I was just approached by someone the other day who just moved to my area, and is about 2/3 of the way through his private pilot training. He asked me if I could help him finish this off. He has not flown since March, so I assume we'll have some work ahead of us. However, I think the flying side of things will be the easy part, the legality of all this is what I'm worried about.
He does not have his own airplane, so I would have to rent one from a local FBO, who has their own instructors by the way.
Would this FBO even let me do that? Do I have to tell them I'm using their aircraft for flight instruction?
Also, should he pay for my checkout in the airplane?
There's probably other questions that I haven't even thought of yet, so any insight from anyone who's done this would be very much appreciated.
If this operation is just too shady, it's really not worth putting my certs on the line to gain an extra 20 hours... Thanks in advance!
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Most schools won't let a "free lancer" just walk in and use their planes. They will say it's for insurance reasons. You might be able to talk them into "hiring" you if you bring your own student, but they would only pay you the going rate the other CFI's get.
There are a few clubs/schools that are set up well for free-lancers. They will put you on the insurance and allow you to be an independent contractor. But, it's pretty rare to find a place like that.
You'll just have to look into how your local school is set up. Perhaps you or your friend could find a private owner that would rent you his plane for a while. The insurance will go up quite a bit but it might be doable.
Legally, you can rent an airplane and give instruction in it, no FAR problems. The airplane would need a 100 hour, but the FBO probably has to do that anyway.
The FBO might not like it, and their insurance would probably not cover instructional activities.
Some FBO/schools will allow you to use their airplanes as an independent instructor. Others won't. The only way to answer that part of the question accurately is to ask them.
If a checkout is required for you and you have no plans to use their airplanes other than for this instruction, I would charge the student for the checkout.
If it's all go from there, you should consider whether you need your own insurance to cover your potential liability exposure.
Just thinking out loud, if he's just 2/3s of the way through his training, is there any solo X-C left? That would be real interesting to explain.
I'd say that's a bit of a road block. I think he still needs some solo time actually. He needs to give his logbook to me still, but I'm pretty sure he needs a few more hours. He obviously can't solo an FBO's airplane when I'm not an instructor employed by that FBO...
Be carefull if you intend to Free lance you need to cheack with the airport board and see if the alow it, you will also need a bussnes licence and tax your income if you don't you may find your self with some huge problems.
Getting the aircraft is the least of your problems!
The tax thing isn't that big of a deal, does he really need a business license? I'm sure this is state to state. Honestly, doing this 'under the table' is the best way to go if you can(if anyone hasn't then you probably worked for a large school, anyone at FBO Joe's has at one point or another). But if someone makes a stink then you might have to watch that.
I'd say the largest hurdle to get over is the use of the FBO's planes and taking away from their instructors(which takes away from them....and so on). If you actually get past that, get yourself insured since you'll be an outside source(AOPA has a policy for CFI's as well as rental pilots).
Good luck, hope it works out for you.
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