CentralPa717

Hi all,

I recently resigned from 121 training during sim...2000 hour pilot, but only 52 multi..and four years instructing full time cfi and ii.

In a nutshell, I had never really used a flight director, save for playing around with it in some g1000 172s... flying the command bars wasnt the problem, it was setting up the flight director...I found myself continually turning to headings, climbing/descending without first turning the bug, setting the new altitude, forgetting to set vertical speed. Trying to do as much on my own as I could without overworking the pm. As workloads got higher--s/e missed approaches especially, I was overworking myself to get that fd set up correctly (after leaving toga mode to get on the next segment of the missed) and it was sloppy to say the least. I feel my instrument skills are good, but the fd was adding more workload. It felt like a burden rather than an aid. That is why I'm at home now. Was told, "At this time we're not willing to give you any extensions, but we'll give you the option to resign."

I felt pretty good with pilot monitoring, knew and could execute immediate actions with no problem, knew my flows well, knew my callouts, though i'd miss one now and then while taking atc instructions and was positionally aware. For me, it all goes back to my inexperience with the flight director.

Where do I go from here? I know I need to practice with the flight director for sure, but going back to full time flight instruction isn't a good option, especially since my job has since been filled. That and the idea of making very little money building more instructing time that isnt really going to do me any good in the long run when I know my problem was lack of experience with the flight director. I don't feel instructing is going to help me there.

For now, I'm going to be renting a duchess equipped with a flight director and work that issue out. Also getting my multi above 100...

I feel pretty disappointed myself that I was so set in my ways of raw data that I struggled to adapt. I'm not sure how this resignation is going to affect me finding another job. I failed my initial cfi oral exam in 2007, but that is my only fail. Of course I just resigned during training before MV. One speeding ticket, otherwise everything else on my record is good. For what it's worth, ground school went well for me as well.

Where do I go from here? Build multi time, maybe part time cfi? How is this going to affect my future marketability to employers? I want to work for an airline. I've been flying for 10 years, like many of us it defines me. I hate to air out my dirty laundry, but I'm truly uncertain of where to go from here. I feel like my career is doomed.

This sucks. Thanks all for any advice.