Helicopter Training Safety: Preventing Student Errors with Jay Bunning – Part 1

Max welcomes Jay Bunning, flight instructor, FAA Safety Team representative, and founder of HelicopterTrainingVideos.com, for Part 1 of a two-part discussion on helicopter training safety and preventing dangerous student errors.

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Building a Safer Training Program

Jay describes how accident reports, maintenance events, and safety management systems (SMS) have shaped the “Dangerous Student Errors” training program at his flight school. By cataloging and simulating common hazards, new instructors can practice recognizing and intervening before student mistakes lead to costly accidents.

Guarding the Controls

A central theme is how CFIs should properly “guard” helicopter controls:

• Pedals: using a right-leg brace to block incorrect yaw inputs.
• Collective: keeping a loose monitoring hand to sense movement.
• Throttle: using different grip levels, from light monitoring to strong “death grip,” depending on the maneuver.
• Cyclic: applying a color-coded green, yellow, and red system for levels of guarding.

Jay explains that instructors must strike a balance—being ready to intervene instantly, but still allowing students to feel and learn from the aircraft.

Ghosting Maneuvers & Freezing on Controls

Jay introduces ghosting maneuvers, a technique where instructors mentally fly the maneuver simultaneously so they can immediately recognize deviations. He also discusses how to handle students who freeze on the controls, including using leverage, physical prompts, and clear communication.

Common Errors in Training

The discussion covers some of the riskiest points in instruction:

• Overspeeds during liftoff caused by tight throttle grips.
• Pedal mis-inputs during pickups and set-downs, especially on grass.
• Student frustration and fatigue during hover training.
• The importance of pre-briefing slope operations and approaches.

Jay emphasizes that mistakes are part of learning, but instructors must ensure they stay safe mistakes—not accidents.

Resources for Students & CFIs

Finally, Jay introduces HelicopterTrainingVideos.com, a free resource with videos, articles, quizzes, and a podcast for helicopter students and instructors. His mission is to make helicopter training safer and more efficient worldwide.

This first part of the conversation lays the groundwork for understanding student error patterns and developing CFI techniques to manage them. Part 2 will continue with advanced maneuvers and safety scenarios.