Flight Instructors - Did/Do you enjoy the job?

CC268

CC268

Final Approach
Joined
Nov 4, 2015
Messages
5,532
Display Name
Display name:
CC268
I have thought long and hard about the possibility of a career switch. I won't get into the details there, but I would really like to hear from some instructors (preferably those who did it full time for time building) on what they thought about the job and experience.

I plan to call my PPL instructor to get his thoughts on the subject(who has since left instructing and is flying in the Air Force - he just soloed in the T6! - I envy him). It seems like it could be a fairly fun job, although from what I saw it can be LONG days and probably little pay (certainly a big financial step down from what I am doing now). Working weekends, etc. My guess is very little time off - but hey, you gotta start somewhere.

I would be instructing in order to get my 1500 hrs as fast as possible. I would NOT do it as a career.

Thanks!
 
Last edited:
It wears on you. Not all students are committed to putting in time studying. They think they just get in the plane fly and get a license. They want an easy path to get the license and get to the airlines. There are plenty of CFIs out there giving sub par instruction just to build thier hours. I just finished up 1 PPL student and one instrument student. I make wait a coup,e of months until I take another on. I don't do it to survive. I have a fully time job that covers the bills. I do it for enjoyment, but I have been getting picky about what students I teach. I have kicked a few to the curb over the years. Especially when they feel that being they are paying that they are the boss and I should have to tolerate thier attitude.
 
Thinking back, yes, I enjoyed the time I spent instructing. I may be a different story than the rest. I instructed at a small privately owned airport that was open to the public. I was the only full time instructor with 2 part time instructors and I was living in my RV on the airport, so I had the place to myself at night.

Being in an area that has a really low income, most of my students were professional people, and they were motivated to get their ticket. I only had a few full time students. It was very rural West Virginia. I was only going to stay there one year but it turned into almost two years before I moved on.

I enjoyed watching my students go from "O" time to actually getting their certificate. It was fun for me to watch students as they progressed and shared in their excitement as they would work past a particular difficult part of the training for that student.

Moneywise, my only expenses were food and gas since I lived on the airport property. The planes that were based there knew they could pre-arrange with me to pull their plane out and fueled after hours if needed. And more than once I would get a knock on the door from someone asking for fuel.

Would I go back to full time instructing? Probably not. A friend of mine has been trying to get me to instruct a ground school for a company that trains foreign students. The big problem he has is communications. That is some of the students engrish is not up to where is should be. I ask him how can I haelp with my Taexas acceent?

I knew that I would only instruct for a certain amount of time. Knowing that I went into it with the best attitude I could have and did the very best I could do with each student. One of my students went on to flying a C-130 for the ANG. A few bought their own planes, and a few stopped flying after a few years.

There were times I would get home just exhausted, there were times I thought the students main objective was to kill me while flying, but when the time came, I walked away knowing I did the best that I could do and I felt good about myself.
 
I enjoyed/still enjoy it. I don't do it full time anymore but I'm glad I still get to teach. It was a lot of work and a lot of long days but it helped me reach my goal.
 
TommyG said:
It wears on you. Not all students are committed to putting in time studying. There are plenty of CFIs out there giving sub par instruction just to build thier hours.
Click to expand...

This does work both ways. Lazy students and poor instructors either one in the plane not focused on the correct goals. It is best to be selective and get students eager to learn and put in the work to get it done. Depite being paid it's your time too.
 
I enjoyed it and still do, I will say that it's on average probably the most demanding type of flying to do properly.
 
I enjoy instructing very much. I like instrument and commercial students but I don't mind private students either. Some are not good sticks, some are not good studiers. Some stink at both but are dedicated to learning. Some are good at both but are lazy.. those are the most frustrating. I love when I get to see someone pass a checkride, take up their first passenger, and go on their first solo. I get a great deal of satisfaction from teaching and I really enjoy it. I do not like giving flight reviews, IPCs or doing aircraft checkouts. Nothing makes me cringe more than "well it's been a couple of years, but I should only need a half hour of dual"... then looking in their logbook and seeing it has been 20 years since their last flight. Rental checkouts aren't bad unless they're military.. and they're usually not horrible unless the military person flies drones instead of an actual airplane. Who thought it was a good idea to allow "pilots" flying unmanned to get a full blown commercial certificate?? NOT ME. That being said, when I was a new CFI I preferred people with a little experience, so it has changed a little throughout my career thus far.

