Is buying (non-PFT) bad?

[kilomike]

Buy that 152!

Hello Vik,

I think it's a great idea to buy a 152. I also encourage you to get your CFI. Flight instruction will improve your communication skills as you will need to explain the same thing in different ways to your students. Instructing and also going on cross country trips, or as posted above, Young Eagles and/or Angel Flight trips is a winning combination. It will show employment in aviation, but also your enthusiasm for flying as an aircraft owner. Also if an airline career does not work out, you would still have an aircraft to enjoy flying and of course flight instruction can be a great weekend job.

Fly safe, and enjoy that 152!

kilomike

 

[mar]

It's the repetition

Hey Vik--First of all, congratulations on moving onto the commercial. I've been following your progress for the last couple of years I guess and you're moving right along.



The thing about being a professional pilot is that even though it seems like you're just flying from Point A to Point B you're really always training. You're always trying to be the most current and proficient you can be.

In my humble opinion, simply drilling holes in the sky and burning up avgas is a waste of time.

You're smart, you're driven, you'd probably make a great CFI.

Do it!

Do it because you never really know anything until you've had to teach it. Do it because the repetition will instill in you a confidence that will come across during an interview or sim evaluation.

You will be the master of the steep turn; the master of slow flight.

Do it because it puts you in a leadership position. It teaches you organization and priorities.

It's a myth that the CFI never touches the controls. You demonstrate a manuever and then let the student try it. Not only that but giving unusual attitudes are a blast!

I know you've been pluggin away really hard to finish your degree and get your ratings and get your career started. It's gonna happen one way or another. Take my word on it. But in the meantime, why don't you get paid for building hours instead of paying for them? Approach it philosophically.

Let me tell you this and then I'll stop harping on you: When I fly with another pilot I can always tell who was a flight instructor and who simply drilled holes in the sky.

Best wishes

 

[172driver]

CFI's have the luxury of being able to watch rather than fly. Yes, we would all rather be controlling the plane but you would be amazed at how much you learn when you're not saturated with tasks. You see all those small mistakes you used to make when you were fixated on other tasks in the cockpit. Watching students, whether they're performing beautifully or screwing things up, makes you learn more than you ever could by flying the plane yourself. Especially the small things. Of course, you then have to practice what you've learned. Buy the plane and instruct if you can afford it.

I second timebuilder. I learned more in my hrs as a CFI than I ever did as a student. Hard to believe but definitely true.

 

[surplus1]

I was just thinking, how could teaching people to fly make you a better pilot than actually being at the controls yourself?

You're getting a lot of good advice but here's another 2 cents in direct response to your question.

Manipulating the controls is a basic motor skill and the simplest part of being a "better pilot". Any idiot can learn that when you push, the buildings get bigger and when you pull they get smaller.

Being a competent professional pilot is not about being a good "stick man" (though that doesn't hurt), it's about responsibility, judgement, analysis, situational awareness, patience, knowledge of and adherence to rules, procedures, etc., all things that being an instructor will help you to learn.

Whether you teach in an airplane you own (and maybe lease back as others suggested) or one that belongs to the flight school doesn't really matter.

If you decide to teach, keep this in mind. Our system is upside down, in that the least experienced among us are the one's teaching others most of what we ourselves have yet to really learn. Unfortunately, it's the only system we have. As others have suggested, I guarantee that when you begin as an instructor, you will learn far more than you teach. So remember, never get cocky.

Have at it and best wishes for achieving you goals.