of following one’s gut and if something seems amiss it probably is. I’d be looking elsewhere and stop wrenching your gut
First, I realized about airline minimums After I wrote that today and I casually brought it up. It was met with a ‘feeder program’ response. But the question was dodged and yes unfortunately puts further into question. I know the instructor has had right seat time in Phenom 300’s but that’s all I’ve seen evidenced.
I’m not sure how many hours are actually instruction hours now that I think about it. It was important to me to have 1 instructor through the PPL process and no other school of 6 on my field would even hint at the idea, most outright saying ‘it won’t happen’.
I had the ground lesson today, and brought up the ‘edits’ that I’d found. Typos and concerns about incongruent speed references regarding maneuvers. The instructor was also taking notes as we pressed through, and I even commented ‘geez, it seems like I’m your editor’.
However I DID press hard, and I WAS satisfied with the end result of our chair flight today. Typos aside, I was confident in the answers we came up with, and feel confident in tomorrow’s flight.
What concerns me further is if I’m not the first to have this material, how on EARTH did other students not pick up on this?
Anyway, I think I’m going to integrate more ground time with the instructor over the next few weeks and see how it goes now that I’ve cleared some fog.
Scored a 70 on my first practice exam today…so all things considered…something is going right?!!
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What concerns me further is if I’m not the first to have this material, how on EARTH did other students not pick up on this?"
Writing skills are not STEM skills, and that seems to be the emphasis these days. Plus, social media apps allow informal, abbreviated, and hurried communication that carries over into formal writing. WTF?! SMH.
(Incidentally, my son has a problem remembering to put his name on assignments. His teachers know who the assignments belong to because he’s one of the very few students who can still write in cursive.)
The fact is, unless you’re of an age with Adam and me, there’s a good chance you probably don’t know cursive, were never taught English grammar, and are adept at little else but the language of social media. That’s not universally true, of course, but the likelihood is significant.
Good luck to you! It sounds like you’ve got your eyes open.
I think you’ve done the right thing by confronting your CFI about your concerns. While I think that those kinds of careless mistakes might be a reflection of your CFI’s abilities to teach you properly, it comes down to how your CFI responds to your concerns. If the CFI’s responses only make you feel even more uncomfortable, then it’s time to find a new one.
I flew with the CFI this morning. They definitely know how to fly this aircraft, and it went well. Of course I’m the weak link up there, and as previously mentioned, authorship doesn’t indicate airmanship.
I’ll proceed for now, and may change instructors for IFR when it’s time. I’m training in a steam gauge PA28 so I can just blame my change on wanting time in a glass panel 172 since that’s what I’ll be able to rent easiest.
I would not write off the training simply based on typos or grammatical errors (ATP’s own printed materials are sadly riddled with them as well), but there is certainly a big difference between Vx/Vy speed, and the two should not be confused or printed as such.
That being said, I ditto what Chris said, it’s all about feeling comfortable and confident in the training you are receiving. If you are not satisfied, you are, after all, a paying customer, and I’d say it’s time to look elsewhere.
