The Art and Science of Aviation Instruction lays out a clear and urgent argument for reinventing how flight instructors teach. The book moves through research, case law, human behavior, assessment strategies, and curriculum design. It blends aviation with lessons from healthcare and other high-risk fields. It also pushes instructors to move away from time-based teaching and toward structured, competency-driven training. Throughout the text, the author ties pilot error, instructional gaps, and weak training standards together into one central message. Safety improves only when instructional quality improves.

While reading, I felt a steady mix of respect and frustration. Respect for the clarity of the author’s thinking. Frustration because so many of the issues he raises feel preventable. The writing is direct, almost clinical at times, yet the message carries a sense of personal urgency. I liked how the author admits that aviation has borrowed too little from other high-stakes industries. His comparisons to surgical education hit hard. They made me think about how casually we sometimes treat pilot training. I also appreciated the blunt stories about CFI turnover and weak instructional habits. They feel honest, and they sting a little, and that is what makes them effective.

The ideas on assessment struck me the most. The book keeps coming back to planning, documenting, and diagnosing learning like an educator rather than just a pilot. The tone gets a bit heavy with academic framing, but the purpose behind it is sound. I found myself nodding when the author described how poor remediation leads to bad habits that follow a pilot into every flight. The discussion of legal cases also stirred something in me. It felt like a wake-up call. Instructors are not just mentors. They are accountable professionals, and the courts treat them that way. Reading those sections made me reflect on how much responsibility sits on a CFI’s shoulders, sometimes without them realizing it.

In the end, I walked away feeling motivated. The book challenges you and asks you to rebuild how you teach. I came out of it believing the aviation community needs more books exactly like this. I would recommend it to CFIs, flight school leaders, and even advanced student pilots who want to understand the deeper purpose of training. Anyone serious about shaping safer pilots will get a lot out of this work.

Pages: 256 | ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0G32882YT