Definition
A structured review conducted by an instructor with a student immediately after a training flight, in which the flight's events, maneuvers, decisions, and outcomes are evaluated against the lesson's objectives to reinforce correct performance and identify areas needing improvement.
Plain English
A talk between instructor and student right after a lesson flight, going over what happened, what went well, what didn't, and what to work on next time.
Context Anchor
Used in flight training after the aircraft is parked and the lesson is finished, often during the instructor’s debrief.
Derivation
From 'post-' (Latin, meaning 'after') and 'critique' (French, from Greek 'kritikē', meaning 'the art of judgment or evaluation'). Together: a judgment or review made after the flight.
Why Pilots Care
Strengthens learning and retention by addressing performance while details are still recent, reducing repeated errors on subsequent flights.
Intuition Check
A postflight critique is not just pointing out what went wrong. It is a structured review of the whole flight so the student knows what to keep doing, what to change, and what comes next.
Example Sentence 1
After landing, the instructor and student sat down for a postflight critique to review the steep turns and the crosswind landing.
Example Sentence 2
During the postflight critique the student realized the importance of checking the fuel gauges before takeoff.