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.

Mentioned on the Show

Please Take our Listener Survey to help guide the future of the show

Enter a giveaway to win a copy of Keep Your RPM in the Green

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.