Flight school with "questionable" maintenance?
11-07-2008, 06:31 PM
#11
Moderator
Joined APC: May 2006
Position: ATP, CFI etc.
Posts: 6,056
Originally Posted by jedinein
As SoCal is an expensive place to live, many employers of entry-level positions want a person in front of them thus don't advertise online.
Originally Posted by jedinein
As an MEI for six+ years, I prefer to have brakes on my side. But I don't refuse them if the planes are sound. I do refuse edgy aircraft only if they prove to be unairworthy. But then again, I earned an A&P so that I could tell the difference between airworthy and unairworthy, and not have to be dependent on someone whose profit depends on the plane flying... It's always the PIC (read CFI) that has to make the determination and live with the consequences.
11-08-2008, 05:57 AM
#13
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Nov 2006
Posts: 585
Originally Posted by Cubdriver
I am not sure what you mean- please try again.
If you sit in front of your computer and hope they'll hire you from your emailed resume, you might as well keep watching Oprah and hope she does a special on how to get hired in competitive fields with low pay and high costs of living.
11-10-2008, 03:41 PM
#14
New Hire
Joined APC: Oct 2008
Position: CFI
Posts: 8
I would do a little research on the NTSB site about the planes that "fell out of the sky". If there have been any accidents there will be some details on them. Discreetly ask around the airport about the operation also, just because one person has a bad opinion about the company doesn't mean that it's necessarily correct.
I did my MEI in a Seneca with only the hand brake and I'm working with a guy in a flight club that has a Cherokee that only has a hand brake, it's not really any big deal. Like it was said before, just be very vigilant and you won't have any problems. Good luck out there, it's a tough market at the moment so I certainly wouldn't shove any offers you get to the side without seriously considering them.
I did my MEI in a Seneca with only the hand brake and I'm working with a guy in a flight club that has a Cherokee that only has a hand brake, it's not really any big deal. Like it was said before, just be very vigilant and you won't have any problems. Good luck out there, it's a tough market at the moment so I certainly wouldn't shove any offers you get to the side without seriously considering them.
11-11-2008, 04:28 AM
#15
Flying Farmer
Joined APC: Jul 2006
Position: Turbo-props' and John Deere's
Posts: 3,160
Originally Posted by Indypilot1980
I would do a little research on the NTSB site about the planes that "fell out of the sky". If there have been any accidents there will be some details on them. Discreetly ask around the airport about the operation also, just because one person has a bad opinion about the company doesn't mean that it's necessarily correct.
I did my MEI in a Seneca with only the hand brake and I'm working with a guy in a flight club that has a Cherokee that only has a hand brake, it's not really any big deal. Like it was said before, just be very vigilant and you won't have any problems. Good luck out there, it's a tough market at the moment so I certainly wouldn't shove any offers you get to the side without seriously considering them.
I did my MEI in a Seneca with only the hand brake and I'm working with a guy in a flight club that has a Cherokee that only has a hand brake, it's not really any big deal. Like it was said before, just be very vigilant and you won't have any problems. Good luck out there, it's a tough market at the moment so I certainly wouldn't shove any offers you get to the side without seriously considering them.
Gonna take a random stab and say you work out of EYE?
11-11-2008, 01:45 PM
#16
Line Holder
Joined APC: Jun 2007
Position: CFI/II
Posts: 84
I did my multi training in a Seneca at VNY. It didn't have any brakes on the instructor's side, either. I almost taxied into the grass the first time we fired it up because my feet were hitting that silly tube in between the pedals when I was trying to get my toes on the brakes.
What can I say? I'd been flying exclusively Cessnas for the previous 250 hours. Just make sure to brief your new students about that tube.
What can I say? I'd been flying exclusively Cessnas for the previous 250 hours. Just make sure to brief your new students about that tube.
11-11-2008, 04:33 PM
#17
New Hire
Joined APC: Oct 2008
Position: CFI
Posts: 8
Originally Posted by Ewfflyer
Gonna take a random stab and say you work out of EYE?
