Don't Let Go of the Controls
When I was down in Texas training instructor pilots I was given two Vietnamese pilots to train. Both of these pilots had been through the US Army helicopter flight school and then returned to Vietnam where they had flown for a couple of years. They were then sent back to the US to give evaluation flights to Vietnamese students going through flight school. It made sense to me to have an instructor pilot who could really communicate with the students to give them a checkride.
The first Vietnamese pilot that was assigned to me was super. He was anxious to do things right and learn what he was supposed to do. He completed the course on schedule and was out giving checkrides. Meanwhile in another flight group, another instructor pilot was training the other Vietnamese pilot. But things were not going as well there.
After having finished with the Vietnamese pilot that I had started with, I was told by my flight commander that things were not going well over in the other flight group. He told me that because I had success with the other Vietnamese pilot that I was now being tasked to fly with the one from the other flight.
Before I ever flew with the other Vietnamese pilot I looked over his records and talked with his former instructor pilot. What I learned was not good. My search showed me that this pilot would not take any correction. If the maneuver was supposed to be flown at fifty knots the pilot might fly at forty knots. If the instructor made any comment about the correct speed the Vietnamese pilot would let go of the flight controls. It didn’t matter what the flight mode was or what was happening he would let go of the controls. The instructor pilot would then have to quickly grab the controls to keep the helicopter from crashing. This was not a good thing.
The first couple of days I flew with my new student I spent trying to build trust and confidence. Every time the pilot did something to standards I complemented him. My hope was that soon he would accept some comments on the areas that he was not doing to standards.
On the forth day I thought he was ready to start making some progress so I took the chance I had waited for. He was flying a maneuver that was not too critical but he was ten knots off on his airspeed. So I calmly said, “This maneuver is supposed to be flown at fifty knots.” Sure enough he let go of the flight controls. Quickly I took over the controls. He was looking out the door on his side and would not look at me.
I spoke calmly and said, “I was not criticizing you. I was pointing out that the correct airspeed was fifty knots.” There was no response from the pilot. He had folded his arms and was looking out the door. Several more times I repeated my statements and tried to get him to take the flight controls again. He continued to sit there with his arms folded and looking out the door.
After a few minutes of trying to get him to take the flight controls and fly the aircraft I gave up. I then told him that we were supposed to get an hour and a half of flight time today and I was going to get it. He could sit there and watch him or me fly could fly and finish the flight-training period as we were supposed to. He chose to sit there while I flew and I flew and had fun.
When we returned from the flight the pilot would still not speak to me and so I told him that I would report to the flight commander what had happened with him present. And I did just exactly what I told him I was going to do. When I finished reporting to the flight commander I left the pilot in his office. The flight commander talked with the pilot for a short period of time and learned that he really didn’t want to be there. He didn’t want the job he was assigned and wanted to go home to Vietnam. He left and we never saw him again.
Many times we let go of the controls when we should not. There are many times that I have let things go when I should have hung on a bit longer. And many times we fail to communicate what we really want. Whether we look out the door and don’t talk or just don’t honestly communicate what we think, want or don’t want, the result is still not going to be what we want. The only way to let others know what we want is to clearly communicate it and the only way to make things happen is to persevere and don’t let go of the controls. Keep trying and don’t just look out the door!
The first Vietnamese pilot that was assigned to me was super. He was anxious to do things right and learn what he was supposed to do. He completed the course on schedule and was out giving checkrides. Meanwhile in another flight group, another instructor pilot was training the other Vietnamese pilot. But things were not going as well there.
After having finished with the Vietnamese pilot that I had started with, I was told by my flight commander that things were not going well over in the other flight group. He told me that because I had success with the other Vietnamese pilot that I was now being tasked to fly with the one from the other flight.
Before I ever flew with the other Vietnamese pilot I looked over his records and talked with his former instructor pilot. What I learned was not good. My search showed me that this pilot would not take any correction. If the maneuver was supposed to be flown at fifty knots the pilot might fly at forty knots. If the instructor made any comment about the correct speed the Vietnamese pilot would let go of the flight controls. It didn’t matter what the flight mode was or what was happening he would let go of the controls. The instructor pilot would then have to quickly grab the controls to keep the helicopter from crashing. This was not a good thing.
The first couple of days I flew with my new student I spent trying to build trust and confidence. Every time the pilot did something to standards I complemented him. My hope was that soon he would accept some comments on the areas that he was not doing to standards.
On the forth day I thought he was ready to start making some progress so I took the chance I had waited for. He was flying a maneuver that was not too critical but he was ten knots off on his airspeed. So I calmly said, “This maneuver is supposed to be flown at fifty knots.” Sure enough he let go of the flight controls. Quickly I took over the controls. He was looking out the door on his side and would not look at me.
I spoke calmly and said, “I was not criticizing you. I was pointing out that the correct airspeed was fifty knots.” There was no response from the pilot. He had folded his arms and was looking out the door. Several more times I repeated my statements and tried to get him to take the flight controls again. He continued to sit there with his arms folded and looking out the door.
After a few minutes of trying to get him to take the flight controls and fly the aircraft I gave up. I then told him that we were supposed to get an hour and a half of flight time today and I was going to get it. He could sit there and watch him or me fly could fly and finish the flight-training period as we were supposed to. He chose to sit there while I flew and I flew and had fun.
When we returned from the flight the pilot would still not speak to me and so I told him that I would report to the flight commander what had happened with him present. And I did just exactly what I told him I was going to do. When I finished reporting to the flight commander I left the pilot in his office. The flight commander talked with the pilot for a short period of time and learned that he really didn’t want to be there. He didn’t want the job he was assigned and wanted to go home to Vietnam. He left and we never saw him again.
Many times we let go of the controls when we should not. There are many times that I have let things go when I should have hung on a bit longer. And many times we fail to communicate what we really want. Whether we look out the door and don’t talk or just don’t honestly communicate what we think, want or don’t want, the result is still not going to be what we want. The only way to let others know what we want is to clearly communicate it and the only way to make things happen is to persevere and don’t let go of the controls. Keep trying and don’t just look out the door!
posted by Bruce | 1:03 PM
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