PURPOSE OF FLIGHT TRAINING

The overall purpose of primary and intermediate flight

training, is the acquisition

and honing of basic airmanship skills. Airmanship

can be defined as:

. Asound acquaintance with the principles of

flight,

. The ability to operate an airplane with competence

and precision both on the ground and in the

air, and

. The exercise of sound judgment that results in

optimal operational safety and efficiency.

Learning to fly an airplane has often been likened to

learning to drive an automobile. This analogy is

misleading. Since an airplane operates in a different

environment, three dimensional, it requires a type of

motor skill development that is more sensitive to this

situation such as:

. Coordination-The ability to use the hands and

feet together subconsciously and in the proper

relationship to produce desired results in the airplane.

. Timing-The application of muscular coordination

at the proper instant to make flight, and all

maneuvers incident thereto, a constant smooth

process.

. Control touch-The ability to sense the action

of the airplane and its probable actions in the

immediate future, with regard to attitude and

speed variations, by the sensing and evaluation of

varying pressures and resistance of the control

surfaces transmitted through the cockpit flight

controls.

. Speed sense-The ability to sense instantly and

react to any reasonable variation of airspeed.

An airman becomes one with the airplane rather than

a machine operator. An accomplished airman

demonstrates the ability to assess a situation quickly

and accurately and deduce the correct procedure to

be followed under the circumstance; to analyze

accurately the probable results of a given set of circumstances

or of a proposed procedure; to exercise

care and due regard for safety; to gauge accurately

the performance of the airplane;

and to recognize personal limitations and limitations of the airplane

and avoid approaching the critical points of each.

The development of airmanship skills requires effort

and dedication on the part of both the student pilot

and the flight instructor, beginning with the very first

training flight where proper habit formation begins

with the student being introduced to good operating

practices.

Every airplane has its own particular flight characteristics.

The purpose of primary and intermediate flight

training, however, is not to learn how to fly a particular

make and model airplane. The underlying purpose of

flight training is to develop skills and safe habits that

are transferable to any airplane. Basic airmanship skills

serve as a firm foundation for this. The pilot who has

acquired necessary airmanship skills during training,

and demonstrates these skills by flying training-type

airplanes with precision and safe flying habits, will be

able to easily transition to more complex and higher

performance airplanes. It should also be remembered

that the goal of flight training is a safe and competent

pilot, and that passing required practical tests for pilot

certification is only incidental to this goal.