After flight school, my son needed to increase his flight time to ge a job with a major airline so he taught at a flight school that had a contract to train Chinese pilots to fly. Chinese companies hire people and pay for all the training and in return the students are obligated to a 30 year contract. A pilot’s job is a highly respected and admired position in China. There is no ‘General Aviation’ airspace in China, so they must be taught in the USA. ALL international pilots MUST speak English (International Law), but sometimes the students groped with the language.

Learning the basics, my son asked a student what would happen if a static air tube became plugged, what would become inoperable? The student quickly responded, “The ALTENATOR SIR!” Clearly a wrong answer, my son thought a minute and dug deeper and asked, “Exactly what does the ‘alternator do?” The student said. “Alternator tell pilot how high he is, sir.” My son laughed and said, “It’s not an alternator, it’s and ALTIMETER!” There were many funny stories where there was a mis-match in language.

Chinese students were expected to do well by their parents, the community and the companies they worked for. To fail brought disgrace to all of those same people, so the students were driven to succeed.
One would ‘wash out’ now and then and it took a toll on my son, knowing the disgrace that would follow. He worked hard for his students, but everyone is simply not cut out to be a pilot and can’t grasp it. He was torn, not wanting to disgrace a student, but had an an obligation to his (and others) safety. 95% of them did VERY WELL, and went on to fly for Grand China Airways, and Mongolian Air. The few ‘disgraced’ students worked else ware for the airline (for 30 years).