Mike Franz seminar last night

[Whiteshadow]

Well, just when I thought I couldn't get more excited to start my helo training...............

 

I went to Broomfield last night. The seminar was awesome! Keep in mind that I start training in a week or so. I have done 4 classes and one flight on my own. Even I got a ton of useful information out of the seminar. Let me tell you what I got out of it, otherwise just saying it was great is just a bunch of fluff, right?

 

I learned that this is a a small world, and the helo world is smaller still.

 

Helicopter folks are great. Everyone there had a great attitude and was great to be around.

 

I am now more excited to start my training than before.

 

I am now more excited to be an instructor once my school is done. This is based on the new training methods that hopefully will be employed industry-wide very soon.

 

I learned that there will always be more to learn, which I like. I don't think I will ever get bored or feel like I have done it all in this industry.

 

I learned that I am now going to start planning to be at next years heli-success.

 

 

These points may not seem like much to some of you, but they truly reinvigorated my excitement for the new adventure I am about to begin!

 

I also got to meet some folks from right here on VR. DP, Adridge and of course Mike. It was great to put some faces to the screennames and shake some hands!

 

The seminar was so good, I even thought about going again on Sunday. Or maybe it was because DP said something about bbq'ing some hot dogs afterwards!

 

Thanks for a great time!

 

Whiteshadow

[ADRidge]

It was good to put a face to a name last night. Today Mike built a bit on the SBT portion in an informal session with Tarantula and I. Tarantula is a CHO student, and much more familiar with the way of thinking that Mike advocates. It was really interesting to see the difference between my answers as a normal CFI candidate and Duncan's answers as a commercial candidate.

 

I'll write a bit more after the C&E seminar tomorrow.

[RkyMtnHI]

The seminar was awesome.. ADRidge drove all the way from Dallas, Whiteshadow from Colorado Springs and Tarantula and Mike were there as well. Tomorrow we have people coming from all over and look forward to more of Mike's insight.

 

here are some photos:

 

dp

[RkyMtnHI]

Mike's Second Seminar was today and everyone loved it.. i am sure you'll see some posts about it soon. We had about 15 folks there, had lunch and ended up in the CFII room for the summary. We had one friend show up in his personal MD530FF.. it was beautiful.. watch the ribbon on the side change colors as you click thru the photos..

 

here are some photos:

 

 

http://s298.photobucket.com/albums/mm243/RkyMtnHI2/Mikes%20Seminar/

 

 

same here with descriptions:

 

 

 

 

aloha,

 

dp

[Tarantula]

Jumping in to add my 2 cents here as well. This seminar is a great introduction to what SBT/FITS training is all about. That being said, it is an Introduction, so material is not covered fully and in depth. For those who decide that they want to make the transition, Mike is very willing to schedule training for CFI(I)s to become FITS trained facilitators.

 

If you don't know what SBT/FITS is, one of these seminars will help you get started. You can go to the FAA website and search for FITS, and find about 8 billion pages to read. Unless you are highly motivated, I highly recommend trying to make a seminar about it.

 

One of the things I found very interesting, during the Q&A portion, a few of the *ahem* older flight instructors were asking, "Why should we completely change the way we train?" It all came down to a simple misunderstanding. They thought that by switching to SBT, you were no longer going to teach maneuvers, and that somehow the student pilot would just have to get them on his own. This is not the case. SBT simply ADDS to MBT. The student pilot still learns all the maneuvers required by the PTS and will still be able to pass his checkride. SBT adds to these maneuvers, and helps teach the student pilot to make good decisions about every aspect of his flight. Its the same concept of not getting behind your aircraft, doing your proper pre-flight planning, and all of that stuff, except it is emphasized from the very first lesson the student pilot has.

 

If I think back to my first discovery flight I took back in 2007 (at elite helicopters), I had no idea what I was getting into, what the weather was, what a pre-flight was, or anything else. I simply trusted the CFI to know and take care of all that for me. For many people, this continues on through their training until they are ready to solo, if not longer. The biggest difference I see in SBT is that the student pilot (called a Pilot in Training) is charged with being in command. Yes, the CFI will help them as they tackle the aspects of a pre-flight, W&B, or checking weather, but eventually, just like on that first solo, they will be ready to handle all aspects of their flight on their own.

 

Well, I said I was putting in my 2 cents, and it looks more like I dropped a $20. Either way, if anyone wants to talk more with me about what I got from the seminar, or anything else, feel free to PM me.

[HoverMatt]

Real sorry I had to miss this; I was really looking forward to it but had a work conflict. I will be looking forward to the HeliSuccess seminar now. Sounds like Mike is a great teacher.