flyerNy

A thought...


Who do we remember most in our lives that make the largest impressions that mold us into who we are today? When people see an airline pilot in his monkey suit walk through the terminal they see a pilot. When a teacher passes his knowledge and abilities on to his students, he leaves a legacy. The instructor will be remembered, name, face, character, and ideas that define a person, whereas the pilot in the mokey suit will be just that.


I like to instruct and understand its importance in avaition. unfortunately it is not viewed well and also has MANY that do not dont want to do it and have a bad attitude towards it. These individuals (fortunately) dont do it for long. I think it is vey unfortunate that the instuctor profession is not taken seriously and for economic reasons cant be a real job. I would like everyone who is an instructor that strives to better teach and help others achieve thier goals and takes the profession seriously (even without the respect) to give themselves a good pat on the back and know that there are a few of us out there that do it for the good of it; or also why I do - to correct all the mistakes the arrogant instructors teach or fail to teach.

People fear what they do not understand, Thats why many view instructing as dangerous.

FuelJetA

I couldn't agree more!

2dotslow

All those hours... years... of yankin' and bankin' gave one some of the best training ever, refined aerial discilpine, and made you think way outside the proverbial box. Sitting in my Easy Boy prepared me for the FL410 stuff of your real world.

Tgaug6300

2dots,

I hope you read my other post too.

TG

2dotslow

I have. From my experience, there are those hero types in every outpost of the profession. I've seen civilian-trained airline pilots shoot their watches (and their mouths) off with every bit as much zeal as any fiighter pilot. I got my ATP after 19 years of flying fighters at one of those programs that flew Seminoles, and my 19 year-old CFI instructed me as if I were a FNG. For God's sake, we carried bombs that weighed as much as his vehicle's MTOW. That's just the way it is. I am too old to get wrapped-around-the-axle about civil versus military pilots. Flown with, and have seen, the full spectrum of professionalism and proficiency from both groups.

Tgaug6300

2dots,

I couldn't agree with you more! Fly safe out there!

TG

Pilotpip

2dots, I've checked out a couple guys in similiar situations to you and I have to be honest I was trying to learn as much as I was "teaching" within the confines of safety. In my short time instructing though, the ATP with a 767 type rating has scared me the most so far. He wasn't flying the 172 like a little airplane. 70kts and flaring a couple feet off the runway takes a little adjustment after all those years at 140kts and flaring 50 feet off. Ah well, it only took the stall horn to quickly correct and not do it again. The sign of a good pilot!

Biggest problem with instructing, it's only a means to an end. They're just building time to move on. A lot of people view their regional/check hauling job in the same light and with the same ire. My view is that you should do the best you can while you're there because 1) You owe it to your students and 2) you don't know how long you'll truely be there. How many people out there thought that 4 or more years to upgrade in an RJ would be commonplace? When I started at Parks everybody was getting swept up by TSA with 500 total as soon as they graduated, upgrading right at ATP mins, and moving on to TWA within 3 years of graduation. The year 2000 seems like it was eons ago...

mtsupilot09

Skyhigh, your profile says self employed. What kind of business do you have?

TankerDriver

Hence the reason why CFI pay is as low as it is, because it's on the poop end of the proverbial totem pole. Everyone is looking to get to the majors. Everything in this industry is based off of that $200k a year 777/747 airline captain job flying to Europe 4 times a month. Whether that is your goal in life or not, you are going to deal with it.

I was making more as a CFI when I left to join the USAF than I would have if I had gotten hired with a regional (which was my intent before 9/11). I would have taken a pay cut to go to the right seat of an RJ. Granted, I worked at one of the well known pilot factories out there. I was making over $15 an hour with a medical and dental package, life insurance, 401k and disability coverages. Flew brand new equipment and in the 1.5 years I was there, I hadn't had one mechanical incident that had me even close to soiling myself. Student incidences, well that's a given for any CFI and after some time in the right seat, you begin to predict these kinds of things before they even happen. I got to fly about 20-25 hours a week on average, sometimes more. I put 18 students through a rating of some sort, half of which were instrument students, which I believe made me a much better instrument pilot. Working at a large flight school was great for building hours and making a bit more $$ than teaching at the average FBO, but there was a lot of politics and drama that I don't miss. With over 125 CFI's working there, you can imagine how much back stabbing, brown nosing, and certain females screw'n their supervisors for a multi upgrade went on.

Before that, I worked at a small FBO (that will remain nameless) for 2 weeks before I told the owner to kiss my arse and that I wasn't coming back. He wasn't even a private pilot and he owned a flight school. Anyway, he was a first glass d**che bag and I told him that. He tried to make me fly an unairworthy airplane and when I said I wouldn't fly it until he fixed it, he didn't like that too much. It's one thing to have a few screws missing or alittle bit of cord showing on a tire, but this guy had a GPS installed in the aircraft without it being entered in the weight and balance forms. Like I'm going to fly that around and wind up getting ramp checked somewhere. What would have taken to enter that in the forms correctly? Anyway... that is when I decided my $250 a week, mostly sitting on my arse CFI job wasn't worth it and left for "bigger and better things".

Overall, I enjoyed being a CFI and wouldn't mind doing it again part-time one day. Of course I wouldn't expect a career out of it though. There were times I absolutely hated it and couldn't wait for the day I got hired by a regional, but everything is relative. Especially when I'd have students showing up unprepared and wasting mommy and daddy's money. There are times in the Air Force when I'd be willing to take a 2/3 pay cut to go back and be a CFI (like when I'm doing bureaucratic desk work from 8-5, 5 days a week). If there's one thing about pilots, we are the select bunch who never cease to find something to b*tch about. I miss flying little airplanes. It was fun. It was more "hobby fun" than "career fun" though.

FLightle

Where do you work Ryan? Hehe...

-Forest