Best Flight Instruction Moment

[flyinghunter]

I read a lot of these boards especially the employment boards and I see this overwhelming desire for people not to flight instruct. I just don't get it. I'm using it as a means to build time but at the same time there is something to be said about the joy and benefits of it. As a professional I am unable to conceive doing this job just to do it and not care about my students. I think everyone has one moment that truly embodies the joy of instruction. Could it be your first solo sign off, the first checkride pass, the joy of somebody 'finally' getting it, what is yours? Maybe this could help somebody who thinks flight instructing is just "right rudder."

For me personally, I was able to give my dad his first lesson the other day. I can honestly say that this blows away all the other things that I previously mentioned. It was so cool to give him a piece of everything that my parents have helped me accomplish to this point.

What was your favorite moment in instructing?

 

[MauleSkinner]

Well, the first guy I solo'd was more of a "sheer terror" kind of thing, so I won't use that...

Personally, the moments I remember are when you make a breakthrough to get the student over some major hurdle. Happens fairly frequently in taildraggers

Fly safe!

David

 

[Peter Brady]

The first person I soloed was my very first student. A girl from Hong Kong, who barely spoke english. It took her almost 40hrs to solo, but by god, I soloed her!

 

[CFIcare]

My best moment was the day I soloed "Larry". He had been through 6 instructors who gave up on him, and he had over 150 hours in his log book. He was also 83 years old. I flew with him twice a week for a year in order to get him through the maneuvers so I knew he had a solid base for pattern work. We spent months in the pattern. One day he started nailing the landing attitude and I (nervously) figured it was now or never. He did 3 awesome landings while I paced, wearing a small trench into the ground.

I made sure the tower told him to taxi over to get me after the third, just in case he lost count and was going to keep on going.

That was the only time he ever soloed. He never had another good day like that one. I don't think he cared though. He knew he wasn't going to do solo cross countries and all that. I think he just wanted to say he soloed once.

Last I heard from him was a post card from Vegas. He'd hit the jackpot playing craps and was buying a condo there. He said he planned to keep flying. I was glad I didn't give up on him. Everyone gave up when there was no hope of getting him his license or moving him through the "program" with the ground school and the written and all that. All he wanted to do was fly, and hopefully solo once, but he never said that. I realized that unlike goal driven, career minded CFIs, sometimes the student's objective is not reaching the last page of the PTS.

 

[coltsfn8888]

My best cfi moment

The moment I saw the look on my cheif pilots face when I told him I was leaving for another job. I wish I had a video camera words can not express how happy I was that day or the look of shock on his face.

 

[150pilot]

Mine was when I soloed my first student. I was so nervous for him and that he was flying my airplane, but I was so proud of him and knowing that I helped teach him. I never thought I would instruct and never wanted to, but now I enjoy it and feel it is rewarding.

 

[Mickey]

The best is, the look on the students face after their first solo. I think I enjoy the student's first solo as much if not more than them. I still love instructing.

Take care.

 

[acaTerry]

When I lived through a power on stall that turned into spin in a Bonanza that the student tried so hard to kill me with.

 

[dumblonde]

All the thank you notes and letters I have received from students mean a lot to me. And of course anytime a student solo's or passes a checkride.

 

[G2T]

I loved the look on the students face when I decided to send them out solo the first time. I found that if you told them ahead of time it just gave them time to be nervous and overthink it. I would usually pull the plane into the parking spot, ask for their logbook, fill out the paperwork, get out and say have fun, come back before you run out of gas! The look on their faces was priceless, as was the smile after they landed. Flying to IFP or Calnevari in Nevada for lunch at the casinos was another favorite, but nowhere near as rewarding.

 

[Lazy8]

Nice to read all of these. I was beginning to wonder if there were any CFI's out there anymore lol. I think for me it's been the numerous first solos. Each and every one is a pretty big deal for the student. Talk about some big smiles!

And for those of you lurking... One story you'll never hear is how "awesome it was when I bought my way into Pinnacle through ATP!".

g

 

[Princedietrich]

I'd say one of my favorite flight instructing experiences was back in 2000 when I got to fly into CGX twice with IFR students. We did the GPS approach into 36 and got great heavy traffic ATC experience, and on one of the trips we even got to see a Starship land not more than 300 feet away from us (the south parking ramp was REEEAAAALY close to that runway).

Too bad the digital photos I had of those trips got lost to a hard drive suicide.

 

[nosehair]

Everyone gave up when there was no hope of getting him his license or moving him through the "program" with the ground school and the written and all that. All he wanted to do was fly, and hopefully solo once, but he never said that. I realized that unlike goal driven, career minded CFIs, sometimes the student's objective is not reaching the last page of the PTS.

This is the stuff of which golden memories are made. You left the world in a little better place than what you found it in. You have found the secret to lifelong happiness.

 

[midlifeflyer]

The one that sticks in my mind is the first time I soloed a student. I was able to watch from the Tower and was getting razzed by the controllers on duty. We have three runways, two of them parallel. My student was doing his takeoffs and landings on 35R. The standard taxi instruction after a final landing is, "Exit next taxiway, taxi north on Bravo. Hold short of 35L at Bravo 8."

This is already in the period of special attention to runway incursions and I know that ATC has had to ask pilots specifically to read back that hold short instruction - far more than they should have to, and sometimes several times with the same pilot.

When my student responded with, "North on Bravo. Hold short Bravo 8," both the Local and Ground controller turned to me, smiled, and nodded approvingly.

 

[woutlaw]

Fun thread.

Since I have a whopping 10.7 hours of dual given I don't have many moments to choose from, although the "my primary student tried to kill us today" stories seem to be building at the rate of about 2 per hour.

So far though my favorite was taking my instrument student into IMC for the first time. He thought it was about the coolest thing he'd ever done.

He was doing a reasonable job keeping us greasy side down but was still pretty tense. So I reached back into my flight bag, grabbed my camera, told him to smile and snapped his picture.

He looked at me like I'd gone insane until I told him you only get your first time in IMC once and I thought he'd like to have a souvenir.

That lightened things up, he relaxed and flew much better.

 

[skygod75]

Best flight instruction moment...hmm, when I quit that low paying profession and realized that not flying wasn't so bad after all.

 

[Erlanger]

Best moment for me was when I got 3 students in a day to puke while doing unusual atitudes. I won the bet and it was off to the "all you can eat" sushi place afterwards. It cost the other instructor almost 100 bucks.

 

[Princedietrich]

Wait wait wait wait......

You had three guys yarf all over the inside of an airplane WITH YOU IN IT and then went to eat sushi afterwards??? Holy crap dude, is your stomach made of titanium or something?!

uke:

 

[waverider]

When I lived through a power on stall that turned into spin in a Bonanza that the student tried so hard to kill me with.

I know what you mean. One of my students once tried to do that to me too. Only difference being that it was in a C-172R.

However, there were good moments too. For me, the best moments were taking students on their first dual x-country. Being able get away and see new scenery was fun for them and I enjoyed sharing in their excitement of going on a new adventure.

 

[Princedietrich]

I had one at LUK when a student froze up on the controls while climbing out from 21R to do pattern work. I guess the sight of a hill right in front of him and a river right under him freaked him out and he completely locked up. I had to pop the guy in the nose to get him to get go of the controls so I could recover, we got so low over the river that the guy in the tower thought we went in with the fish.

The punchline is that once we got on the ground the guy threatened to sue me. Um, hello! I just saved your life you moron!

 

[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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