Why would I waste their time on this now when they can use GPS and CAT III autoland technology? Does not knowing how to use an imprecise outdated piece of technology like an NDB make them bad pilots? Does knowing about CAT III technology make them good pilots? No to both. When I was a new pilot, we spent hours learning about NDBs and ADF approaches. They understand and embrace the technology and expect to use all of it. Their bonus is that since these Millennials grew up in front of computer screens, FMS systems, glass cockpits and HUDs are second nature. For those who will succeed, someone along the way taught them that they have to haul their ass out of bed when the alarm goes off (no matter how early it is), that they have to put in the time and the work, and that self-discipline creates more rewards than sacrifice. Just like all the other aviation generations. And I have other students who like the idea of it, but will never make it to the cockpit. I already know some of them won’t stop until they are captain of a commercial airliner. I have some of the most intelligence, tech-savvy future pilots sitting in my class. I see the passion, dreams and focus of these future pilots, just like all the other previous generations saw in theirs.
It’s been hard to see the glory of aviation for them, but despite all that, it’s still there. than the previous generation (student thru ATP). They grew up in an era when there are now almost half a million less pilots in the U.S. Their view of aviation has been through security lines, TSA, barbed wire fences and airplanes used as weapons. This next generation of pilots grew up in the aftermath of 9/11. If they grew up with technology, then I need to learn how to use it to propel their knowledge ahead of mine, or we’ll just be spinning in circles without advancing our society forward. It’s up to me as a teacher to learn how to teach them. It would be easy to blame the upcoming generation for being different, but we taught them. If you blame the next generation, you are really blaming your own. We teach the up and coming so each generation is ultimately responsible for the next. Of course, our own generational nametag comes with it only the best traits, but the reality is that each nametag represents the teachings of the previous. We brand each chunk of births with a nametag like Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials and the up and coming iGen. It’s not because of the era in which they were born, it’s the person that they are. There have always been and will always be the best and the worst of each class and each generation. There is always this type of student (or two) in class. That student, at the end of the semester, is now failing. They will just end up punishing themselves. Yes, I wanted to walk up and pour my hot tea on their head, but the reality is that I don’t need to provide punishment. You cringed a little, didn’t you? The first day of class as I was walking around the room, talking about what they’d be learning about aircraft systems and propulsion, one student in clear sight pulled their backpack to the center of the desk, fluffed it up, laid their head down, and promptly went to sleep (however, this will be an excellent skill for a cargo or air ambulance pilot). To round out my life in aviation, I am now teaching first and senior year aerospace/aviation science students at a university. But, it’s really just a matter of perspective. Just ask my dad, he’ll tell you all about it. Every generation thinks that the up and coming are less capable, less intelligent, and less motivated than the present. I’m sure Plato told Socrates at least a time or two that a lion ate his homework. Maybe Plato stayed out too late the night before, partying with Aristotle and other philosophers. In The BeginningĪs Socrates stood at the front of his class trying to teach the next generation, I’m sure Plato did something that made his teacher shake his head in frustration. NextGen pilots is what I’m calling the new generation of pilots who will stand on the shoulders of previous aviation giants and move aviation that much further towards safety, efficiency, and glory.
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