LAFF thinks so, because he had a bad experience with one. Any professional who also happens to be a human being will be either motivated or not, motivated for the right reason or not, or somewhere in between. Your instructor is probably studying for his ATP or ATPL (airline transport pilot) which doesn't mean that he will fly for any one type of operation, it's just a certification (and a tough one).

I experienced a variety of performances. My first was a young woman who was extremely capable but went off looking for career opportunites every other week. The second was the best, he would do anything to help you, was extremely good at teaching, and inspired the heck out of me. The example still inspires me to this day. The third was a time waster, a mediocre teacher, and did not know much about commercial manuevers. He was a 90-day zero to hero flight school product. I fired him after about a month. The replacement was a good instructor and a nice person, but had a short temper. The sixth was a young guy at AllATPs and he taught a system of flying more than skills, but it worked and I give him a good mark. For endorsements I went to a variety of teachers, but since endorsements are not checkride graded you cannot compare them to checkride instruction, it's a different focus.

An example to illustrate this occurred when I obtained my high performance signoff. We started it with a trip around the pattern and no instruction. At the hold short line I got my usual checklist and the guy says "put that away". As soon as we are airborne I hear this loud "woooooo hoooooo this baby will climb!!!". When we got back a minute or two later he says, here's your signoff and didn't charge a dime. Turns out he disapproves of the high performance signoff.

Yes they are. The don't eat unless you fly. Its in their best interest to take advantage of you. Protect yourself and get into a program like ATPs. Fixed price, fixed time.

-LAFF

"Are all CFI's in it to build time only?"

ATP CFI's are, especially with what little they get paid.

Yeah right....Local FBO CFI's are, especially with what little they get paid.

-LAFF

A CFI is far more likely to waste time on account of being anal-retentive about your safety as a pilot than by an alleged wish to con someone into an hour's worth of instruction. You cannot know which it is. My first flight instructor took 22 hours to solo me because she was worried I would forget to extend my downwind or pull the carb heat knob at the right time. People don't go into flight training to make money off students because everyone knows there isn't much. The FBO itself may be trying to pad the till, and I have experience of this when going for aircraft checkouts, but there again you don't know if it's that or a genuine regard for safey and to assume you do know is hogwash you don't. Drawing a connection to their pay, and a minor one at that, is not proof they are misusing the privilege.

Dude get over it. Flight training is expensive and you got what you paid for. It's time to move on to other things to be stuck on. Like whether Hotel Paris... excuse me, Paris Hilton is trying to avoid jail time.

I was making $18/hr as a CFI in 1995. If you were proficient, you saved money. If you weren't it cost you more to bring you up to speed. It was that simple.

Rationalize it anyway you like. Money or flight hours - the local FBO CFI is taking advantage of you. You are better off at a dedicated flight training academy.

-LAFF

I soloed at 7 hours. I was and am a good pilot. I didn't need to waste time / money on a unmotivated FBO CFI that ended up w/ 1000 SE hours and less than 20 ME hours in his logbook after 6 years of CFI work. He ended up getting a job with the state police department. They must have been desperate.

Flight training isn't expensive. Its CFIs dragging it out to log another hour in their books that makes it so...

Any one training in N. Cal avoid Blue Ridge Aeronautics at Nut Tree airport.

-LAFF

How many hours do you allege this guy padded onto it? Average is something like 65 hours. Don't be hung up on the old "I do everything in half the time" thing.

So LAFF, why didn't you fire the guy? Shouldn't you have taken control of your learning? I've never met a student who hasn't compared instructors. I won't lie, there are unethical instructors out there. But that's why a student hires the instructor who works best for them.