Do you enjoy instructing?

[Tram]

When I first started flying, I had no desire to be a flight instructor.. I just didn't want to do it.. Well.. here I am.. CFI/CFII and MEI..

I enjoy it most days... It feels good to take a struggling student and mold them into something that will pass a checkride, or the look most students give you when they just passed their checkride and they just want to thank you for everything you've done for them.. it also feels really good at the end of the day when you go home and put your times in the log book.

 

[macfly]

"Maybe if you could make a decent living as an instructor, people wouldn't be in such a hurry to move on."

Tell that to my GF thats a HS bio teacher teaching your AP kids. Teaching should NOT be taken so lightly.

When are we gonna pay teachers enough? When we are offically the most behind/backward country in the UN.

 

[UGAflyer]

I like teaching. I have learned a lot from it and am a much better pilot than when I started. It is definately a rewarding job, just maybe not in the bank account. It has made the last year of school go by a lot quicker. I decided to become an instructor as a way of moving up the ladder, but have enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. I would definately reccomend it.

 

[Superpilot92]

When has paying your dues included flat lining a whole profession such as flight instruction. Admit it, no one wants to teach. They did the job because it might lead them to "other experiences." You got into this to fly light airplanes didnt ya?

BS

But since your paying your dues, its all justified, even the class F students you are producing.

Congrads.

I must say i respect that your ambitions are to Instruct people as a career but i do not respect the fact that you think you are some hot instructor especially if your TT is really 400 hours. Plus i paid my dues as an instructor and never produced a "CLASS F STUDENT" Who are you to judge a group of previous flight instructors whom you do not know. I instructed for just unde a year year and signed off 12 students 11 of which passed on the first try. i took a great deal of pride in my job and earned respect from my students.

 

[macfly]

UGA flyer should be able to make a living teaching GA stick and rudder. Why cant he? Hes good and likes his job.


BTW, go dawgs, did a semester there I think.

 

[Tram]

Did you ever consider maybe he doesn't want to teach "stick and rudder" all his life?

How much STICK and rudder time do you have macfly?

While the ambition to be a career flight instructor is rare and admirable, the fact is, for many of us - whether we like it or hate it - it's a means to an end..

I've only had 4 busts and all of them were things that there was simply nothing I could have helped.. So far, I have turned out not a single class F student..

 

[macfly]

Tram, you have it too!- that bug that doesnt want to leave teaching. Don't deny yourself!


Tell me the truth, you like breaking through to someone more than dialing in an
autopilot. But alas, you have earned the right to twist the little knobs.

But, honestly the fact is - its- so much fun to plp watch in airports, who the hell would not want to be there on offical bis.

i think an important element to being a good meat driver is the pure fasination with the general public and a deepseeded inclination to help them all.

ass gas or grass nobody flys for free.

 

[Tram]

Haha.. The bug eh?

I don't mind teaching, but I will wait until I leave to tell you I miss it, as right now, I don't think I will.. I'm sure I'll miss bits and pieces of it sure..

I have no desire to fly people.. If I have to, fine.. I would much rather fly cargo..

I actually like engaging an autopilot. I would much rather engage an auto pilot and cruise across the sky at 300KIAS than do steep turns in a seminole allll daaayyy lonnnggg..

 

[Vladimir Lenin]

sometimes i like it sometimes i hate it...
lately, with this one dum ass......... arrrrghhh

how many times can you say look outside and right rudder in an hour???

 

[Gutenberg]

Don't be too eager to accept any instructing job. Some places really take advantage of eager new-hires. I got lucky and teach at a great place, but I could have just as easily gone somewhere and got exploited.

PS some seasoned instructors I worked with took a pay cut to move to the regionals- and miss out on a lot of unique aircraft and airports.

 

[Tram]

Plenty.

 

[Ill Mitch]

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!

I enjoyed it when I did it. I only had one student who literally tried to kill me in an airplane, and I made decent coin at it. I was one of the few guys in the area that made 35-50 an hour as an independant contractor to the flight school.

 

[Sam Snead]

I don't think I've ever seen a true "career CFI". The people who enjoy instructing in light aircraft, and do it indefinitely (i.e. have no "dash to the regionals" behavior) have other jobs, or also fly corporate, etc.

The reason: A person charging 50 bucks an hour can make $40,000 a year if they work their behinds off. But what self-respecting person wants to top out at that figure?

Heck, all the DPE's have other jobs, and they are the top rung on the CFI ladder, and they charge 3-500 dollars for half a day.

I've seen two basic CFI jobs: one is at a 'flight school' where the owner pays the CFIs 15-20 bucks an hour. The other is the 'club' where students pay the CFI directly, and the going rate in my area is 40-45 bucks an hour.

The 'flight school' people get more hours because the owner provides them people that walk through the door. Mostly, the 'club' CFIs have to poach their own students or wait like vultures for the next walk-in.

