BLOG #6

This class was very informative.  I learned a lot about aircraft systems as well as multi-engine aerodynamics. The class was very challenging. The only thing I might change about the class would be the online quizes. The quizes become busy work as the answers the in the back of the book and inevitably we end up reading for the answers instead of content. I liked the scenario based training, really gave us a chance to use our decision making skills and explain why we are making the decision we are making.
I thought it was very beneficial to go look at the airplane and see the systems that wer explained in class.
I have mixed feelings about blogs, sometimes they are very helpful and other times they become busy work that little learning occurs from. I think overall they are a good resource for students to share their insight.

Seminole Observation flight

Aircraft: Seminole
Instructor: Digrazia
1OCT2011

I was able to observe a multi-engine flight with Mike Digrazia and his student. It was a particularly interesting as two students were observing so the airplane was 30lbs lighter than max gross weight. This situation allowed for the multi-engine pilot to use decision making in take off distances, accelerate stop distances, climb gradients and so on in order to make a successful go no go decision.

The flight was rather uneventful. Since the airplane was so heavy we did not do an engine shutdown. I was able to observe normal operations and an emergency decent. I never noticed how anxious passengers can be sitting in the back and the pilot's presence can really determine how comfortable passengers are.

The student was very thorough in checklist which put me at ease. Every input can be felt in the airplane and so it reinforced the idea that small smooth inputs are best when controlling the airplane. Flying a heavier airplane requires more planning and much more trim. I noticed the more trim was used the easier the airplane wanted to respond since the pilot wasn't trying to use a lot of force in order to make inputs.

The last thing I noticed was that airspeeds were higher. Because of this, things were happening quicker than in single engine airplanes so decisions and checklists needed to be completed early and in a timely fashion to stay ahead of the airplane. This will be one of the characteristics of higher performance, heavier airplanes that pilots need to become used to. It appeared to be easier to get behind the airplane quickly if planning and efficiency wasn't present.

Blog #4 Aspen

There were many factors that contributed to this accident. The very first was the attitude of the flight crew. They are paid to safely operate the airplane according to company policy. If they had this mindset, the "pressure" from the "boss" would not have been a factor and the flight would have diverted to Rifle.
The second the crews inability to decipher  and their decision to ignore the aircraft configuration warning. The radar showed the airport to the left of the aircraft while the FO thought he saw the airport to the right. This discrepancy with the weather conditions as they were should have been enough to warrant a missed approach. Their decision to ignore the aircraft configuration warning was a poor decision in itself. They were violating company policy by having the spoilers out with landing gear and landing flaps out. If they did this intentionally they would be displaying hazardous attitudes such as invulnerability and macho along with anti-authority. If it was unintentional it just points to either the crews inability to handle the work load or incompetence to operate the aircraft according to company and manufacture policy.
The third and major contributing factor was that the airport control tower was unaware of a NOTAM concerning the instrument approach not being authorized at night. This was a MAJOR break down of the NOTAM disseminating system. Although the tower should have been informed, the crew was informed and mentioned the restriction multiple times so they should have heeded the restriction and diverted.

The highly critical analysis of this accident may seem harsh but it is needed. As a pilot and especially as captain, you are solely responsible for the safe operation of the aircraft. The people who charter, ride, or thus by their way onto the airplane inherent NO RISK. No matter what their social status a pilot must know the rules which restrict him, know his and the aircraft limitations and let no other outside force influence those, because in reality they can not be influenced. Those limitations are set and as a professional pilot, you must have enough confidence in your decision making ability as well as your knowledge to be in control of the flight from intent to fly to locking the door after exiting the aircraft.

