While I am no longer flying, when I was learning back in the mid to late 1970s, this is how I was taught to fly. Our Cessna 150s were considered 'well equipped' because they had two Navcoms and a transponder. LOL Just VORs, no glideslope receiver, though. I was taught to keep my head up and on a swivel, and not be looking at the instruments. My instructor had little sticky soap holders that he would put over the instruments. I learned to fly the airplane by my ear and the seat of my pants, and visual cues. Grease pencils make a great 'lubber line' on the windshield when you're learning to fly by visual cues. I mean, they don't call it VFR so that you can stare at your instruments, right? LOL I found that I could get the airplane trimmed and holding altitude pretty well just by visual cues and the sound of the engine and the wind going by the airplane. Ernest Gann talks about that fateful night when he was flying the DC-2 as a co-pilot and they hit all that icing. I'd be willing to bet the guy in the left seat knew a LONG time before Mr. Gann did that there was a LOT going on with the airplane that wasn't right, by feel, and by sound. He didn't need to look at the instruments, although they gave him validation that what the airplane was telling him through his pants was correct. So, yeah, today's airplanes with GPS, MFDs and PFDs are wonderful and all, colorful and alluring, but if you're flying VFR, get that grease pencil out, put a mark in the corner of your windshield, listen to what the airplane is telling you, pick a spot on the horizon that's towards your destination, and enjoy the flight. Get your head out of the cockpit and make sure you see what's going on around you, and let the airplane talk to you to tell you what's going on.

Brother, I’m a CFI/CFII who finished flight school last March and couldn’t get hired on at the school until January due to COVID. Your videos have helped me get back into the swing of things. Working at Walmart throughout the last year caused much of my knowledge and skills to wear away, but your videos have helped me get back into a CFI mindset. Much appreciated!

As always great tips for those just learning to fly and a great refresher for those who have been flying a while!

Outstanding Presentation Jason. As a CFI myself, this video will be a must watch for my students. Joining your CFI club today! Jay

Great tips, thank you. Your exercise of flying by sound is really valuable. I am a low time (200 hour) private pilot and recently was flying a C172 when the tachometer (RPM) needle suddenly became loose and dropped to zero. After calming down (!) I got comfortable with setting power by the sound of engine/wind, and we continued the joy flight and landed normally. So apart from improving pilot skill, your exercises will be helpful when an instrument fails.

Great idea! I used to do that when I was in flight instructor as well. I always appreciate the benefits of being able to fly the aircraft based on sound, feel and sight picture out the front window.

Absolutely stealing this, love it!

As soon as I get my CFI done in the next few months, I'll be joining your CFI Club!!! Awesome channel, Jason!

awesome tips! love the music choice on the segment where you count the number of times he looks at the tach 👌🏻

Love this. I'm back in the air on PPL course on 13th April. Its what my CFI drills in but this is excellent revision as I've been out of the saddle for the last three months

Great video thanks the first time I heard the plane properly was on my first solo I remember hearing the wind and every creak clearly for the first time

Great video! I'm a CFI and for sure I'll teach this for my students, also joining the CFI club!

Awesome video! Thank you for sharing!

Always learned something here, thanks Jason

Great video, defiantly going to try this with my instructor. Just a video suggestion Can you do something related to Navigation and cockpit management of all the paper work and maps? I am really struggling reading the map and updating the Plog while still flying straight, and accuratly.

Great technique to learn thank you

I got a "learn the finer points" ad before this video, that was trippy!

Good basic and life lesson

I remember my 'all over the place' phase in straight and level flight, let alone the climb or descent. Far too much watching the tacho and chasing the altitude with one correction after another.... Maybe at the tender age of 72 maybe I'm slow to learn new skills, with many log book pages as testament, but it's now very satisfying to be able to allow the revs to settle after the climb without reference to the tacho, wait a few moments to ensure the altimeter is frozen on the circuit height (still on QFE), then trim so the '152 flies itself for the rest of the leg and I can concentrate on understanding the wind and tweaking the rudder and catching up with the instructor's family news.

Very good

Great tips and video

Another excellent video, great advice. Wish I'd had you as my flight instructor. Shhhh don't tell anyone.....