I am likely a career CFI. I don't have aspirations of going to the airlines, though someday I wouldn't mind getting a biz jet type rating and doing some pilot service. But for now I am quite content and overall enjoy it. We will see if I still enjoy it in another thousand hours or so.

As far as schedule goes I have the ability to set my own since my husband and I own the place. I work M-S and M/T/W I work 9-7 and T/F 8-6 and S 8-5. I could probably get 8-10 flights just on Saturday and Sunday, but I refuse to give myself zero days off and my "regulars" like to fly during the week where stragglers fly weekends only. Another instructor that flies for me works Sunday-Thursday (has another full time job) and does like 7am-2pm.. There are always students for every day of the week for both of us.
 
Thanks for the feedback thus far. It is a tough decision (a decision I won't make for several more years when I get my CFI). There is a huge range of advice out there when it comes to a flying career. Some guys have nothing but negative things to say, while others absolutely love it. Seems like it sure beats wasting the next 40 years behind a cubicle though.

At the end of the day my best bet may be to just go for it. It may be a gamble, but if I listened to everyone's advice I would be pulled in 100 different directions.
 
I have the desire to become a CFI as well... My biggest issue would be placing my life in a student who was trying to kill me...
 
I do wonder how many would like to have had some of us as students knowing how argumentative and know-it-all we seem to be. I've even seen it from some of the students on here. That would drive me batsheet crazy if I were a CFI and a student wanted to argue about the right way to fly the plane or interpret the regs. Especially if he were to tell me that SGOTI told him that I was teaching him wrong.
 
Just tell the snowflake that you have the controls while they find the REAL answer on their iJunk.

Sounds fun, actually, someone else paying me to fly a plane they are renting. Hmmm....
 
I find flight instruction to be very rewarding.

Some people are a challenge to instruct and that is what keeps it interesting.

I find joy sharing the love I have for flying and opening the door for others to find that joy.

I am fairly new (20 months) so the excitement may fade as my instructing hours grow.

So far the fun just keeps growing.

If people don’t want to do their homework I suggest they find another instructor.

There are clients that are not that much fun. So far they have been the exception.

Most of my clients are a pleasure to know.

Most of the time I spend instructing is filled with joy.

I love progress and I love sharing my passion for aviation.

I find teaching has made me a better pilot and I try to be on my best behavior and keep my stupid pilot tricks to a minimum.

The weather can be frustrating, particular in the first few hours of instruction.
 
I liked it.... most of the time.
 
labbadabba said:
I have the desire to become a CFI as well... My biggest issue would be placing my life in a student who was trying to kill me...
Click to expand...

That what takes instructing from boring to terrifying in 3 seconds or less.....:lol::lol::lol:
 
TommyG said:
It wears on you. Not all students are committed to putting in time studying. They think they just get in the plane fly and get a license.
Click to expand...

Maybe I'm just unlucky but this describes at least half of students I've dealt with. There are also those who really do study but never seem able to grok the material. Then again there is a reason for AOPA's asserted 80% dropout rate so I don't think it's just me.
 
Loved instructing - still do.

Luckily I have the fortune to be able to pick and choose how and when I instruct. Even when I did it full-time I liked it a great deal, although putting in 10-12 hour days at the flight school is not something I'm "down" with anymore... starting and ending the day a sweaty mess in the summer heat, too.
 
Looking forward to actually doing it. That's all I've got.

Already did the math and even at a busy part-time pace, it'd take me about 12 years to make back the training costs. Ha. Of course that's because I decided to do the MEI and a LOT of hours in the twin in good prep for someday teaching in those.

Decide early if you don't mind not really getting paid well or anywhere close to what other professionals make, and whether you can still be motivated to be the professional you have to be. Part time plumbing pays about four to five times better.

