jcool411

I'm just in my PPL phase but I'm wondering if I want to get anywhere in this industry do I have to get a CFI. I just don't see myself teaching you know, I see CFI's are becoming the norm but seriously if there is a way for me around it I would love to know. Some people just shouldn't teach because their are some crappy instructors out there.

detpilot

You don't have to do anything but pay taxes and die.

Planespotta

Ask around, and the general consensus is that a huge part of flying professionally is teaching. Even if you're not doing it as a CFI, you're doing it when you help another crew-member program a route into the FMS, master a cold-engine start, or navigate around inclement weather. Getting your CFI would not only be a good way to refine your teaching skills as a captain in the future, but also a solid way to build time, challenge and train your students, and solidify your knowledge base before you "move on" to another job. Don't see CFI'ing as a stepping stone so much as a great step towards becoming a more knowledgeable, professional pilot.

Some people get "lucky breaks" through their contacts (never stop networking) and fly night freight, traffic watch, banner tow, or the occasional corporate King Air gig to build up time, but CFI'ing is much more common.

Good luck!

gestrich1311

For civilian at least...

Anything is possible with the right connections but if someone is asking this question, they probably don't have them.. No offense as I don't and am working on my cfi. If one thinks of flight instruction as one of the least desirable flying jobs, remember that low time pilots are fighting for flight instructor position. It surely gets more competitive when you try for other flying jobs. However if you meet the right person that prefers you over the other low time pilots they know, it can happen. I just wouldn't expect anything other than instruction until I had all my ratings and that opportunity was in front of me.

And remember that instructing can be great experience early in your career given the many lessons you learn from your students. The knowledge demands of even getting the rating alone are enough to convince me why I need this. The private/commercial didn't prepare me for understanding everything like I have to for the cfi. I didn't realize how poor my understanding really was till I was faced with the possibility of having to coherently explain it to someone else. I know some folks did fine without the cfi but for me personally, I needed this.

detpilot

Ditto. That about perfectly summed it up for me. I tried the "No CFI route," it actually helped (slightly) to pay for getting my CFI. After 2 seasons of flying jumpers, I was so ready to do something besides climbs, slow flight, and spiraling descents (in a 58 year old airplane, nonetheless), that I couldn't wait to start instructing. 2 and a half years into it, and I still enjoy the job- my only complaint is that I wish the pay were more steady year-round. I will say to try and go somewhere where you can do a good variety of training- Private, instrument, and Commercial. I find that when I go for a while without doing any of those three, I get rusty on the best way to progress a student through the course. Finally, if you can, let your students stop and grab a bite to eat on cross countries. So many instructors (especially at 141 schools) do a XC to a touch and go and head right back, missing a chance to share the fun and utility of flying with their students, as well as missing a potential chance to network in the FBO.

Short answer- as I said earlier- you don't have to do anything.

Long answer- it is likely the easiest way to gain entry to the career. Not the only, but the one that doesn't require as much luck/friends in high places.

tlove482

Being a CFI, you usually won't have the extra money to grab those 100 dollar hamburgers and you don't get paid for that time on the ground.

I have done both pipeline patrol and flight instructing to build time. Both offered valuable experience, each in it's own way. I've also flown divers. I'd have to say that's the least valuable experience of the 3 types of flying I've done.

Flight instructing isn't for everyone, but the industry almost forces you to do it in order to get the flight times you need to move on.

detpilot

It costs the same as grabbing a Wendy's burger between flights at the home base, and the crew car has free gas. I'm not saying sit there for 3 hours, just shut down, grab a burger, talk about mistakes that were made and how to correct them on the flight home. Sometimes I'll treat my student to the food, more often I can't afford to- but stopping made my cross countries more enjoyable as a student, and it's not that hard to do.

Plus, how's spending 20 minutes on the ground between legs any different pay wise than getting back 20 minutes earlier? Unless your day is packed so full of students that you end up losing money, that is...

shdw

There are plenty of "non-CFI" jobs you can get to work your way up. Start out doing traffic/pipeline surveys and maybe banner towing. Build over 1000 hours or so on that. Then take a look at small time cargo gigs or crop dusting, both will get you more complex aircraft time and don't require CFI work.

That said, learning to teach, and really putting the effort into that, can exponentially improve your understanding of this field. There is a saying, "if you can teach it then you know it." I am 100 percent for getting your CFI and really taking the time to do it, but it isn't the be all end all to getting into this field. Do some research on low time pilot gigs, there are plenty.

USMCFLYR

I know that I would like this as a student - epsecially IF you bought my lunch
Sitting dow and enjoying the little airport cafe or hanging out at a different FBO can be an enjoyable part of the flying - seeing the world type of stuff (to a small - range of a C-152/172 - extent)
Even now when I am flying cross country I would rather take a few on the ground to enjoy the coke and bag of crackers, or talk to the pretty FBO girl(s) than running in to throw down the credit card for the quickest gas-n-go humanly possible and then off again. There are enough times when I HAVE to do that - I like to enjoy the other times if possible.

In the end, it just MIGHT make the student enjoy the whole experience even more and that can't be a bad thing for instructing/instructors.

USMCFLYR

wrxpilot

I disagree. Grabbing a quick bit to eat at the local airport restaurant is not expensive, and is not a "$100 hamburger" since you're not paying for the airplane. It's more like a $6 hamburger, which even I could easily afford when I was teaching. Besides, 90% of the time my students insisted on paying anyway.

More importantly, by breaking up the cross countries your students learn more effectively since you are able to review what happened on that leg and apply the lessons learned to the next segment. Just rushing through everything creates a lot of frustration for both the student and instructor, and takes a lot of the fun away. Plus, taxiing in and out of FBOs, checking weather along the way, etc. is a HUGE part of the learning process. I recall instances where I had to cover for other CFIs that skipped over this with their students, and the students were absolutely clueless about ground ops. Many times these were students getting close to the checkride, so that is just an unacceptable lack of knowledge.