Alot of Info to remember

[88_MALIBU]

How do you guys stay fresh on Instrument procedures, FARs, 135/121 stuff, plus all the aerodynamics info that our jobs require us to know? I have a hell of a time remembering the fine details of VOR service volumes, aerodynamics, etc. I try to study up every few nights by reading before bed, but it seems if I'm not teaching alot I zone out and just become a point A-B pilot. What is your strategy to keeping fresh?

 

[PropsForward]

The trick is to study and refresh yourself before giving each lesson. A few hundred lessons later some of this stuff starts to stick.

It is also fun to read this forum. A question typically starts out simple, and two or three pages later the question is answers, an aspect of safety and applicability to real life flying is thrown in and several nooks and cranny’s are pointed out; complete with quotes from the regs....

 

[PropsForward]

As the saying goes, It is just when an Instructor starts to become a good instructor that they leave for the next rung up in the aviation ladder of success.

 

[AAflyer]

I tend to keep up on items at work. I will pop open the book and read a chapter from operating manual, or systems book. I had bought the book "handling the heavy jets" for interview, but enjoyed just reading it.

It is funny you mention how we keep all this stuff in our head, I found that when instructing, especially airline (727 FE instructor) the more I taught the more it was just there.

However as I study for my MEI ,so much of it is coming back easily. I also have found that in doing this for fun, and with no pressure to build time or find a job (atleast not yet ), the material seems to stay in my head.

May the winds be at your back (true or magnetic) .

AA

 

[avbug]

The reason I began visiting sites such as this, and about a dozen others I've partcipated in over the past few years, is selfish. This is a study aid.

What I found by visiting these sites is that a lot of questions come up that I can't answer off the top of my head. Some I don't have a clue about. Participating and forcing myself to crack a book or do a little research is a way to motivate myself to study. From participation on regulations boards to student pilot sites, I find that having a purpose in seeking a particular answer or researching a question makes study interesting. Just cracking a book for the purpose of study alone, I fall asleep.

Try picking a topic, any topic, and researching it. It's a good starting point.

Another reason for going this route for study was instructing. I enjoy it, but seldom get the opportunity. Providing instruction or teaching is perishable, like any other skill. The simple process of practicing an explaination quickly erodes, as many of my posts will attest. Given the limited opportunity to work with students, I've selected several boards at different times to work strictly with students or mentor up and coming pilots. Other participants hopefully gain something in the doing, but my own involvement is admittedly for selfish reasons. It's me that benifits by participating; it's an exercise.

Flash cards work for aircraft systems and performance numbers. I take a lot of notes in books, highlight them, write in them...I even go so far as to color the pictures in diagrams when I get really bored. When that fails, I'll go to the shop or the hangar and study, or dive into the maintenance manual for specifics.

You'll find that the ways to study are nearly endless. When learning a new aircraft type, I find that getting in the cockpit and running the proceedures over and over helps. I tack cockpit posters to the wall, and put up all the memory proceedures and items around them on 3X5 or bigger cards, and review them ten or twenty times a day. My regulations are dog eared, highlighted to death, cross referenced and indexed, and beaten up (and each year, on or about new year day, I ceremoniously execute last years copy with a .45. It doesn't help me study, but it sure makes me feel better). Be creative.

Find what works for you.

 

[Vik]

You should visit ProPilot.com's FAR BBS. But that might be more than you bargained for as far as homework goes

The reason I began visiting sites such as this, and about a dozen others I've partcipated in over the past few years, is selfish. This is a study aid.

What I found by visiting these sites is that a lot of questions come up that I can't answer off the top of my head. Some I don't have a clue about. Participating and forcing myself to crack a book or do a little research is a way to motivate myself to study. From participation on regulations boards to student pilot sites, I find that having a purpose in seeking a particular answer or researching a question makes study interesting. Just cracking a book for the purpose of study alone, I fall asleep.

Try picking a topic, any topic, and researching it. It's a good starting point.

Another reason for going this route for study was instructing. I enjoy it, but seldom get the opportunity. Providing instruction or teaching is perishable, like any other skill. The simple process of practicing an explaination quickly erodes, as many of my posts will attest. Given the limited opportunity to work with students, I've selected several boards at different times to work strictly with students or mentor up and coming pilots. Other participants hopefully gain something in the doing, but my own involvement is admittedly for selfish reasons. It's me that benifits by participating; it's an exercise.

Flash cards work for aircraft systems and performance numbers. I take a lot of notes in books, highlight them, write in them...I even go so far as to color the pictures in diagrams when I get really bored. When that fails, I'll go to the shop or the hangar and study, or dive into the maintenance manual for specifics.

You'll find that the ways to study are nearly endless. When learning a new aircraft type, I find that getting in the cockpit and running the proceedures over and over helps. I tack cockpit posters to the wall, and put up all the memory proceedures and items around them on 3X5 or bigger cards, and review them ten or twenty times a day. My regulations are dog eared, highlighted to death, cross referenced and indexed, and beaten up (and each year, on or about new year day, I ceremoniously execute last years copy with a .45. It doesn't help me study, but it sure makes me feel better). Be creative.

Find what works for you.

 

[minitour]

avbug

Thank you so much!

I've been DYING for a more productive way to learn systems/limitations/v-speeds on the new planes (before the check rides).

Going through the book is great, and I'll rote learn them, but I've got one of those "flight deck" posters (its like a 182 or something haha "flight deck" haha) and lots of note cards...I love it!

Thanks again!

-mini

 

[avbug]

I did do the far forum for several years, but I've cut back quite a big from what I used to do. Several posters here, such as A Squared, are heavy hitters over there

 

[BoDEAN]

ProPilot.com is a nice, challanging place to visit =)
A lot can be learned from there, and from here. I agree with Avbug's approach.