Hiring a Flight Instructor

[be76pilot]

The two most important qualities of a good flight instructor are, he loves what he does, and will give you misc. ground in the clubhouse, after the flight, without charging you .3 for it! He is more interested in your progress and understanding, than in the size his logbook.

 

[nosehair]

Expecting it for Free!

I can understand your idea that a few minutes of pre and post flight briefing should be free, but think about it for a minute.
Nothing is free. Nothing! The only type of flight instructor who can do that is retired or otherwise wealthy enough to not need to make a living. The idea that pre/post flight briefing/instruction should be free is one of the reasons flight instructors can't wait to get the heck outta there. Even people who would otherwise make good career instructors see that they talk their butts off on the ground and are constantly consumed by passing by students who want "just a minute" of their time, all for nothing. Yes, I am very guilty of this bad habit we have of giving of ourselves because we love it.
But we have bills to pay and families to raise just like everyone else. I love teaching, and I have devoted my life to it, but now that I am close to retirement age and have nothing for all the free time I have given, I cannot let you continue to encourage this very deformed idea that we should be of free service to you.

 

[be76pilot]

Nosehair is right, you should not get all of the ground instruction for free. What I meant to say is, the flight instructor is not out to milk the student for hours every day, and do unnecessary ground every day, like my first flight instructor. All of my personal resentment aside, I learned way more from my last flight instructor, who made sure to take the time necessary to make sure that I completely understood a topic before going flying. I have a great respect for flight instructors, and hope to do my CFI ratings soon.

 

[Gulfstream 200]

A good CFi does not brief for FREE....

I wouldn't want a CFI who didnt think he was worth anything...

 

[CDVdriver]

A question at the coffee machine, I don't mind.
If I have nothing else to do I'll go to the board and explain something...for free.
If we sit down and talk in the briefing room that time will be and needs to be charged.
We cannot afford to do it for free.
A general chat about flying after coming back, some advice...fine.
If we're talking about a specific problem that occurred during the flight I need to bill it.

 

[tathepilot]

Re: Expecting it for Free!

I can understand your idea that a few minutes of pre and post flight briefing should be free, but think about it for a minute.
Nothing is free. Nothing! The only type of flight instructor who can do that is retired or otherwise wealthy enough to not need to make a living. The idea that pre/post flight briefing/instruction should be free is one of the reasons flight instructors can't wait to get the heck outta there. Even people who would otherwise make good career instructors see that they talk their butts off on the ground and are constantly consumed by passing by students who want "just a minute" of their time, all for nothing. Yes, I am very guilty of this bad habit we have of giving of ourselves because we love it.
But we have bills to pay and families to raise just like everyone else. I love teaching, and I have devoted my life to it, but now that I am close to retirement age and have nothing for all the free time I have given, I cannot let you continue to encourage this very deformed idea that we should be of free service to you.

Well said !