all,

i am wondering if having your CFI ratings is really necessary/important in the hiring process.

the way i understand it and the way it appears is that the CFI ratings are essentially used for time building. do i understand this correctly??

i have right at 3000 hours and i am just wondering if forking over the money to get my CFI ratings is necessary when i really dont plan to use them other than "check a square".

any thoughts on this would be GREATLY appreciated and save me some money...ha.ha.

thanks!

If I had 3000 hours I would bypass instructing. Nothing against it but the only reason I'm doing it is so I can go to the regionals quicker. If I could get around it I would.

How do you have 3000 hours and not a CFi is what i wanna know.

that is what i thought, but i wanted to make sure that it wasnt one of those hidden squares that you had to check off..but i know that 500 hours in the right seat doesnt count for PIC....

thanks for the words...

anyone else have advice??

I think that actually teaching people is the idea there, not necessarily just having a your cfi...and depending on what you're doing as far as flying right now, getting your cfi can be a pain in the ass (you may really have to get your head in the books)...
3000 hours is a lot of time, depending how you got that time and what you're future goals are, I suppose getting you're cfi and then not using it may not do too much for you.

if that 3000 hours is single engine, then it's a useful as logging go-kart time!

?...500 hours in what right seat = no PIC

...do you mean instructing, cuz that's all PIC (61.51 (e)(3))

Please do everyone in the industry a favor: DO NOT get your C.F.I. There are already too many instructors out there that got their CFI for the sole purpose of building time. People forget that the instructor certificate is to TEACH PEOPLE TO FLY, and building time is a side product of teaching. It's called sharing the love. With 3000 hours you should not need to be a CFI (Unless you really want to teach, in that case good luck) that doesn't want to be there to get a job.

Hey, just wanted to add that while I am building time, it is a concern to ensure quality instruction. It is just not something I could do long term and that's why I'll get done as soon as I can. You have to really love instructing a lot to do it long term.

being a military, and owning two airplanes and flying since highschool helps get to the 3000 hour mark....

thanks for the words on the CFI.....i would not want to ad myself to the pool and take away a job from someone that either needed to build time or needed the job...

thanks for all of your help guys....wow 8 replies in under 30 min...gotta love that!!