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by Friday Morning Flight Plan at [date]
Pilot mentorship is irreplaceable in keeping GA healthy and vibrant. It fosters growth, enhances safety, and builds a stronger community.
Many opportunities are available to guide and inspire current and future aviators, particularly if you have extensive experience and knowledge. However, before you think to yourself, “I don’t know as much as a lot of other pilots,” keep in mind that your insights and real-world experiences are invaluable resources that can help inform others.
Sharing firsthand knowledge
Sharing your experiences on topics such as the avionics collection you use in your aircraft, quirks of your airplane (M20J and your nose-down reaction to flaps, I'm looking at you), weather encounters, and emergencies can provide pilots of any skill level with new information they need to increase their proficiency and safety.
The same is true of tips you’ve picked up over the years in your training. Let’s say you completed some advanced training program, such as upset recovery training or a type-specific course. You may not be a CFI, but you can certainly pass along tidbits of information you’ve learned from one to encourage others to learn more about an area of flying or prepare them for what to expect if they enrolled in a similar course.
Building confidence
New and rusty pilots and pilots just coming off a scare often face challenges and uncertainties. As a mentor, you can offer encouragement, support, and constructive feedback, helping them hone their decision-making and build confidence in their abilities.
Particularly when offered alongside knowledge on a topic, this type of support can be invaluable in keeping GA pilots safely in the skies. For example, keeping other pilots up-to-date on the nuances of new technology is one of many areas in which you can help reduce workload and increase confidence.
The aviation industry constantly evolves as new technologies and systems enter the market. Helping new pilots, rusty pilots, and even experienced pilots understand how to use new avionics, navigation systems, and safety equipment can help flatten the learning curve and supplement their training with a flight instructor.
Promoting safety
No matter whether you go out of your way to help share knowledge and encouragement, leading by example is a critical component of mentorship. By placing safety, risk management, and continuous learning at the center of your planning, procedures, and conversations, you can instill and improve a culture of safety that benefits everyone.
Remember, you don’t always choose who you mentor. Unknowingly, you may be an unofficial mentor to a less experienced pilot on the field who watches how you approach your flying from afar. Proceed accordingly.
Volunteering with GA organizations
Beyond leading by example and talking with other pilots at the airport, you can find structured mentorship opportunities by volunteering or working with an aviation group.
Participating in aviation organizations, such as the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) and the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), and attending events like airshows and fly-ins provides opportunities to connect with fellow aviators, relay experiences, promote safety, and share the joy of flying. Engaging with other pilots through forums, seminars, and flying clubs provides opportunities to exchange knowledge, discuss best practices, and learn from each other's experiences.
Youth outreach programs, such as Young Eagles, and aviation education initiatives with local schools are another way to get involved. These programs help foster a love for aviation among young people and inspire the next generation of pilots.
Becoming a flight instructor
The GA community benefits greatly from part-time instructors with diverse backgrounds and a breadth of experience. Serving as a CFI allows you to directly impact the development of new pilots.
Your guidance can help them build a strong foundation of skills and knowledge that serves them throughout their aviation journey. Plus, becoming a certified flight instructor can benefit your proficiency greatly, and you’ll get paid to fly GA!
Engaging in peer mentorship
Mentorship is not only beneficial for less experienced pilots but also for your peers and even more experienced pilots. Sharing with them can lead to mutual growth and new perspectives for all.
Engaging in discussions and collaborative learning with all levels of pilots can lead to discovering new techniques, insights, and best practices that enhance flying skills.
Similarly, new and rusty pilots are not the only ones who benefit from support and encouragement. Providing this to your peers can help them maintain motivation and enthusiasm for continuously learning, developing, and volunteering.
You may be far enough along in your flying journey that you don’t come across as needing a mentor. However, by consciously seeking out peers and more experienced pilots (even if you have thousands of hours), you avail yourself of experts you may never have otherwise met.
This helps perpetuate a virtuous cycle of learning. If you understand the value of mentorship, you are more likely to seek opportunities to help others and encourage your peers to do the same.
By engaging in a culture of mentorship and collaboration, you contribute to building and maintaining a strong and supportive aviation community that values safety, camaraderie, and perpetual growth.
The best flying knowledge I ever received came from a former Space Shuttle commander. As a volunteer mentor for EAA, he presented remarkably useful information about dead stick energy management (about which he knows a thing or two) to a small group of general aviation pilots. After his talk, he and I had a 20-minute conversation about some specific questions I had.
If he hadn’t been a mentor in the true spirit of general aviation, and if I hadn’t engaged in the GA community through EAA, I cannot imagine ever having that opportunity. I got to meet a shuttle commander and, more importantly, improve my safety and proficiency as an aviator.
No matter where you are in your lifelong flying journey, someone out there almost certainly doesn't know as much or have as much experience, thus making you an expert to them (even on a niche topic or within a narrow scope).
While engaging in continuous training and staying updated with the latest advancements in aviation are important, so is sharing that information with others. It’s true what they say: Teaching is one of the most effective ways to learn something. You’ll enrich another pilot while being enriched yourself.