Single Pilot IFR

I have no problem filing single pilot IFR. It is very good experience and increases my marketability as a professional pilot. There are a few things that need to be considered while filing single pilot IFR. First, as a professional pilot...you must be willing to as we like to call it, "Shred the Gnar." Analyze the risk of a flight know, your capabilities, and be willing to use all available resources in order to make a safe decision.
One thing that may help the novice IFR pilot, is to practice in the simulator with an experienced IFR pilot such as Hunter Villareal!!
Organizing your cockpit into a logical and systematic way will aid the single pilot in safe and efficient operation of the airplane under high stress environments. Being familiar with the area in which the flight will occur is also a big help. Studying IFR and VFR charts along with navigation aids and communication frequencies will all help decrease the pilots workload in the IFR environment. It should be noted that if a pilot does not feel comfortable in this environment HE (or she) should make a go no go decision based on the sole capabilities of himself. The IFR environment differs from that of VFR but it should not be feared, in fact it should be embraced as it increases pilots proficiency and skill of flying.

Blog #2

The information that was presented in the brief as well as the PIM and checklist was very informative. They all stressed how important it is to manage the electrical fire immediately. Prompt action in order to stop and or prevent further fire may save the airplane and your life.

These articles addressed short circuits; which can be defined as a place in a circuit that two points connect unintentionally within the circuit and create low resistence. The current then travels on the path of least resistence bypassing the rest of the circuit.

The procedures in the Seminole are very similar to those in which the safety brief expressed. One of the main differences between the Seminole and the brief is the Seminole procedure has all power stopped to the system where as the safety brief recommended attempting to find the unit which the fire is in.

In the future I know the safest action would be to secure all power to the system. After this initial action, I can start to open power to essential buses one at a time until I have all essential power elements needed for safety of flight. I now realize that electrical fires are serious and immediate action is required on my part in order to maintain safety of flight.

Blog Post #1

There is a lot that I am hoping to take out of the multi-engine class here at Westminster. I would like to learn how to be proficient in flying more sophisticated aircraft without always flying them. I think it is important to be competent in the systems and operations of any aircraft being flown including those which may or may not be flown often. A solid understanding of how the systems in the aircraft work together would be very helpful. Things such as cabin atmosphere would be very helpful to learn as it is more difficult and expensive to use an airplane which have these systems. All-in-all I hope to gain an understanding of why these aircraft have more advanced systems and how they help me as the pilot.
The blogging is very helpful. It gives students a chance to share ideas without having to match schedules and locations. I have done blogging in the past with CFI and it gave much more insight into topics which I would not have gained if it weren't for blogging.

CFI Post #3

Expectations talk is very important. Letting the student know what is expected of them and what they can expect of the instructor is vital in opening the lines of communication between student and instructor.

I would start off by stating what the student can expect of me. This would be strategic so as to not offend or put off the student. The expectations would include that I have come prepared, ready to fly and patient. That I would do my best to answer any questions the student may have and if the answers are not known, find out. I would tell the student that nothing will be a surprize on the flight excluding a real emergency and in that case the flight will terminate and I will take control of the aircraft. I will do my best to make the flight enjoyable and informative.

I would then communicate to the student the expectations I would have as an instructor. Those expectations including positive change of flight controls, listening to what I say for safety of flight, asking questions if and when they arise, following all rules and or procedures layed out, and notifying me of any sickness that may arise or pre-existing medical conditions due to safety of flight.

I would stress that these expectations are there for safety of flight and in no way used to control the student. Stressing that as an instructor I am there to aid, and support the student in flying. I feel that these are very important points. The student is walking into what seems like a different world; speaking about these points will help the student assimilate and know what to expect.

FIA Question2

It is important to evaluate where a new student is at in training when a transfer in flight instruction occurs. The first place to look at Westminster College is the student's folder. It will have ground briefings, flights that have been conducted and notes about the students performance.

The next place to gain information on the student is the previous instructor. Asking questions such as how the student appears to prepare for a lesson? Do they struggle with any phase of flight? Are they nervous about any flight maneuvers? Are they confident in both ground knowledge and aircraft control?

Asking a new student questions should not be overlooked. Reviewing cross country procedures, aerodynamics, and weather to see the student's knowledge level can be invaluable in determining what areas the student may be weak.

