REEPIR in the Airplane: Using the Laws of Learning (FOI) to build better pilots—and smoother lesson
- wifiCFI
- Dec 31, 2025
- 5 min read
Most flight instructors don’t struggle with what to teach. We’ve got ACS tasks, lesson plans, maneuvers, tolerances, and endless gouge on how to brief a stall.
Where CFIs really earn their money is in how they teach—how they sequence, motivate, reinforce, and make learning stick when the cockpit gets loud, bumpy, and busy.
That’s exactly what REEPIR is for. In the Fundamentals of Instruction, REEPIR summarizes six “laws of learning” that show up in every lesson you fly:
Readiness
Exercise
Effect
Primacy
Intensity
Recency
If you’ve ever had a student “randomly” regress, struggle to retain a concept, or freeze up on a checkride-style scenario, odds are one of these laws was ignored—usually unintentionally.
Here’s how to use REEPIR like a pilot: practical, observable, and tied to real cockpit decisions.
Study this full length lesson (video, podcast, flashcards, and quiz) here: Full Length Lesson >
R — Readiness: “Is the student ready to learn this today?”
Readiness is more than “they showed up.” It’s physical, mental, and situational.
What it looks like in flight training
A student shows up stressed from work and can’t hold altitude.
They’re early in training and you introduce complex airspace + radios + navigation all at once.
They understand stalls in theory, but anxiety makes their brain shut down when the nose comes up.
CFI techniques that respect readiness
Preflight readiness check: sleep/food/illness/stress + confidence level with today’s task.
Right-size the objective: Don’t force a “full lesson” if you’re seeing overload; focus on one outcome.
Build stepping stones: If slow flight isn’t solid, stalls will feel like cliff diving.
Pilot translation: Readiness is your go/no-go decision for new learning.
E — Exercise: “What you practice is what you become.”
Exercise is repetition—but not just “more reps.” It’s correct practice, with enough frequency to create reliable habits.
What it looks like in flight training
A student practices landings… but repeats the same flawed flare timing 12 times.
They “know” checklists but skip items when workload increases.
They only fly once every two weeks and spend half the lesson re-learning.
CFI techniques that leverage exercise
Short feedback loops: Fix errors early before they fossilize.
Deliberate reps: “This pattern is only for aiming point and stabilized approach—nothing else.”
Chair-flying assignments: Flows, calls, and procedures at home reduce wasted Hobbs time.
Pilot translation: Exercise is like currency—spend it wisely, or you’re just buying bad habits.
E — Effect: “Learning sticks when it feels good—and disappears when it feels punishing.”
Effect means positive experiences strengthen learning; negative emotions weaken it. This isn’t about being a cheerleader. It’s about building productive confidence.
What it looks like in flight training
The student dreads stalls because the first one felt humiliating or scary.
After a rough lesson, they start “protecting themselves” with excuses or silence.
A student improves faster when they feel ownership and momentum.
CFI techniques that improve effect
Specific praise, not vague praise: “Your pitch corrections were timely,” beats “good job.”
Debrief the win + the fix: “Here’s what worked; here’s one thing to tighten up.”
Keep critique calm: Tone matters—your student’s nervous system is listening as much as their ears.
Pilot translation: Effect is your student’s emotional fuel. Bad fuel = rough engine.
P — Primacy: “Teach it right the first time, or you’ll spend hours undoing it.”
Primacy is the law every CFI learns the hard way. First impressions and first habits are sticky.
What it looks like in flight training
A student learns to round out by staring at the aiming point… and later can’t land without ballooning.
They learn a sloppy GUMPS/checklist flow and keep missing items under pressure.
They were taught “add power to fix high” and now chase glideslope in every approach.
CFI techniques that respect primacy
Slow down early training: The first 3–5 lessons create most of the student’s “default settings.”
Standardize your callouts and flows: Consistency prevents mixed messages.
Brief the “why” early: A procedure learned with purpose is harder to corrupt later.
Pilot translation: Primacy is your “first rivet.” Put it in crooked and the whole line fights you.
I — Intensity: “The more vivid and real, the more it sticks.”
Intensity means learning is stronger when it’s experiential, meaningful, and “high definition.” Flying already has intensity—your job is to use it without overwhelming the student.
What it looks like in flight training
A student understands wake turbulence forever after a real-world ATC spacing discussion behind a heavy.
Scenario-based diversions are remembered better than rote nav log math.
A real crosswind landing teaches more than ten calm-day “perfect” landings.
CFI techniques that use intensity well
Scenario-based training: “You’re 20 miles out, ceilings lowering, fuel is tighter than planned—what now?”
Make it sensory: “Listen to the wind noise change with pitch; feel the buffet onset.”
Use “small intensity” on purpose: One gusty day pattern session can accelerate learning—if you brief it and set guardrails.
Pilot translation: Intensity is realism. Use it like turbulence penetration—planned, not accidental.
R — Recency: “The last thing you teach is what they remember most.”
Recency is why students often leave a lesson feeling like they’re only as good as the last landing.
What it looks like in flight training
The lesson is going well, but you end with a messy maneuver and now the student thinks they’re terrible.
You teach a new concept right before shutdown—then it fades before the next flight.
Checkride prep improves when the “last 10 minutes” becomes a structured recap.
CFI techniques that leverage recency
End with a win (or a clean repetition): If possible, finish on something correct and stable.
Quick recap + next-step preview: “Today we improved X. Next time we’ll build Y.”
Give a post-flight action: One small homework item that ties directly to today’s lesson.
Pilot translation: Recency is your “final approach.” You want it stabilized.
Putting REEPIR into one lesson flow
A simple way to apply all six laws in a single flight:
Readiness: quick check-in + set one clear objective
Primacy: brief the correct technique and standards before the first attempt
Exercise: structured, deliberate reps with tight feedback
Effect: reinforce progress and keep corrections specific + calm
Intensity: add a scenario or real-world decision point (as appropriate)
Recency: end with a solid rep + concise debrief + one homework task
If you do nothing else, do this: protect the first reps (Primacy) and protect the last five minutes (Recency). That alone improves retention dramatically.
The CFI takeaway
REEPIR isn’t academic fluff—it’s a cockpit reality. It explains why:
Students regress after gaps (Exercise/Recency)
Bad habits are hard to break (Primacy)
Anxiety kills performance (Effect/Readiness)
Real scenarios create durable learning (Intensity)
When you teach with REEPIR in mind, you stop “just running lessons” and start engineering learning—the way good pilots engineer safe flights.
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