Offerings

We specialize in landing training.

Our Philosophy

BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front): We learn best through intense repetition. It is no different in the case of landing an airplane. Our process is safe, efficient, and effective.

A little lesson about what it means to learn how to do something. Procedural memory means to unconsciously know how to do something. Like how we know how to walk and ride bikes-- we just do (actually our entire body knows how).  This is what we want to achieve with taking off and landing, we want to understand what we are doing of course-- but we really want our body and mind to know how to do it. 

Procedural memory can be divided into three phases: cognitive, associative, and autonomous.

The cognitive phase is when a person learns about the steps and factors that make up a new skill. In this phase you are motivated, and ready to learn the process of a take-off and landing. However, your perceptions will be overloading you; you still have to learn to focus on what's really important. You'll be thinking (like in your head--cognitive) while you are flying. This will in-turn result in sloppy performance; the reason is because flying an airplane is happening real-time (having a cognitive model of the task is not enough). While everyone learns at different rates, the only dependable way to learn a skill rapidly is to practice over and over again-- and build 'associations'.

The associative phase is when someone practices a task until it becomes automatic and unconscious. During this phase, the person's body and mind learn to differentiate between important and unimportant stimuli. During this phase you will (paradoxically) increase your performance while decreasing the number of considerations-- but you will be trying new techniques so your performance will be inconsistent. This is the part of learning that I call 'the grind'-- my Dad calls it 'doing the work'. Then, all of a sudden, you know how to land.

The autonomous phase of procedural memory is when a skill can be performed automatically and unconsciously, even when there are distractions. This phase requires the least amount of mental effort. Once you achieve this with all the Part 61 requirements, we send you on your solo.

Most people working towards a Part 61 goal do it too slowly. The reasons are many-- but generally distill down to a lack of finances and/or availability (Yourself, Your instructor, Or the Airplane). Going too slowly is suboptimal and, by definition, inefficient. 

The learner ends up spending far too much time in the cognitive and associative phases. Their 'knowledge' fails to update effectively due to sparse associative phase opportunity. Meanwhile, the cognitive information (mental model) isn't exercised, which leads to erosion of that information. Then, the instructor is forced to remind the learner of information they should already know-- this is frustrating for all involved. Plus, the financial and scheduling burden ironically increases. The student's confidence wavers, and the experience of the lessons end up losing their once exciting and positive vibe. 

Our process sets the conditions for achievement. Achieving initial solo in two weeks is very realistic when you commit to it.