The way to evaluate the student can come in many different forms. Merely asking questions orally can be one way of determining the students level of knowledge, but things such as a quizes or scenario based training (i.e. having the student plan a cross country) can yield a lot of information to the instructor as the transition happens.

Blog FIA #1

There are many factors that may be affecting the students landing performance. I feel the first step should be to ask the student how they are feeling, and allow them to relax, whether that means spending time doing a maneuver they feel confident in or just landing the airplane and allowing them to relax on taxiback.
Your supervisor should know of this problem if it occurred before this flight; otherwise when you return from the flight, as the instructor you should communicate with your supervisor and the student.
Only after using different techniques such as visualization, other instructors and different explanations of landings, may it be appropriate to communicate to the student that they are struggling a far greater amount than the average and that you are concerned they may not "catch on."
The students performance may be caused by many things, such as home struggles, events that may have happened recently or even anticipation. These should all be considered and evaluated by multiple instructors to analyze whether these are seemingly temporary or permanent obstacles.

visualization, Mastering Take Off and Landings, Training Future Captains

Seeing the Big Picture: This article was eye opening for me. As a competitor I use visualization all the time, but never thought about how it might be able to help within the cockpit. The difficulty with which our body can determine the difference between real and imaginary is phenominal. It would then make sense to practice this in our minds before we try to go out and fly in reality. This skill might be overlooked but could be very beneficial to the student. It will be very valuable to use in flight training.
Mastering Take Off's and Landings: One big technique or way of thinking I took away from this article was thinking of the roundout in three phases. The first which is the decent, the second which is level off, and the third is the flare. These three stages just "naturally" occur to an experience pilot but are never really explained to a student pilot. Breaking the roundout down in this way will make it easier for the student to know what do do, and when to do it. It takes away the daunting task of all three combined while still leaving the importance of accuracy intact.
Training Future Captains: One thing I noticed while I progress in my flying career is the importance of smoothness. I started flying for the fun and enjoyment. As I move into the professional world of flying, smoothness and comfort is a lot more important than the "fun" of flying for the pilot. I think this is something missed during the initial phases of flight training. Smoothness will definately be something I mention and teach during my instructional career as it is an integral part of professional flying.

Blog #3 Assessment Article

What is the difference between Formative and Summative assessment?
Formative assessment is measuring the learning of students during the learning process. Summative is measurements made at the conclusion of the learning process to see how effective the whole course was.

Norm reference assessments are use when there is no agreement on what a student should know. This is vastly different from Criterion assessment where this type of assessment is used to measure if a student reached an objective to a satisfactory level. Self referenced assessment are used when a person sets personal goals and then evaluate whether or not those goals were met.

Self directed learning is where a student is matured and sophisticated enough that they are able to set their learning goals, how they will learn, and how the learning will be assessed. People who use this type of learning sees professors as colleagues rather than authoritarian and rather get criticism than a grade. These people are able to connect and integrate problems as well as possible solutions being comfortable with a problem that doesn't have only one correct answer.

Adult learners

The demographic characterisitcs of adult learners have an affect on how adults learn. Age plays a big role, knowing age tells someone a lot more than just how many years they have been alive. Age can clue to how mature an individual is and how experienced they may be. Both of which are uge for tailoring a lesson to an individual. Another factor is gender. Females learn different than males and they both react differently as well. One of the last categories in considering demographics is language and background. How and what language people speak along with their past experiences grealy influences how they learn and the past also shapes what their new experiences will be.

Adults in general learn much differently than a child in school. Most adults are in a classroom by choice. Their parents aren't making them go to school and they usually dont absolutely despise the subject in which they are studying. This can make it much easier for an instructor and in some instances harder. The motivation in an adult learner is usually there and there is no need for the instructor to provide it. The characteristics that make it harder are complex backgrounds, emotional development and experiences. All these combined along with the different type of cognitive styles and learning methods make teaching adults much different from children.

