alfadog1

Hi, first post here
I am an older fellow (under 60) with something over 100 hours working on my instrument rating after taking a verrrry long break from flying. I have the bug again, big time, and seeing as I am seriously thinking about retiring from my career with an adequate pension, I was thinking about becoming a flight instructor, at least part-time.
My question, and I am not sure that I will phrase it right, is this:
Is there any standardized, recognized, and/or respected system or school of how to instruct someone to become a pilot? As a degreed and certified professional in another field, I find this CFI thing to be rather haphazard.
It seems that if you:
1. Have enough hours in your logbook (that does not take much, especially if a large chunk is "safety pilot").
2. Get a commercial license (yes, you will be a better pilot now, but what does that have to do with being a competent teacher).
3. Pass a written exam (I am very good at written exams and do not put much faith in them as any great test of anything).
4. Pass a checkride that, I guess, is mostly a test of your ability to sit in the right seat and keep your wits about you.
Then you are now a CFI.
OK but I do not see much that one could do if he wanted to become a really really good flight instructor.
Where do I go for that?
Is there any standardized, recognized, and/or respected system or school of how to instruct someone to become a pilot?
Thanks
alfadog

Gajre539

If you are lucky enough to find an experienced CFI to teach you, you will learn a lot more. My flight instructor had 3500+ TT and 2500 hours as a CFI. He thought me a lot more from his experience than everything that I learned from books.

To answer your question - a CFI certificate is a teaching certificate, but over time after you have hundreds of hours as a CFI, that's when you really learn how to teach. To be a really really good flight instructor, you will need to gain experience as a flight instructor. The first step is to get your CFI certificate.