Communication between instructor and students is important on several levels. First, the student and instructor must agree on terminology. Both must understand what the controls will be called and where they are located. As well the student must understand what is meant by words such as ‘attitude’, ‘pitch’, ‘bank’, ‘yaw’, ‘axis’ etc. before they are pressed into service.
Since both will not necessarily be controlling the aircraft at the same time, there should exist a standard procedure for exchange of control. This is known in some circles as flight responsibility. This exchange should always be two-sided. If the instructor says, “I have control”, the student must reply “You have control” and vice versa. In the instance where one is following through, this must also be explicitly stated, for example “Follow through with me, lightly on the controls”.
Since flying is largely a visual activity it is important for the instructor to promote attention towards visual cues. Students will learn best by their own activity. They must learn how their movements and thoughts direct the flight. Using neutral language best encourages this. For example, controls should be described as being “moved” as opposed to “pushed” or “shoved”. The stronger, non-neutral terminology can have quite different connotations to different students. This can result in movements on the controls that are not properly linked to the effect we want. The effect of the controls is best judged visually by the attitude of the aircraft and not by the force applied to the controls or their position.
Delivery is important in all communication. Knowing what we want to communicate is not enough. We must ensure that our message arrives accurately. This not only means that we speak clearly, use phrases that are easily understood, but that we know when to communicate. Often if the instructor wants the student to think or absorb some information it will be necessary that at least temporarily the instructor does the flying. It is asking a lot from students to respond to instructor’s questions or absorb new information while controlling the aircraft. Of course at later stages of flight training this may be a good test of the student’s progress. On the same topic, a factor often left out is the instructor giving the student enough time to reply. Sometimes learning is promoted by saying less and not by trying to fill in all of the time during the flight with ‘information’.