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FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR'S MANUAL  3

only show a keen interest in the student and his progress but must actually feel it, otherwise his value as an instructor is extremely doubtful.

Too many responsibilities attach to the instructor for his duties to be taken casually and performed with indifference.

HANDLING THE STUDENT

Much depends on the initial handling of the student during the first few lessons. It is in this period that the student and instructor go through a period of mutual appraisal.

If the instructor fails to gain the confidence and respect of the student during this period, his future control of the student and a large percentage of his value to the student is lost. The instructor should give much thought and analysis to the various situations that arise during this period, particularly in analyzing the student's personality and adapting his own actions and methods to suit, to accomplish the desired result.

No instructor who is successful in this respect will ever have cause to complain that his students do not want further instruction and avoid it. Such a condition is entirely due to mishandling of the situation and the student by the instructor's efforts and the desirability of and necessity for thorough training.

Becoming a competent pilot is largely a matter of developing the sense and learning to correlate their impressions with reflex mental and muscular coordination. Flying does not require new senses but does place greater demands upon those the student already possesses since they are used in an environment which, at first, is entirely strange and in which the student often feels an ever-present element of danger. This feeling of danger and insecurity often adversely affects the mental reactions and often results in faulty perception and slow reaction on the part of the student.

Many students have been almost ruined as pilots by having been given a wild or stunt ride during their first period of familiarization with the airplane. Even though they carried on, oftentimes inhibitions and subconscious fears have been developed that, in many instances, have taken years of experience to eradicate and in others became permanent.

To develop the senses of the student so that they are accurate and keen when applied to flying, time, patience, and thought are required on the part of the instructor. It has often been said that an apt student will learn to fly regardless of how poor his instruction. However, there is a vast difference between merely herding an airplane around and flying it. The student's performance is a direct reflection of the instructor's technique and capability. Poor instruction may cause so many inhibitions, erroneous ideas, and deep-seated faults, that the development of good technique in a mishandled student is extremely difficult, even by the most competent of instructors, and is almost impossible through experience alone.

For this reason, the importance of proper flying instruction by competent instructors cannot be overemphasized.