Rethinking Flight Instruction, with Doug Stewart

By John Zimmerman
Dec 16, 2025
0 Comments

Pilot's Discretion Podcast, episode 119

Legendary instructor Doug Stewart has a lot of strong opinions about flight training, from inadvertent IMC maneuvers to instrument procedures to engine failures. In this episode, Doug offers a sweeping view of the flight instructor’s role, with practical advice for pilots and instructors alike. Doug is also an active pilot examiner, so he shares checkride tips and tricks based on his decades of experience. In the Ready to Copy segment, Doug talks about flight simulators, bad communication habits, jazz musicians, and lessons from cycling.

Listen online:

Listen on your favorite app:

Quotes:

Why the typical advice for IMC doesn’t work: “In the loss of control work groups, we saw that if a pilot had an inadvertent IMC encounter and did what they were trained to do, the 180-degree turn, nine times out of 10, they were killed”
The right approach to inadvertent IMC: “get trimmed up, climb, call, confess your situation, comply, and then do what ATC tells you.”
What instrument pilots don’t know: “They might be excellent at keeping the needle centered… but they didn't have a clue on how to negotiate, on how to communicate, on how to be the pilot in command”
Doug’s favorite four questions: “Where am I? Where am I going? What's going to have to happen there when we get there? What can we be doing now to prepare for that moment?”
What mindfulness means for pilots: “Mindfulness is paying attention to everything that is going on.”
The joys of being a professional instructor: “being an instructor is the best job there is in aviation. We get to build the foundation for every single other pilot”
The key to efficient flight training: “If you're going to a flight school and want to train with someone, whether it's for the private, the instrument, the commercial, the CFI, you need to see that syllabus”
The state of checkrides in 2025: “I have a much higher failure rate than I've ever done in the past.”
How older instructors need to react: “it's my responsibility to learn how to teach them the way they learn, not the way I learned.”
What causes problems on checkrides: “I see so many pilots haven’t a clue on what to do when the engine quits.”
Inexperienced instructors: “so many flight instructor applicants are coming up and they've got no experience. Their scenarios are totally rote memorized scenarios. They haven't lived the scenarios.”
The value of home flight simulators: “suspend your disbelief. It'll make you a better pilot.”
The Piper Malibu: “I'm vertically challenged. It was hard for me to get in the cockpit, let alone a tall guy.”