Uh, was I out of line???

[clumpinglitter]

Besides that, my instructor couldn't teach me to flare a 152 and always wanted to know if I was a "truck driver". I remember one time I walked into the FBO for lesson and he starts singing that old hip hop song, "never gonna get it".

This just makes me cringe. How mean.

-C

 

[nosehair]

Today the weather was real good but my instructor cancelled our X-country. No surprise there.

Here is the main point of the situation. If you have a no-showing instructor, then you should cancel all training with that instructor. You should find an instructor who wants to train you, and commits him/herself to the over-all job of training you through a program, or at least a significant section of a program.

That said, once you find an instructor like that, you also commit to him/her.
You don't fly with anyone else unless he/she tells you to. It is his/her responsibility to train you in x/c flying. He/she is going to endorse your logbook or pilot application. He/she holds the responsibility and the endorsement says he/she has determined that you are operating skillfully, knowledgeably, and safely.

You are not the boss, as some seem to think. If you commit to a program, regardless of the program, even though you paid for the program, you are not the boss. The person you paid is the boss of you for the duration of the program.

If you pay a personal trainer to make you lose 50 pounds, do you eat when and what you want?

You gotta do what the expert tells you to do. That's common sense.

This idea that you can run your own flight training program has come about because of the poor quality of existing flight instructors who cannot commit to a student - or who have not been trained to be an instructor.

Being an instructor implies that you are a professional. The Aviation Instructor's Handbook talks about professionalisim and I'll quote one line here: "Professionalisim exists only when a service is being performed for someone, or for the common good."

When your instructor is not being professional, yes, you should drop him/her like a hot potatoe, but if he/she is being professional, you will be better off to stick with his/her program, which you may not like at times, but there is a method in the training.

The person who was dumbfounded by you wanting to fly with a different instructor is probably a professional.

 

[timeoff]

If you have a no-showing instructor, then you should cancel all training with that instructor.

Very true. I had an instructor that no-showed on me for a flight and then didn't return my numerous phone calls for a week and a half. Come to find out, he was hired at an airline and left without any notice. Completely blew me off. What a toad.

 

[ultrarunner]

Who's the customer here?