Do you enjoy instructing?

[21Foxtrot]

As instructing seems the standard path to a professional career in aviation, I'm curious to hear about personal experiences from CFIs.

Did you enjoy it or couldn't wait to be done and on to the next job?
How frightening have the experiences been?
General pros/cons...?

In the end, I would think it's a great experience and ultimately helps to make one a better pilot. Sure everyone seems to be in a rush to "make it" (Airlines, Corp. etc.), but why do so many new, aspiring pilots try and avoid this path? Is it as simple as not wanting to spend the time to pay the dues?

Thanks!

 

[viper548]

I enjoyed it. What I didn't like was the $14/hr pay, staying at the airport for 12 hrs to get 7 hours pay.

 

[Yank McCobb]

I enjoyed it. What I didn't like was the $14/hr pay, staying at the airport for 12 hrs to get 7 hours pay.

I guess you couldn't wait to make the big jump up to the regionals for the $19/hr pay and staying at the airport 12 hours to get 7 hours pay (if you are one of the lucky ones).

 

[viper548]

I make more money and work a lot less at the regionals.

 

[pilotkppsg]

Is it as simple as not wanting to spend the time to pay the dues?

Well, sometimes people with a wad of cash/loan money that is burning a big hole in their pockets go and buy a job in order to jump into the airline scene, hoping that the extra few months to a year of seniority they'll have over somebody who instructing for a year will make their purchse worthwhile. Seniority is the name of the game in the airline wolrd. The pilot hired first will always make more money and have a better schedule, that's just how it goes. And some people think instructing is "dead time" when they could be flying the big iron RJ's and what not. Speaking as someone w/ over 1000 hrs. dual given and having a gold seal, instructing is what you make of it: there's 1000 hrs of experience and one hour of experience repeated 1000 times. What I tell my students who look like they wanna drop that cash on those type of programs is that you gain a lot of valuable experience as a CFI. If you work somewhere cool, the other instructors are usually in the same boat as you and you build camaderie, you can make a buttload of contacts in the airline world and, if you're not a complete toolbox, sometimes you get to go to cool places for free and get paid for it (i.e. SEC football game, concert or something else) just because the rich dude w/ a Seneca and season tickets needs a MEI to make sure he doesn't kill himself. The way I kinda looked at is was skipping out in instructing would have been like skipping out on college, you'd miss some of the best years of your life to go let a flight director tell you what to do and you'd never even know it.

Now, i'm sure i'm gonna get called on this b/c I think it's pretty cool that some airlines lowered their mins, but you'd only have to instruct for about 6 months or so if you've got a steady student load. So i'd say go for the CFI route, I enjoyed it, when student's weren't trying to kill me.

 

[minitour]

I enjoy it quite a bit. Couldn't tell you why, but...there it is. I'd like to be able to make a living doing it, but that doesn't seem likely...

It isn't too bad as far as the students. Just don't let them take you too far.

-mini

 

[Superpilot92]

I guess you couldn't wait to make the big jump up to the regionals for the $19/hr pay and staying at the airport 12 hours to get 7 hours pay (if you are one of the lucky ones).

His list shows nothing about any regional aircraft. Dont be an ass. Thats right you went straight to SWA. We should all look up to you. By the way i dont make 19 bucks an hour.:

we have to get there somehow. i guess cfis should just instruct till a major will hire them.

to answer the post I really enjoyed instructing.

 

[canadflyau]

I loved it and I miss it! As I taxi pass a single engine trainer I am actually looking out the window wishing I was in it like I once did from the right seat of the 172 looking at the larger faster planes. "fuselage envy" I once heard it called.

 

[viper548]

While instructing, I typically worked 7 days a week, 8 hrs at the airport per day. Usually I would have a 2 hr break between lessons somewhere during the day. My paychecks would be approx 45-50 hrs every other week.

At my regional, I typically work 4 days a week, 8 hrs duty time. I usually have 30 min turns, with 1 or 2 one hour turns. My paychecks are still 45-50 hrs.

At least where I work, QOL is much better than it was instructing.

 

[Superpilot92]

I used to work every day all day as an instructor. I had fun but it was alot of work for not much pay.. At least now with my job i work less and make more. I get to spend more time with my family. Also my current position i have the potential to make more money in the future. Every job is what you make of it.

I for one hope to move on later to a major. Alot of people seem to have lost that desire.

 

[macfly]

What about the guys that want to be a career instructor? You guys should should just PFT and leave that profession the hell alone.

You pukes that instruct and use it as merely a obstacle, will do it for nothing, crap on the rest of the guys that work hard to try make a living as an instructor.

Because of this, we now have the worst civil air training ever - in US history.

Congrads!

 

[Superpilot92]

95% if not 99% of people who become flight instructors are doing it to move on to fly something else.

I was making 16.50 as a flight instructor. Thats not really any way to make a living. Especially when that is the max i ever would have made as instructor at my old flight school i worked at.

 

[macfly]

Slam dunk

Thats too bad you cant earn a living flight instructing. really. Its a cool job and should be rewarded with a career if one seeks.

Market flooded with guys that dont really dont want to teach is good.... how?

PFT and leave the real teaching to the real teachers.

 

[chriskcmo]

I really enjoyed flight instructing. What I enjoyed even more was being a 141 check instructor at a university. I still got to teach a little bit (we had CFI and Multi students), but I got to help out a lot more students than I did as a regular fligt instructor. Granted, I wouldn't take a student from zero time to a checkride, but I could pass on hints, advice, etc. that I had learned over the years that their 400 hour instructor hadn't learned yet.

 

[coolyokeluke]

Flight instructing was the worst and best job I ever had. A sense of autonomy, free to design my lessons in the way that would best help my students, and that really rewarding feeling of when you solo a student or they start to "get it" or... you get the idea. The worst from a standpoint of pay, hours put in to hours paid, flight school politics, students who drive you nuts by never studying, etc.