The research literature addresses a variety of questions concerning flight instructor training, however, more research is needed to elucidate the instructional competencies associated with successful instruction in this critical field. This paper presents observational research to identify flight instructor competencies and patterns of instructional behavior. Flight instructor behaviors were defined in a computer-based observational tool that allows behaviors to be logged. Seventeen Certified Flight Instructor Instrument (CFII) students were videotaped as they were instructing Instrument flight students on a flight simulator. The researchers coded the student's behaviors using an observational data collection tool. Observed behavioral patterns are presented. The identification of critical instructional competencies during training and the use of the computer-based behavior logging tool in training flight instructors is discussed. Follow-on studies to further investigate methods of enhancing instructor performance are presented.