Climb launches adaptive TMS for flight training

Climb Aeronautics has launched its transformative training management system for use by flight schools, colleges, universities, and independent flight instructors and the learner pilots they serve. Founded by experienced instructors and developers Dr. Susan Tholen and Robert Montgomery, Climb seeks to change the way students move through and complete a given aviation training curriculum by delivering an adaptive TMS that truly supports their individual aviation journey. The TMS tracks student progress on each task prior to assigning or unlocking follow-on tasks for completion. Climb’s first course, the Commercial Multi-Engine Add-On Rating, has debuted on climb.aero.

Robert Montgomery commented: “There is a huge difference between ‘learning’ and ‘training. Learning involves straight lines, hard and fast rules, and teaching to the test. Training is a messy journey of discovery where mistakes are important, repetition builds performance, and opinions may vary. The goal of Climb is to bring the messiness back into flight training while retaining the rigor and record keeping we need to ensure quality.”

Dr. Susan Tholen stated: “As a CFI I found it incredibly frustrating to have a lesson that didn't make sense for the student, and then if I provided training on things that were a better fit for helping them along, I couldn't record that fact easily in a syllabus due to arbitrary constraints. I wanted a system that tracked how well the student had done onwhich maneuvers and gave me tools to see that in a way that helped me select the best items to do next. That's the paradigm we used to build the Climb TMS.”

Climb has partnered with Aviation Supplies & Academics, a leader in the development of flight training materials, for its first offering, a Commercial Multi-Engine Add-On Rating, in which the Climb platform utilizes and leverage ASA’s expert content. Greg Robbins, general manager of ASA, has been enthusiastic to join forces with Climb, “ASA is very excited to be working with Climb by combining proven ASA content with their new Training Management System,” says Robbins. “The Climb TMS provides a new and exciting way for students and instructors to interact in the learning process. We look forward to growing our partnership with Climb as they expand their offerings.”

Free to flight schools, all of Climb’s and the course provider’s revenue comes through the fee charged to the student for using the course. Essentially, Climb provides the hosting services, and sets a fee for the management of the course, which it charges to the developer. A fee for use of the Stripe payment process is included in Climb’s fee to the developer.

Students take many different paths to their pilot certificates, as Montgomery and Tholen have observed. “Some are young, unencumbered by life, and able to fully concentrate their time and efforts on flight training,” says Montgomery. “Others have careers, families, and distractionsforcing them to move at a slower pace with more repetition. Our adaptive system ensures that all students get the training they need."

Tholen adds: "Most syllabi have a student perform something until they master it and then move on. Over and over, I have observed students getting ready for check rides who had mastered stalls, but hadn't performed one in 6 months or more. A good instructor knows to repeat things occasionally, and a good TMS should help remind instructors about things like this. Finding better ways to teach and better ways to help other CFIs teach well has always been a priority for me. I've taught many ground school classes, because I love to explain things in a way that helps students understand and not just memorize bullet points, as well as providing practical and useful observations that will help them be good pilots.”