Master Instructor Digs in to the Fundamentals in Search of Deeper Understanding and Teaching

A new way of looking at the basics of flight has been published by one long established flight instructor, offering teachers a fresh approach to light aircraft.

Master Flight Instructor Rich Stowell has put a cap on his research regarding the fundamental principles of flight instruction, publishing “The Nine Principles of Light Airplane Flying”. While currently the theory exists as a self-contained paper, Stowell plans to integrate the principles into educational curricula and online teaching programs.

The 35-year instructing veteran used his experiences in teaching spins, emergencies, maneuvers, and aerobatics to come up with a categorization to convey the fundamentals to a student from zero. Whatever the aspect, it can be neatly placed in one of 3 categories: Mindset, Motion, or Mechanics, allowing students a neater way of conceptualizing tasks. 

“Because they are unchanging, first principles give us a solid foundation to build on," he said upon publicationRich Stowell Publishes Thesis on "Nine Principles of Light Airplane Flying". Stowell hopes that the paper can help "to start a dialogue about first principles thinking and its role in improving flight training content and methods," as well as "to provide a clearer path to the correlation level of learning."

“The principles should look familiar to most pilots," he added. "What I’ve tried to do is identify, refine, and list them in one place.” If others see merit in his definitions, Stowell hopes that the concepts can catch on to the betterment of understanding and safety throughout the industry. Copies are available as a download via the author's website below.

FMI: www.RichStowell.com