Pro Pilot Instructing Part Time?

[Way2Broke]

I have been out of full time CFIing for a little over two years now. I have had several flying jobs since, doing everything from 121 pax to 135 freight, and 135 pax. To this day I still miss being a CFI. Daily I find myself thinking, "I use to know that." How rare is it for professional pilots to keep a leg in GA by being a part time CFI? I don't really need the money and I can not handle more than a couple of students and even then they would have to be flexable. I instructed a a small part 61 school, and had a good time doing it. I guess one of the biggest things I miss is being respected as a pilot, instead of being treated like just another line pilot. It was such a thrill to watch pilots go from zero hours to private pilots, or more. And to watch someone you instructed solo.....well there is nothing quite like it. Wo what do you think? Do you ever feel this way? Do you still instruct, or think about it? Would I be taking a job from a low time guy that needs the job by CFIing part time? Am I too far removed from it at this point, I know I would be back in the bookes again if I did instruct again. I'm not even single engine current, but I want to be.....

 

[satpak77]

I would do IFR refreshers/flight reviews, on the side if I had time. I would prob charge higher than the standard CFI rate. People will pay it too. YOU charge what you are worth, up to what the market will bear.

I am NOT going to spend my days off trying to teach some guy who to do steep turns in a 152. I indeed left that behind and will not return to it.

I wouldn't charge 2500 for an IFR refresher class, but I ain't charging 15 bucks and hour. You want that, go hire that 22 year old CFI with 300 hours.

NOTE: Do a google search and 3-day IFR refresher classes in "your airplane" are going for 2-3000 grand. So who knows, maybe that is the ballpark.

You want mature, seasoned instruction, based on 5000 hours experience, for your flights in your Baron/Mirage/Pilatus/210/Bonanza, you are gonna pay for it.

Period. Welcome to corporate America.

 

[wrxpilot]

Period. Welcome to corporate America.

Little bitter there? I think the OP said he liked primary instructing...

 

[Doozer]

The only place I’ve ever instructed full-time was in the military; however, even then, I had a desk job too.

Now that I’m in my first full-time civilian flying job, I still instruct part-time in a couple of flying clubs at a grass strip nearby. I must admit, though, that I don’t instruct as much now as I did when being a pilot was not my full-time job.

You’re right about your students needing to be flexible – and I tell people contemplating a protracted student-instructor relationship this up front. With my normal schedule being 7-on & 7-off, alternating between days and nights, I wouldn’t feel right not letting them know beforehand.

Strangely, I think my decreased availability has actually enhanced my business in that the regular students I now get are of higher quality. They don’t mind working around my schedule; they usually study what I tell them to in preparation for the next lesson; they don’t mind paying me $30/hr when the rest of the CFI’s in the clubs are charging only $20/hr; they’re more likely to have the money to complete; and they’re usually well-adjusted people who are generally fun to fly with.

Like you, I too find myself realizing that I’ve forgotten things I used to know, so instructing forces me back into the books more frequently, which has the side benefit of making me appear more knowledgeable and professional to my full-time colleagues.

If you think all my motives in flight instructing part-time are pure you would be wrong. Insofar as my full-time job is now in a helicopter, another benefit to me is that I get to stay current and proficient in airplanes while someone else pays not only for my flight time, but also for the time I’m spending with them. It’s hard to beat a deal like that.

As for how many professional pilots still instruct part-time, I don’t know. None of the ones I know or work with do. I will say that most of the examiners I’ve met still instruct part-time. I guess it depends on one’s priorities. For me, I like teaching, and I get a great deal of satisfaction when I witness the light bulb coming on in my students’ minds. Getting paid to do both in my spare time makes it even better.

 

[avbug]

I've not instructed full time in some time, though I try to fly with one person where I can. I'm selective about who I'll take. The student has to be willing to put up with me, and I won't fly with just anybody. The student must be willing to study and work hard, and must really want to fly.

I started chasing around the internet for no other reason than it served as a study aid...it gave me a media by which to motivate myself to study. People might ask a question on a student pilot board, for example, and not knowing the answer, I would have to lift a finger to find the answer. More interesting than picking up the AIM every night and reading a little. It also gave me a way to practice trying to put things into words that a student could understand. I found after a time that I was doing multiple boards that ranged from regulations to student pilot to pro pilot...and my study soloution had grown into it's own problem. Too much.

I dropped a number of the boards to concentrate on a few, and have whittled that down even more. But where one's schedule won't permit the amount of instructing one might like, the internet does provide a forum for going through the motions of instructing, of breaking things down to cater to students of vastly different backgrounds. It also provides a sounding board that quickly tells you if your material or presentation is wrong. If it's not well received, a different approach may be necessary. On boards such as this, your comments will be reviewed by all sorts of backgrounds...a level of oversight, if you will, that you won't get in the FBO or flight school. I think that's a plus.

I don't think there's any need to charge thousands of dollars for your time. I think that smacks of arrogance. I don't think you're talking anything away from other instructors. You're not going to be gobbling up students right, left, and center. We have always had a lack of experienced instructors and experienced pilots to pass on material to new pilots, at least instructors and pilots who don't think instructing is beneath them.

Years ago I was sitting in a corporate office. I was second fiddle on a corporate jet, and the Director of Maintenance for the flight department. I had a messy office full of paperwork stacked higher than mount everest, a hangar full of tools, and a constant stream of correspondence from CAMPS telling me what to do. I got a phone call from a gentleman in another state. He worked as a contractor with Walmart, taking pictures of their stores as part of a real-estate program. Apparently when they buy land for a new store, they purposely buy too much, and when it's done, they look it over from the air (where he came in) and sell off what they don't want. So he said.

He wanted to know if we had any small Cessnas to rent to do some aerial photography. I told him no, nothing like that around here. He asked if we could do the work ourselves and send him the pictures; he'd pay for the airplane, pay us a little for the work. This wasn't going to be a huge money making adventure. I didn't care. Anything to get out of the office. See daylight. Actually FLY for a change. Sure. I'll talk to the boss. The flght dept had a light airplane that belonged to some of our management...it would be perfect.

I knocked on the CP's door. Told him about it. I thought he'd think it would be fun. He looked disgusted. "I would like to think that with my experience and at this point in my career, I am above that sort of thing."

I was disgusted, and his atttitude to this day still sickens me. The absolute arrogance to believe he's above anything. Above instructing. Above taking pictures. Above flying in a light airplane. Good grief.

You want to fly with a student, you fly. Enjoy it. Let the student enjoy it. Enjoy the student enjoying it. This isn't a crime.

The biggest obstacle you'll face in todays overpriced and underinsured world is finding a FBO or school that will let you do independent instruction without either carrying a massive policy of your own, or finding a way onto the rental facilities policy. It's not like it used to be.