Originally Posted by
jsfBoat
Flight instructing, banner towing, traffic watch is a way of paying your dues to get to whatever it is you want to do. This industry is frustrating, but you have to either suck it up and march on, or go home and sit on the couch.
BTW, there are plenty of teachers who can't teach. I found the way to do well at flight instructing is to connect with your students on a personal level. Not just the "why do you want to be a pilot" but "what are your interests?" and trying to find a way to correlate their interests into learning.
Look at flight instructing as a way to break out of being shy. For the most part I'm still a quiet person, but even more so before I started instructing. And in a multi-crew cockpit, nothing is more uncomfortable (other than being asked If I've been saved by Jesus Christ) than being with a shy person. Conversation helps pass the "long" flights pass by.
Extremely good advice...
To add to that, flight instructing is more about learning and managing a cockpit environment with a lesser experienced individual in the control seat than it's about becoming a better pilot. Experience isn't a switch that is flipped the day we start flying corporate/135/121. It's an ongoing process, and learning to work with lesser experienced/more experienced pilots is a big part of that process.