Is an expensive flight instructor worth it?
 

I am finishing up my PPL. My flight instructor was charging me $60/hour. I added it up last night and I could of saved over $1000 by going with one of the many instructors around my flying club that charge $30/hour. Ouch.

My question is if there is any way to tell if it was worth it going with a more expensive guy?

Ask other students who their favorite was....the guy they learned the most from.

Nah, that's a bit too much unless they justify it somehow. Justification might take the form of, it is a rich neighborhood, cost of living is high there, and/or the person has a great reputation for teaching in the area or they are the only one around with an exotic airplane you plan to buy, or they operate out of a club that has lots of perks associated with it such as sims, grounds schools, and/or a new fleet. Normal rates vary per region but $25-$50 an hour is the normal range I would expect to pay and there is no difference between FAA certificates. People really get raked over by these schools that have all new aircraft, some of the rental rates are insane and I guess they tack on high instructor rates to make you think they have something better when they really do not. Shop around. I would not pay over $100 an hour wet for a trainer even now and for a full time instructor, $35-$45 an hour.

The real answer is: maybe. Generally, an instructor who charges more compared to the local area is doing so based on longevity and experience. If he/she is a good teacher, you will benefit more compared to those with lesser experience. If the instructor is not a good teacher, then it rarely matters what pedigree they bring.

Go with your gut. Try one out, if the instructor isn't meshing well with you, switch instructors, or even switch schools. Don't hesitate to do what's actually right for you.

He is very professional, does a good job, and has a good reputation. However, since he is a career flight instructor he has seemingly lost passion for what he does after 20 years and it shows sometimes; a few of our lessons have been cut and dry (show up, do the lesson, don't talk about anything else, lesson over, pay me, bye).

Overall, I am not seeing this premium service I am paying for and have decided I will not be using him for the instrument training. Maybe I'll note a difference in quality when I switch to a $30/hour guy and I'll try to remember to post back in this thread then.

One observation that made me start questioning myself was when I ran into other instructors around the airport. They had careers in other fields and being a flight instructor was "just something I do on the side for fun". They were a lot more enthusiastic about flying than my instructor and 2 of them freely offered very helpful resources for student pilots. I said to myself that I'd like to be flying with those guys!

Thanks for the input.

Thank you.

We mesh well most of the time but my gut is telling me I am burning through a lot of money unnecessarily.

I would ask that you are probably wasting money. If you could somehow compare average flight hours before the PPL check ride you would be able to contrast a bit... But I doubt that's possible. If you can, ask students of the other instructors how many lessons/hours they had before their ride.

Try to take a broad sample though, since there are so many variables.

You could ask them to tell you their number of recommendations and pass rate in say, the last two years.

I agree with Toonces...Maybe.

I started out charging $20 per hour (handshake to handshake) which was what most new folks were charging. As I gained experience and a good reputation through word of mouth I gradually raised rates over the years, because I could. I also charged more for Aerobatics or Mountain Flying because there weren't many CFI's qualified to teach that stuff.

If money is tight and you can find another instructor that you get along with and learn from, you should probably jump ship. I'd also be honest with your original instructor about the reason. Remember that you are the customer in this equation, he needs to earn your money.

As a flight instructor for the past 40+ years, you can bet Uranus I know I'm worth it! :cool: Okay, here it comes.....