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.
Visualizing is huge. Thats why we say to chair fly. It is definitely apparent as an instructor when you have told your student to do it but they have not. Roundout is a forgotten art. Most new instructors neglect this, and their private students take longer to land.
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