FLIGHT INSTRUCTORS
INFORMATIVE INFORMATION FOR ASPIRING PILOTS
BECOMING A Flight Instructor is sometimes a first step for many pilots in their desire to become a professional pilot. Its not the only way, but for some, like me, it was the avenue to receiving my first paycheck as a pilot. It was time well spent for me as a new CFI. I learned a lot about the learning process, the teaching process, and how the CFI’s role directly relates to aviation safety and standardization.
Good CFIs spend a great deal of time preparing for the next lesson, whether it is ground or flight instruction. There is a tremendous arena of resources available to the CFI to assist in being the best instructor possible. The internet is a huge wonderful library, that wasn’t available when I set out to become a CFI. One great resource I’ve run across for CFI’s is this website, www.thecfi.com. Check it out. There are some excellent links to other websites.
AOPA ALSO has some great resources at www.aopa.org/flight_training/cfi.html.
HOW TO get started as a CFI?
IN MANY cases, new CFI’s become employed at the training school, FBO, or college where they received their primary or advanced training. Why? They know you. That’s a big plus for you and for the school. It gives you a chance to learn and grow as you help others do the same in an environment you are familiar with. Back in the day, I became employed as a CFI at the FBO where I undertook my CFI training. I hired the FBO school in order to obtain my CFI, CFI-Instrument, and CFI-Multi-engine ratings. Each was a separate qualification and endorsement on the basic CFI certificate. Each rating required a FAA check-ride at the local FAA Flight Standards General Aviation office.
IF THE option isn’t available for you to become employed where you received your training, then apply in your local area at the nearest flight school.
HOW IS it to work as a CFI?
THE JOB can be very rewarding, and establishes you as a professional pilot in that you earn a paycheck. The job can be very challenging financially if the flight school you work at isn’t very busy, or pays you and entry level wage. The pay for CFI’s has gone up over the years, but it’s not considered a job that becomes long-term, unfortunately, as a lot of new CFI’s move on to better paying flying jobs, either corporate, air-taxi, or commuter airline.
IF YOU are able to line up several students, you will keep busy, and in return make better money as a CFI, but it can be a slow start-up. Sometimes, there are walk-in students, and if you are there, available, then you will pick up a few students easily. If you become employed at a college flight school, you’ll probably stay busier than you want, as the supply of students will seem endless.
TEACHING METHODS and Madness
Generally, every flight school has its own ground and flight training curriculum, and has a process they want you to learn to get students from A to B efficiently. The ‘madness’ comes in as each student learns differently, and experiences different levels of competency. If you began five students in the first week, you would see five different levels of learning taking place. Some catch on quickly, and others move slower. With pod-casts, DVD, and internet available, the resources for learning covers the gambit, so each student can pick and choose how they learn the material, as long as they follow the curriculum. Certainly, at the college flight school level where credit hours are at risk, students must keep up the required pace and CFIs must adhere to a very rigid flight training schedule. No doubt the weather interferes on occasion, but many flight schools have desktop training devices that fill in nicely, if available. In the end, its the FAA that drives the process. Thats due to the pilot standards required in order to obtain the various pilot licenses. CFIs must become closely acquainted with the FAA Practical Test Standards since thats how pilot students will be tested, during oral and flight exams, whether with a FAA Inspector or Designated FAA Flight Examiner.
SAFETY and SELF Preservation
CFIs SET the standard for safety, and provide the hard wired link between the flying public and the FAA. In that, I mean, you’re expected to teach students to fly in a manner that complements safety in all areas, and meets the requirements of the FARs, along with sharing acceptable techniques that allows the system to work as its intended. We want students to become safe pilots, as it benefits everyone involved, including those innocent bystanders who happen to be living under our flight paths.
YOUR REPUTATION is important, and incredibly so as a CFI. Students will judge you as either a good instructor, or one who is just filling a square, until a better deal comes along. You must take the time to learn your business as a CFI, and do the best job possible, even if your eventual goal is to pilot a B747 someday.
SELF PRESERVATION is a vital concept to consider. What do I mean? You never really know what a student will do, and you must be prepared to take the airplane, at any time. Being a CFI isn’t a job where you can relax when you are performing in-flight instruction. I continue to perform in-flight instruction in an Airbus 300-600, a heavy jet for i, and I work with some very experienced pilots, who come from various civil or military backgrounds. Have I had to intervene? Rarely, but it does happen. Recently, I was giving a pilot some IOE (initial operating experience) in the A300, and just after launching into a very low overcast, this pilot became spatially disoriented. Instead of raising the nose during the flap/slat retraction process to adhere to the 250 knot airspeed restriction, he lowered the nose, began a descent and the jet accelerated rapidly. Did I intervene? You bet, and did so without delay. So, my point: Know in advance what your limits are, and when you will take the plane, if a student inadvertently starts to put you in a corner where there might be no room to recover. There are files galore stored at the NTSB showing where CFIs met their fate in the course of teaching a student to fly.
LEARNING
I’VE BEEN a professional pilot since 1978, and the learning never stops. Its an exciting, ever-changing industry, and it requires reading, study, and continuous evaluations, irregardless of the level of aviation you fly in. CFIs hold a big responsibility, and student pilots of all levels expect CFIs to ‘know their stuff’. What you say and what you do is often related to other pilots, so it has to be the correct. No one knows everything, and thats okay. Tell your student you don’t have the answer just now, but research it, and then let them know what you found out.
CFI INSURANCE
If YOU aren’t teaching at a large flight school, it might be wise to secure CFI insurance, just in case anything happens out there when your students are off on their own flying, under your supervision or endorsements. Has it happened where a CFI has been sued? You bet. AOPA provides some guidance regarding CFI insurance at www.aopaia.com.
BEING A CFI can be a great job, or a great way to break into the professional pilot ranks. There is no greater satisfaction than watching your students learn and grow into competent, efficient, safe pilots. It is very satisfying and also allows you a chance to learn and grow right along with them. If you are embarking on the path to become a CFI or already are one, my hat is off to you, and I wish you the very best. Let me know if you have any questions.
Email me at ByronCobb@jettutor.com
Copyright Byron Cobb