Yep ive always used climb/ decent/ level flight profiles, and having student use visual sight pics. Almost same for instrument climb/ decent pics on instruments...

Very good video , my current issues are the death grip with the flight yoke and being overly focused on the instruments

WOW What an AWESOME training tip. LOVE your videos. 👍🇨🇦👍

Wonderful tips. I use your tips all the time and my CFII loves the fact that I use them!!

The loss of audio is more than made up in your commentary. It might even be better. There’s no radio chatter to distract from your main teaching points and the engine sound on the camera mic was VERY helpful. I wish I could go back in time and teach this lesson properly. To my former students, wherever you are, I apologize for my painfully bad instruction.

Love the videos so informative. How about one - maybe you've done it already but I couldn't find it - on the safety of V speeds and how less than gross weight affects Va and safe maneuvering/penetration speeds. Something people can do is using there handy-dandy EFB to calculate every flight with different weight and balance and post those numbers where they can be referenced quickly. As you know, those numbers change with less than gross weight and can have an effect on safety, especially for those flying under gross weight, which many do.

Great stuff Jason!

The first aircraft I flew, was a glider. You quickly learn to judge airspeed based on the sound of the slipstream. It gets really quiet when you're close to stalling.

OMG This is me, Thank you!

I watched this to get me back. Next day my CFI was folding paper. I new it. Wow Very good lesson

I always carried these 3” yellow plastic instrument covers. Don’t they make those anymore ?

I have found that this also works well in a fully-equipped desktop simulator, if you position the camera above the instrument panel it will hide the instruments from view and you tend to stay more coordinated visually than if you're staring at the ball and shifting your gaze back and forth. You'll pay more attention to where the nose of the aircraft is, as well as your overall pitch and bank angle.

Outstanding! All points are spot on.

Nice. I have been out of it for a while. I am approaching 64 and have 6 hours in the air but life and my anxiety get me every time. Maybe it's time for a Redbird session. Or maybe just go flying. I am so tired of looping back to turns. Life. Thanks for the tips.

I didn’t know the phrase “really really fast” could apply to a 172. In all seriousness great video

Outstanding Jason. I am picking up some tips for later this year when i start my instructors course here in the UK so thanks a lot.

Your videos have helped me out quit a bit. Thanks. Not trying to be picky (which is something everyone says immediately prior to being picky) but at 1:25 you mention "climbing out on the upwind." I believe according to the AIM that is the "departure" leg. An upwind leg is one PARALLELl to the runway in the direction of landing.

That is so interesting about the sound change. I try to keep my eye balls outside as much as possible. Seems like if I put my eyes even past one second or more on the flight instruments, I get in trouble a bit. In the pattern, I pull the power out for about 2100 RPM and I do it by the sound. I do not look at the tach as it's lower on the panel. I felt like I was cheating. And yes, it may be 2000 or 2200RPM. I am a student pilot.

These "fly by feel" lessons always make me wonder the same thing. Isn't it one of the most deadly sins in flying to rely on feel while flying in the clouds? Don't we tend to revert to primacy (first lessons) when task saturation combines with stressful situations? Given that combination, is it really wise to teach flying by feel (or even by looking outside, for that matter) in primary training? This concern assumes, of course, that pilots will one day find themselves flying in IMC, which many never will. But for those who do, I don't know ... I wonder if we're doing a potentially deadly disservice by teaching in the order we teach? This is a big rethinking type of question, I know. Which also means it won't be popular to even ask, much less come to a non-traditional conclusion. But I think it's worth asking nonetheless.

“Climbing out on the upwind”... I have come to the conclusion that the newer “departure” term for the climb out leg is never going to catch on.

Now I just need to find a CFI who would train this with me! Thanks so much, Jason.

GA flying in the UK can start again on Mon 29 March. We've had a long layoff, so I for one have found your video (and them all actually) very worthwhile. Cheers.

Low hour student here. Can you hear the slipstream under the headset?

First one here 🇦🇺✈️

if the stick it really easy to move,,, you re going to slow if the stick is really hard to move,,,, you re going to fast

Hmmm…almost seems like you were planning on taking off. The instructor doth protest too much.

More of the same!!!!