4 Things You Should Have Learned in Your First 10 Hours

What we learn first, we learn best.  The Law of Primacy says it is critical that some things should be learned early in flight training giving you the best chance of learning them well, and retaining those skills.

Dan Dyer is a nationally-recognized flight instructor that has spent years thinking deeply about pilot training and how best to sequence the transfer of ground knowledge and in-flight skills to student pilots.  He has a degree in Cognitive Science and that gives him interesting insights into the ways humans think and learn.  At SCFC, he brought that background to the development of the SCFC private pilot training syllabus, which has become known for its structure and effectiveness.

In this seminar, Dyer reveals the four most important skill areas that all early student pilots should learn, and sadly, why they are often overlooked. If your pilot training didn’t provide you with solid ability in these four skill areas, you may have real difficulty learning and perfecting them later in training. Primary skills must be presented in a logical order, step by step, making sure the students have learned the preceding step before moving to the next step. In his work helping experienced pilots perfect basic skills, Dyer has seen that the process for re-learning primary skills late can be confusing and time consuming.  Note: If you think the four are climbs, descents, turns, and straight-and-level flight, you aren’t thinking deeply enough about what makes you a safe and competent pilot.

Join us for one flight instructor’s opinion on what skills you should challenge yourself to learn in your first 10 hours of training, or relearn as soon as you can.

Dan Dyer is the founder of the San Carlos Flight Center, and has built the motto of Safety, Community, and Adventure for over 8 years.  Dan was an instructor for 15 years, accumulated over 4,000 flight hours, and is the Bay Area’s local expert in crosswind landing instruction. He is known for finding simple and innovative ways to explain complex topics and regularly speaks on advanced ground school topics.  Find out more about Dan at www.sancarlosflight.com or contact him at [email protected]

San Carlos Flight Center (SCFC) is the SF Bay Area’s most dynamic flying club, committed to building general aviation through safety, community, and adventure. AOPA has consistently recognized SCFC in their Best Flight School survey, most recently in 2019 as a Distinguished Flight School.

SCFC is committed to promoting safety in general aviation through our regular safety seminars and guest speaker programs. Space is often limited so it is important to sign up early. SCFC members may choose to watch the seminar live over the web at home, or recorded at a later date. Click here or contact a SCFC member service rep at (650) 946-1700 for more information about online access.