To give you some idea as to how different two flight instructors can be in their communication skills, take a look at these photos I took recently.  Both were actual whiteboard presentations used by instructors during ground lessons conducted for their students (fyi, neither of these are mine).  The first I consider to be rather good in conveying concepts to the student; the second is extremely poor.   Anyone looking at these will probably draw the correct conclusion as to each instructor’s overall teaching abilities.  My best advice to anyone considering starting their flight training is to take the time necessary to meet with several flight instructors and pick the one you feel is best suited for you.  Avoid using hourly rate as your primary selection criterion, or you run the very real risk of spending more money in the long run as a result of ineffective learning.

One of the concepts introduced early in the pre-solo stage for Private Pilot is that of “best glide” distance.  If the airplane’s engine stops producing power, the airplane turns into a very nice glider with a glide ratio of 9-to-1.  At sufficient altitude, the pilot has several minutes within which to locate a suitable landing spot and attempt to get the engine re-started in the meantime.  These emergency landing procedures are practiced by every flight student before they are deemed eligible to fly solo.

The photo below gives some idea as to the relative glide distances for the Cessna 172SP based on various headwind conditions (assuming that the best-glide airspeed of 68 kts is maintained, and zero flaps).  If you’d like a copy of the Excel spreadsheet I created to calculate estimated glide distance for a given headwind, email me and I’ll be happy to forward a copy.