Best Flight Instruction Moment

[Nindiri]

Best moment was when my student had an engine failure a few days after passing his checkride, and used his training to safely land it in a grass field. Apparently all those emergency drills I put him through worked.

 

[crazyaviatrix]

I just out right hate instructing.... infact anyone wanna split some multi time so I can stop working the usless job??

 

[Steve]

I just out right hate instructing.... infact anyone wanna split some multi time so I can stop working the usless job??

wow, 400 hours and already bitter. your gonna be fun to fly with in a crew setting ayy

 

[C425Driver]

I used to love seeing how excited my students were the first time they took off on their very first flight. I also got a great feeling everytime one of them passed a checkride. It was a very satisfying experience for me.

C425Driver

 

[acaTerry]

AAaaahhhh.....when there were flight schools and no academies.....students flew because they wanted to FLY and not to become an 18 month airline pilot...when there were no airline uniforms at flight schools....when flight instructors took their job seriously...when solos were celebrated with a shirt cutting and cold water dousing...when airports were freindly places...when flying skills, not tests, were taught...

I miss those days. I made about 400 bucks a month to fly, teach ground, clean the bathrooms, wash planes, and create the training materials. 6 days a week at about 12-16 hours a day. Man, that was hard work but it sure was fun...
The chase was half the thrill

 

[Flysher]

I just out right hate instructing.... infact anyone wanna split some multi time so I can stop working the usless job??

Judging by this statement and what you have written under your "current position" I would say you outta get out of this job now. If all this is to you is a "glorified taxi job" then why the heck are you doing it anyway? Good luck getting hired with that attitude.

 

[cezzna]

I think most of the sour britches group are the 141 academy types. These people are stuck in a check the box, rote learning no imagination enviornment. The real fun happens at the hidden, little known about airports where what you teach isn't limited to today's syllabus.

 

[Flysher]

i hear ya there. I learned at a 141 school and we werent allowed to land our planes on grass strips. period. When i got into instructing at my hometown airport, i flew with a guy who absolutely LOVED going to grass fields. I worked with him on his instrument rating, and we would take a few extra flights every month to go out and just have fun ( I wasnt paid for them, I was just a second pilot)

I can honestly say he probably taught me more than i taught him, just about basic flying, landing on extremely short grass strips surrounded by trees, grass fields at night, etc. This guy had actually survived an engine failure right after takeoff many years before also. It was fun and I wish i could have had someone like that through my primary training.

 

[Princedietrich]

I agree heartily with Flysher and acaTerry. Having learned in a "sheltered" 141 university environment and having taught in both 141 and in 61, I can say there is a definite difference. In a flight academy you are taught how to pass the test. In a 61 school you are taught to fly. It cracks me up to see the instructors who were trained at a 141 academy and then stayed there to continue teaching, and how they believe themselves to be the next best thing after Elrey Jeppesen. They've never been out into the "real world" and never seen what can really happen out there. I learned more in my first 8 months as a 61 CFI at LUK than I did in 4 years of training at a 141 university program.

While I wasn't what you'd call an "old school" CFI I still celebrated with my students when they succeeded. When the first solo was finished I'd be waiting there with the scissors, I'd always make a big production of it when I cut off the shirt tails. When they passed a checkride I'd be there waiting with the Polaroid to capture their first moments as a certificated pilot. I even figured out a way to help one of my instrument students correct a massive scan problem by using the lid to a pizza box. Now that's something that ERAU will never tell you. imp: And every day at 5 when we got off duty, we headed down the hall and through the supply closet through the back door and across the lobby of the building to the airport restaurant where our beers would already be poured and waiting for us at 501.

My thoughts on why the straight-to-the-airlines academy students are so miserable is that they aren't given a chance to have fun with their craft. They are taught from moment 1 to think and act and dress and behave like an airline FO. They're all epaulets and stripes and professionalism and the only thing they've been conditioned to strive for is the left seat of the heavy metal. My personal opinion is that there is a whole lot more fun to be had in the left seat of a Bonanza or a Cirrus or a Baron or even a Cub than there is in the left seat of a big ol Boeing.

And for the record, I hate the RJs. I absolutely despise them. Never in my life have the controls of an E145 or a CL65 been in my hands, and they likely never will.

 

[Cessna172heavy]

Greatest moments so far...

One of my students went up on his first solo after 3 days of cancelations due to rain. By the time he finally got to take it up alone, his entire family knew it was going to happen and they all showed up to watch/take pictures. His mom even brought me her own scissors to cut his shirt tail off with. The best part wasn't so much the flight, but the grandfather. Apparently he had done some limited flight training many years ago but never got his license. I could tell he was living vicariously through his grandson. He came up to me - as I walked out to the plane to shake my student's hand - with tears in his eyes, and just said "Thank you so much for doing this", and that was it. I was so surprised and flattered that I just replied "No problem." It was great!

One other great moment was when I took another student on his first cross-country. He went to Clemson University and wanted to take his first trip down there. The flight was great, although not very long. We parked the plane and went in to the FBO. Watching his expression when I picked up the courtesy car was great! "You mean we don't have to pay for it?" I tossed him the keys and just smiled and said something like "Pilots are set apart" and just walked outside. We took this old hoopty Crown Vic into town and had some ice cream on campus and then came back home. Good stuff.

I've only been instructing since May so I'm pretty new still. Hopefully I'll have many more stories to tell through the years. Take care you guys (and gals).
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