Selecting Methods

Selecting a method in which to teach a subject, many things should be considered. These thing can be summarized by four main categories; The type of learning characterisitics of the student, content of the subject, prefered teaching method of instructor, and the context in which the subject will be taught. The last of the categories is very important. One would teach very differently towards a class of students as opposed to a one on one session. Perhaps a discussion might be more appropriate in a classroom setting where as independent projects may be more appropriate along with an interactive learning approach.
Accounting for the content of a subject is also very important. It is very ineffective to teach a subject such as flight computer computations using a group project approach because the student(s) do not know how to use the computer at first.
Obviously knowing how the student learns best is key in being a successful teacher. Each student has a different way in which they learn best and the closer we can align the subject matter appropriately with the specific learning style, the greater the chance of the student retaining the information.
The last subject we haven't touched on is the teaching preference of the instructor. The instructor must be able to understand how best to present the material and must be comfortable with it. If they are not, increased possibility of errors and misunderstanding can occur between student and instructor.
Teaching students cockpit resource management and flight crew management is very well suited to use role play. The students are put into a situation where they must imagin that they are on a real flight and must work together in order to be successful. The real life experience makes it very a very effective learning style for some situations.

Blog #1 Ask the Cognitive Scientist Visual, Auditory, and Kinesthetic Learner

I learn best as a Kinesthetic Learner. Being able to manipulate and use all of my senses to learn a new subject is most effective for me. This ensures that I can take in all aspects of that subject in order to store it in as many parts of my brain (visual memory, auditory memory ex.) as possible.

The article was very interesting and I got a lot from it. A common misconception that was discussed was using a students strong modality in teaching any subject. I thought this to be true as well but in reading we began to understand that people learn best by presenting the subject in a way that is best for the subject not the student. Students will learn more if they a taught in a way that is best for a subject then best to them because its more natural which makes it easier for the brain to comprehend and store.

I also learned that the brain can store information as audio or visual but the most common and most effective way to store information is through meaning. This was really interesting to me because I thought that since we have six senses, that's how the brain would store the incoming information. But it turns out that the brain only uses this to gather the information. The brain would rather store correlations of the incoming information and convert these correlations to meanings for long term memory. Knowing this, I will attempt to always highlight the meaning of everything that is taught in order to make it easier for the student to remember everything that is taught.

Blog #1 Constructivist vs. Positive Article

Epistemology, what is it? As humans we try to quantify things and put labels on them. We like certain things to mean certain things. So what is the definition or label of Epistemology? It is the part of philosophy that attempts to define knowledge, what it is, and how to measure it.

There are two main theories on Epistemology, the first is Positive Epistemology, and the second is Constructivist.

Positive Epistemology is the theory that "knowledge," is something that is quantifiable; it's somewhat like an object in space that one can aqcuire by using science and observation. Positive Epistemology would argue that a person could go out into the world and aqcuire "knowledge," by observing and learning the facts about something such as flying. Knowing that the high and low pressures of a wing create the necessarily lift for flight would then be considered knowledge.

Constructivist Theory would argue almost the exact opposite. This theory implies that facts are not enough to be considered knowledge. Knowing that the high pressure on the bottom of a wing and the low pressure on the top of the wing isn't knowledge in it of itself, but the meaning behind this explanation is what Constructivist theororists believe. What does "high pressure," mean? What does lift mean? The answers to those questions are "knowledge."

I personally believe that "knowledge," can be explained very closely to the Constructivist Theory. Facts in this world are a given. We as human beings have defined "facts" as something that is proven to be true through observation or science. But just because I observe airplanes flying, doesn't mean I understand and have the meaning of flying. We give words to many things and some words have two meanings. I believe to have knowledge we must understand the meaning behind these words in order to attain knowledge. Understanding the facts and what facts mean is knowledge. If I were to teach someone the word "fact," from a country that didn't speak English, this person would just be string certain sounds together without any understanding of what "fact" is. They must understand our definition and meaning behind the word before they really KNOW what "fact," is.