The CFI biz is 90% kids who want to fly a 747, but will setlle for an RJ when they get "their hours." It's their choice if they want to phone it in, or be professional.

 

[mayday1]

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!

so, you're saying people who have dropped $40k+ for training should pay another $30k+ for PFT, especially when most didn't have the initial $40k to begin with... all to land that $18k/yr job with the regionals..? Good luck with that sell job.

 

[Goose Egg]

I love the challenge of instructing. Every student is different, and learns differently. I think it's fun trying to figure out what it is that makes that student tick, and then personalizing their lessons accordingly. It is also neat to see them achieve their goals, and be able to assist them in doing so.

Money-wise, it's ok. I do better than a lot of instructors, but sometimes it still feels like I'm just scrapin' by.

Instructing is a lot of fun. Do I want to do it forever? No. (I guess that makes me unprofessional.) Is my next step from here into a "shiny new" RJ? I don't really know, because I don't know what opportunities will be available when I have the experience needed. I think that I'd like corporate flying, but I guess I'll just have to see what works out.

One thing is for sure, I'm not suffering from SJS, and my attitude is not one of "I want to get my time and get the $#@% out of here." I'm fortunate enough to be paid well enough in my current instructing job to be a little picky about where I go next, and I'm not in any huge hurry to get out of here--seniority at an airline isn't really a concern for me. There are a couple local operations here that seem very promising if they are still hiring when the time comes.

-Goose

 

[Ill Mitch]

I don't think I've ever seen a true "career CFI". The people who enjoy instructing in light aircraft, and do it indefinitely (i.e. have no "dash to the regionals" behavior) have other jobs, or also fly corporate, etc.

The reason: A person charging 50 bucks an hour can make $40,000 a year if they work their behinds off. But what self-respecting person wants to top out at that figure?

Heck, all the DPE's have other jobs, and they are the top rung on the CFI ladder, and they charge 3-500 dollars for half a day.

I know of three career CFI's. One is a DPE (his only job), the other two just instruct. The DPE has been doing it for over 30 some odd years. I've known the other two for about 13 years. I thought about going that way, but..I like to fly every now and then instead of sitting there watching someone do it.

40K ain't much anymore, but it is livable.

 

[JediNein]

I enjoy flight instructing. I get to work with other career flight instructors including two that serve as my mentors. We've recently added two new glass cockpit Cirrus to our rental flight line. The 'dirtiest, most beat up, junker' on our rental fleet has a Garmin 530 moving map GPS with traffic, flight director, three-axis autopilot, CD player, seats six, a '10' paint job, impeccably maintained, and cruises around 160-170 knots.

But I don't spend much time in the 'junker', most of my clients bring their own airplanes, from light jets through single engine pistons, most 200 hp and above. My last set of steep turns were a few weeks ago, one set in a Cirrus SR22 with less than 20 hours on it, the next set later that day in a Cessna 421, the controllers asked us for a 360 and the autopilot had a bit of a time with the bank angles.

My clients set my rate. I did an increase not too long ago and no one seemed to notice. When my schedule fills again with folks on a waiting list, it'll be time to increase the rates again. The 421 operator expects to pay his line pilots a lot less than what he pays me on an hourly basis, and he doesn't cover their commute to the airport.

But, I can only flight instruct 8 hours in a day in the air, and really not much more than that on the ground. I've diversified into aircraft management and writing of several GPS checklists. I also help run the flight school. "PFD Flying Made Easy" or something similar is in progress, too.

If I flight instruct, I can really only work with one person at a time and my certificates are at risk. If I give seminars and presentations, I can work with 40 or more people at a time with no certificates or medical required. If I write a book, the number of folks I can instruct becomes limitless and I don't have to even be present to sell a copy and the words will go beyond my death.

I know people that fly for a living and hate their jobs. I know people stuck in a cubicle and hate their jobs. I also know folks that do either and love it. It comes down to what you are willing to accept and what you decide to feel about what you've accepted.

Fly SAFE!
Jedi Nein
Master CFI

 

[moxiepilot]

I don't think I've ever seen a true "career CFI". The people who enjoy instructing in light aircraft, and do it indefinitely (i.e. have no "dash to the regionals" behavior) have other jobs, or also fly corporate, etc.

Lorin Saathoff thumbs through his first log book. The flight instructor has logged 25,000 hours as a teacher in single-engine aircraft. Below: Lorin Saathoff sits in the cockpit of a Cessna 172 on the Tarmac at Riverside Airport. He has sat in cockpits...



from an article in Tulsa World about 12 Apr 2002. Lorin was the coolest 70 year old instructor. He, in his 20's decided he did not want to be a farmer. He has been a flight instructor ever since. He had no other supplimentary job.

They're out, the're just hard to find (and a goldmine when you do)

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