First 1.8 Hours Dual Given

Yesterday I had the opportunity to fly for the first time as a CFI for hire. One of my friends was adding an additional pilot to his C172 insurance and he asked me to fly with the new pilot. My student was a newly minted private pilot and my task was to evaluate short/soft/normal takeoffs/landings, simulated engine failures and teach prop/throttle operation. It was nice to be sitting in the right seat and getting paid (and being able to log the time) as well as watching my student go through the ups and downs of learning the operation of an unfamiliar airplane. I witnessed pilot overload, reaching a learning plateau, and some of the other things that are called out in the FAA's fundamentals of instruction text.