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Old 08-09-2008, 01:54 PM
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flyandive
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Joined APC: Apr 2007
Posts: 844
Default From a former CFI and student

They may have raised the pay but last year the starting pay was $10.50 per hour, which pales in comparison to other schools in the area. However the benefits an perks do make it worth it.
Amount of flight time depends on the season. You will probably credit at least 80-100 hours in a month during the fall and spring semesters but the downside is that about 1/3 of that will be simulator time not flight time. You do get paid for the time you are with the student so it includes ground instruction.
Everybody gets two days off a week depending on the month and what team you are on. One month half the teams will take Sat and Sun off and the other teams will take Sun and Mon off then next month they switch. You may work on your days off as long as you take one day off per week and depending on who your team manager is they can be flexible with personal leave as well. As long as you are flying each of your students 2-3 times a week they are pretty flexible.
Scheduling is done by the instructor not the student. The student schedules themselves for a block of time between classes each semester but you can schedule them outside of that with their permission. When I left last year they were talking about going to an automated scheduling system which would take the discretion away from both the student and instructor.

As for the perks... Full benefits, health, dental, vision, 401K, etc (there is even an optional pilots union). There is also a club where you can rent a 1970N 172 for $45 an hour wet. You get up to 6 credits of free tuition a semester for you and your dependents. That's basically a part time student. Full time student would be 11-16. Also when I left they were offering a deal that if you signed a 1 year contract then you could get, $3500, or $2500 and an MEI, or $2500 and a CRJ course or $1500 and both the CRJ and MEI courses. Although this was when they were desperate to keep instructors because every day an instructor was leaving for the airlines.
Even when they are desperate for instructors it's very competitive to get a job there and very difficult if you did your training outside of Riddle.

As for the Daytona party scene hslightnin is right on. It's pretty trashy. For a couple of months during spring it can get pretty crazy. The rest of the year you will want to do anything to get out of Daytona because it is very very white trash, NASCAR loving, beer drinking rednecks. If you come to Daytona to party you will be sorely disappointed. Orlando isn't too bad though. Good Luck on your decision, hope the info helps.
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