First Day as a CFI

[BoDEAN]

Great thread
I'm about 130 hours dual given since last September, I'm still learning!

 

[Lead Sled]

You guys have left out the first and most importent rule of flight instructing...

"Do what I mean, not what I say."

Seriously, you don't have to know it all to be a good instructor, you just have to know where it find it all. Remember, in any teaching situation, it's always the teacher who learns the most. The same thing applies in aviation. Getting your CFI and actively instructing for a while will teach you things about flying that you will only learn through instructing.

In my case, I had an ATP and over 3,000 hours before I got my CFI. I thought that somehow I had "dodged a bullet" by being able to go directly into Part 135 (charter) flying after I got my commercial and instrument rating. I was wrong. I ended up getting my CFI certificates so that I could keep my hand in flying while I went to school full time to finish up my degree. I learned a lot and to this day the lessons are very valuable and useful. Becoming a CFI, in my opinion it is one of the most important steps you can take in your aviation career.

This leads to the question - How much time do you need to spend as an active CFI? That's a very good question. My personal opinion is that you'll probably get about all your going to get out of flight instructing after 500 to 1000 hours. Remember, there is a big difference between 1,000 hours of experience and 1 hour of experience repeated 1,000 times. Flight instruction tends to fall into the latter category.

Enjoy it, but make sure that you're giving your students what they hired you to give them. When (or if) the time comes that you aren't, then step a side.

Lead Sled

 

[taloft]

Remember to set limits on your own abilities as an instructor. Don't worry if other instructors have higher personal limits. Make sure that your limits match your abilities, the abilities of your students, and that they always know they are in a safe environment for learning. It will take some time for you to figure out what you're comfortable with. Start with a low crosswind number and work your way up. Remember, you are learning too.

Take over the controls when you feel you need to. You can work on it later if you're being too "handsy", but you MUST take control of the aircraft when the situation demands it. As an instructor, you have a safety margin that must be maintained and sometimes it's measured in minutes, sometimes seconds and sometimes split-seconds. When you're working in the seconds to split-seconds range, you must always be on your toes. As you start teaching multi students, you'll find that the safety margin can shrink even more quickly. Know what your "reaction time" is and never cross the line.

 

[labbats]

Great thread
I'm about 130 hours dual given since last September, I'm still learning!

BoDean. MOVE. Move now!
130 dual given in over 6 months is awful. Seriously. I realize it's winter in the midwest, but even I made 30-40 hours a month at the worst of it. In the south, you'll make double that monthly. You've got no strings tied to you, and at this rate you would have 135 minimums in 2007.

As for centerline, I've got a bunch of weird analogies.

I give them one where they are from L.A. and are one of those weirdos who live in Venice Beach. So naturally, being strange they have a giant sail attached to the top of their 1984 cadillac. As they drive down the freeway, they have a stiff wind from the Ocean. As they drive South, they have to turn the wheel to the right to counteract the stiff wind on their car-sail. As they speed up, they need less and less right correction because of their forward momentum, etc. Then, being in L.A., they naturally hit traffic at a standstill. As they slow down, they need more and more right correction for the wind. The same holds true for an airplane on final. You need to add more and more correction as you slow down and flare to hold centerline.

If that still doesn't get them thinking right, they usually understand starting a takeoff in a Xwind, with full aileron into the wind and less as they speed up. I tell them to imagine me videotaping their takeoff and then playing it back to them in reverse. One of the two generally gets the job done.