Propeller System Lesson Plan - First Try

[cookmg]

Hi All. I'm working on my first lesson plan. It is to be on the propeller system, specifically the constant speed McCauley in the 172RG. I am to include information on propeller theory, constant speed theory, and information on the gauges and controls inside the cockpit. I was hoping some of you could give me an idea of how complete this lesson should be.

Should this lesson be taught differently to a commercial applicant than to a private pilot looking for a complex endorsement? Should I teach everything I know on the subject? Or, do I try to simplify as greatly as I can and let the student's (or instructor's) questions dictate how in-depth I need to go?

I think what I'm asking is: If the goal of a lesson is not to teach the student everything you know about a subject, then what should your goal be when teaching a student a new subject?

Thanks.

 

[embdrvr]

The tendency among many instructors is to over-inform. Try to keep it relevant. In a nutshell you push the knob in the prop speeds up because the angle of the blade flattens. Changes in oil pressure on one side or the other of the mechanism make this magic occur. If it fails for some reason the blades will automatically revert to the high RPM position...yada yada yada. At all levels of this game people spend too much time memorizing useless information. Make sure they know how to operate the system, and deal with abnormalities and emergencies. Knowing the torque value of the nuts or the intricacies of how it's plumbed do nothing but confuse people.

 

[SkyWestCRJPilot]

Remember to tell the student that the propeller control controls propeller RPM, not propeller blade angle. Blade angle changes when you move the propeller control but it also changes when you accelerate, decelerate, pitch up, pitch down, and also when you move the throttle. Too many people get caught up in thinking that the prop control adjusts blade angle. If that were so then there would be a blade angle meter that I look at when I adjust the prop control. Instead I look at the RPM gauge when I adjust the prop control. Again, tell them the propeller control regulates RPM, not blade angle because blade angle changes all the time (to maintain constant RPM) without the pilot adjusting things in the cockpit.

 

[tarp]

Cookmg -

1.) Yes, determine your audience (student)

a.) Abner, a high school student from Podunk has been flying Cubs and C-152's and wants a check out in the mighty Cutlass.

b.) April, a PHD in mechanical engineering has been flying a 2003 C-172-S for all her training and wants complex endorsement.

c.) Johann, a brain surgeon from Munich, has 3,000 hours in Mooney's and Bonanza's and wants to get his Commercial ticket.

Yep, quite a difference.

2.) RUAC - (Rote, Understanding, Application, Correlation)

YOU have the ability to correlate your lesson plan. Your student depending on #1 above has varying degrees that you can hope to achieve. So on any lesson plan, what is the rote? How will you make them understand? How will you test to see if application works? And finally, what if you can get the student to correlate as well????

So what is rote to a constant speed prop? I know mine - I tell the students that the "Prop is in front of the engine". Now except for C-337's, Starships and Long-E-Z's (and all other pusher prop planes) the student has a very easy ROTE mnemonic for how to control the prop/throttle relationship - i.e. the prop control should always be forward of the throttle - reduce power throttle first, add power - whoops keep that prop ahead of the throttle - prop first.

3.) For every lesson plan I write, I always remember Ford's old slogan which I have taught forever in aviation "Safety is Job One!"
So with that in mind - EVERY lesson plan I write has a list of safety tips I want to remember. For props, I would start from caution during pre-flight (props are hot). I would go through engine failures, overspeeds, loss of oil pressure, etc. Now these are not necessarily taught first, but they are in my list of must teach items. We have a little gate at our airfield to get to the flight line. My students generally did not open the gate because they were so accustomed to my safety lecture. See the gate was my memory aid to remind me to do the safety lecture before we got into the plane.

4.) For every lesson plan, there is another simple question - "What does the book say?" Unfortunately this doesn't have a simple answer. BUT.....Think this way. What is regulatory? FAR/AIM, PTS, Written Test, POH. CS Props - anything in FAR/AIM? Don't think so other than Complex/Comm Part 61 requirements. PTS - there's probably a section in there about knowing systems, but not much. Written test - well there's a good one - what questions are asked on the test? POH - an FAA required book in the airplane - Now there's some good stuff! From there you run to textbooks. For a PPL, what's in his/her textbook? Can I explain that? For Comm, what's in his/her textbook? Can I explain THAT? What other books/resources are there? (PS. McCauley has a beautiful web page describing CS Props.)

5.) The customer pays me for a "lesson". The most common timeframe is a flight hour. 1.0, 1.1, 1.2. If Abner or April or Johann came to you - could you teach them how to fly or get a one-hour checkout in a C-172RG? Most of us would say sure (with exceptions for the truly gifted or brain-dead students). OK, what do we need to cover in a C-172RG checkout? The prop is about a third of the lesson for people who don't know CS props. We also have to teach RG systems and some Cutlass little secrets. Abner up there is going to have to mash that rudder a little harder on takeoff due to torque. So now how much time are you really going to spend with this student on CS props - keep that in mind!!! You have to make meaningful presentations before the eyes glaze over and lights go out - keep in mind how much time.

So to the drawing board:

Goal: CS props for April for Complex endorsement
Time: Ground- 15 minutes, Flight - 15 minutes, Post - 5 minutes
Safety: 1.) All props are _____? (hot)
2.) Discuss loss of oil/power actions.
3.) Discuss overspeed (POH) at proper time.
Supplies: Picture/model of govenor, whiteboard
Lesson: (Interactive - question as much as possible)
1.) Rote - explanation and mnemonics (primacy)
2.)
3.) ...I'm not doing this for you but make a progressive
4.) ...lesson plan
Performance Objectives: I expect the student to........


So, where are you? The lesson plan is not about how much you can teach but about how much you can reasonably teach to this student in the time allotted. YOUR job is to be prepared to teach a lesson in xx minutes. If the student asks, you need to be prepared to answer much more and extend the time period.

Good luck.

 

[cookmg]

Tarp,

Thanks a lot! I found this morning that over-explaining is indeed my problem. The details help me understand the system, but I have to remember that that comes after an understanding of the basics has time to settle in. I'm going to try and do this lesson again in 30 min or less. Your tips should prove invaluable.

Thanks.

Mike

 

[Speedtree]

KISS- Keep it simple stupid. You probably know this.

Move from simple to complex. Basic FOI.

As mentioned before find the students level of knowledge and capabilities and adapt a starting point. Some students need to be hand fed the entire lesson from step 1. Some students can read the assignment and discuss things intelligently. Others can teach you things about hydraulics, aerodynamics, physics or whatever.

The other thing that a lot of aspiring CFIs seem to overlook is the benefit of practice (repetition) and evaluation. I sat through a ton of lessons being taught over and over by CFI applicants who could have gotten the lesson for free if they had applied themselves.

Find an innocent victim, your wife/girlfriend, mom/dad, bro/sis, son/daughter, dumbasss friend, you get the picture. Teach them the ground lesson. You will learn as much doing this for free than many of the lessons you teach to your instructor.