Last edited by Indypilot1980; 11-11-2008 at 04:41 PM.
02-07-2009, 02:01 PM
#18
New Hire
Joined APC: Jan 2009
Posts: 9
You obviously do what you want, I was in Texas and went to a shotty flight school there with poor maintainance and there was no where to land but in a group of trees.
Is a Flight instructor job important with all the flight time? Yes, is it worth risking your life? Absolutely not.
I personally may be leaning towards my recommendation to you, which is to research a good flight school with promising income and try to live as dirt cheap as possible ( just the way you have to start out a career) and work up from there. I personally don't feel any job is worth risking your life
Is a Flight instructor job important with all the flight time? Yes, is it worth risking your life? Absolutely not.
I personally may be leaning towards my recommendation to you, which is to research a good flight school with promising income and try to live as dirt cheap as possible ( just the way you have to start out a career) and work up from there. I personally don't feel any job is worth risking your life
Originally Posted by CaliFlyer
I'm being offered a position as a CFI at a flight club in L.A. The guy has owned the place for 20+ years and been flying for 50+ (really old school). He doesn't believe in glass cockpits or plastic planes. His planes are old and he does his own maintenance to keep the costs down. The rental prices are relatively cheap ($209 block for a seneca I). He has this flight school but just lets the CFI's do their own thing. You are completely independent. There aren't many multi's in the area due to insurance so there is money to be made.
I'm a low time CFI/CFII/MEI and this opportunity came from sending a hundred different resumes off to different flight schools only to find out no one is hiring.....except this place...
The planes are a little edgy. The CFI who checked me out in the Seneca is an old school CFI and didn't really make me do much in the plane to demonstrate my abilities. He didn't even use any kind of checklist. Of course I won't teach my students this way but it just kind of shows how they operate.
I called a simulator broker who is on the field to inquire about simulator rentals and/or lease. When I told him I'm going to be instructing at that school he told me to "be careful about the maintenance". He mentioned they've had a few planes fall out of the sky in particular the multi's.
What concerns me is the seneca I flew in (from the right) had no right brakes. According to the other CFI, right brakes were optional from piper so a lot of people didn't order them. I don't know how safe I feel teaching multi students when I have no brakes on my side.
I only instructed for a couple hundred hours at my old flight school before returning to CA to look for work. My last school had older planes but very good maintenance.
Walking into this place is a big shock for me. I don't want to risk screwing up my career or worse, losing my life over poor maintenance. On the other hand, this guy is giving me a lot of opportunity and probably knows a ton of people. He let me fly his cessna 411 the other day and has a 421 as well.
So basically my choices are to take this job right now and build some hours or not fly and lose currency. Looking for advice from anyone who has been in a simular situation.
I'm a low time CFI/CFII/MEI and this opportunity came from sending a hundred different resumes off to different flight schools only to find out no one is hiring.....except this place...
The planes are a little edgy. The CFI who checked me out in the Seneca is an old school CFI and didn't really make me do much in the plane to demonstrate my abilities. He didn't even use any kind of checklist. Of course I won't teach my students this way but it just kind of shows how they operate.
I called a simulator broker who is on the field to inquire about simulator rentals and/or lease. When I told him I'm going to be instructing at that school he told me to "be careful about the maintenance". He mentioned they've had a few planes fall out of the sky in particular the multi's.
What concerns me is the seneca I flew in (from the right) had no right brakes. According to the other CFI, right brakes were optional from piper so a lot of people didn't order them. I don't know how safe I feel teaching multi students when I have no brakes on my side.
I only instructed for a couple hundred hours at my old flight school before returning to CA to look for work. My last school had older planes but very good maintenance.
Walking into this place is a big shock for me. I don't want to risk screwing up my career or worse, losing my life over poor maintenance. On the other hand, this guy is giving me a lot of opportunity and probably knows a ton of people. He let me fly his cessna 411 the other day and has a 421 as well.
So basically my choices are to take this job right now and build some hours or not fly and lose currency. Looking for advice from anyone who has been in a simular situation.
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Ivan
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