At this stage students are almost always in the ‘Red Zone’. Their entire attention is usually focused on learning how to control the aircraft, and this is as it should be. The sooner students feel comfortable with controlling the aircraft, the sooner they can progress to the important planning activities of the ‘Yellow’ and ‘Green Zones’. This does not mean that we do not start preparing them for planning or judgement activities. The key is to introduce these skills at the appropriate time. The most powerful learning factor at this stage is primacy. All the more reason to be careful to demonstrate the appropriate activities for each situation. Just because an instructor can expound on the history of flight while controlling the aircraft in the ‘Red’ doesn’t mean that they should be passing on this habit to their students.
This is a particularly stressful stage for most students. Many take ten flights or so just to get used to the new environment and often are battling with motion sickness. As such, these flights should be kept under 30 minutes. While this stage often lends itself to more rigid flight plans, it still may be better to keep a more skill-oriented focus. All such flights could follow the same basic lesson plan with a few variations depending on whether the student is being introduced to a skill as opposed to demonstrating competence. While we may think that the skills are straightforward at this stage, it is important to allow the student to integrate their experiences. This means taking breaks and it will likely be beneficial to take a day off at or near the end of the basic stage, if the student is on a concentrated course.
During the pre-flight phase we are in the ‘Green’, doing our checks and planning for the flight. The instructor should generally do the planning aspects. The important thing is that we impress the students that this is a planning situation. After the pre-flight checks are out of the way, this is the time for the instructor to further discuss what the plan is for the upcoming flight and to answer any of the student’s questions.
When we are next in sequence to launch we move to the ‘Yellow’, and planning should be narrowed down to the launch itself. Controlling and monitoring now become more important. Students will learn by example that we now are concerned almost exclusively with the launch. Communications should become more focused and it should be obvious that both student and instructor are concentrating on the task at hand. This means that neither is waving at their friends on the sidelines!
As the launch commences we are in the ‘Red’ with controlling and monitoring the prime activities. From the student’s point of view they have probably been in the ‘Red’ from the moment they got in the aircraft, so this is probably not a good time to ask them what to do in the case of an emergency. Communications during this phase are normally only descriptive of the situation as it unfolds. The student will likely only be able to listen and absorb planning and situational information at this stage if they are in a ‘Green’ state of mind. This will only occur if they are not directly responsible for the flying or absorbed in the flight transition at takeoff or landing. The consequence is that if an instructor wants to impart any information effectively during the initial flights, the students will not have their hands on the controls, as this will represent a distraction to the learning process. The ability for students to absorb instruction, other than of a direct coaching on aircraft control, will always be severely limited. Even at advanced stages, if the instructor wishes to make comments on the just completed takeoff, taking control of the aircraft, and then talking to the student best accomplishes this. Once the point has been made, control can then be given back. Remember, below circuit height it is virtually impossible to be in less than a ‘Yellow’ situation, and once the instructor starts speaking, the world invariably reverts to the ‘Red’ in the student’s mind.
Students at the Basic stage can probably not monitor, control, and plan simultaneously (very few experienced pilots can!). As such we must be careful to only ask them to try one of these skills at a time.