I decided it doesn't bother me. Most folks are trading the low pay for flight time to move on. I have no intentions to. But I also won't command any higher rates than anyone else for a long time.
 
Different strokes.

Some retirees do flight training to pay for 100LL for their plane. Some cut lawns for the same reason.

I'm a better pilot than groundskeeper.
 
When its 115 degrees out and its your third flight it can be rough, but when you see your direct impact on a student moving forward it can be extremely satisfying.
 
bijanmaleki said:
When its 115 degrees out and its your third flight it can be rough, but when you see your direct impact on a student moving forward it can be extremely satisfying.
Click to expand...
Or how about when you have 5 students in one day and every student is doing pattern work
 
just remember, the mission of every student is to find a creative way to kill ya :D:D
 
Honestly I have the most fun with tw, complex, high performance endorsements, and commercial students.
 
WannFly said:
just remember, the mission of every student is to find a creative way to kill ya :D:D
Click to expand...

We can be quite dastardly heh heh

images


PS... this is the ONLY dick pic you will ever get from me
 
CC268 said:
I have thought long and hard about the possibility of a career switch. I won't get into the details there, but I would really like to hear from some instructors (preferably those who did it full time for time building) on what they thought about the job and experience.

Personally I love it better than my primary job, but I instruct mainly in niche market. When I instruct, it is full time for one week a month... usually 7-9 months in a year and then the occasional FR and IPC. I've made a lot of friends doing this over the years.
Click to expand...
 
If it's possible to do so, I would gently suggest that most "mid life" or beyond folks would probably enjoy flight instructing part time as opposed to full time. Full-time flight instructing is a grind, with little in the way of financial reward. Over time and with the requisite work experience it is possible for some to be able to teach and mentor in jets, which I have also enjoyed. But even at $1000/day it doesn't pay well compared to contract flying in large cabin business jets. Somehow flight instructing always involves some kind of sacrifice on the part of the instructor. Of course, it's not without risk, too. I used to describe that I was heading to work to "fight for my life" when mentoring in single pilot light jets. There's also the daily possibility of your client violating you or worse. It's a mentally-tasking endeavor.

Flight instructing will likely always be a labor of love. We'll always need motivated and enthusiastic instructors who simply want to give back to aviation. If that sounds like you, and you have a knack for teaching, please sign up. We need you.
 
This is a well timed thread; I've been seriously considering getting my CFI. I have a law practice so it would only be part time i.e not for time building or the money, ha. Believe I would be good at it but have concerns about if I would enjoy it or not. Ultimately I think as long as I don't overdue it, it would be a good experience and open the doors to some opportunities at the local FBO.
 
Ryan F. said:
If it's possible to do so, I would gently suggest that most "mid life" or beyond folks would probably enjoy flight instructing part time as opposed to full time. Full-time flight instructing is a grind, with little in the way of financial reward. Over time and with the requisite work experience it is possible for some to be able to teach and mentor in jets, which I have also enjoyed. But even at $1000/day it doesn't pay well compared to contract flying in large cabin business jets. Somehow flight instructing always involves some kind of sacrifice on the part of the instructor. Of course, it's not without risk, too. I used to describe that I was heading to work to "fight for my life" when mentoring in single pilot light jets. There's also the daily possibility of your client violating you or worse. It's a mentally-tasking endeavor.

Flight instructing will likely always be a labor of love. We'll always need motivated and enthusiastic instructors who simply want to give back to aviation. If that sounds like you, and you have a knack for teaching, please sign up. We need you.
Click to expand...

Sorry I should have stated in my OP...I would be instructing to get my 1500 hrs...nothing else. It would like be something I did for 2 years or so
 
I didn't realize I didn't even mention it in my original post...but I would not be instructing as a career haha...just to build time in order to move onto other things (regionals, etc).
 
CC268 said:
The plane gods have told me to fly planes. I must submit to their request or I will fade to dust in this cubicle of despair and sadness. Living a life of unfulfilled dreams and broken PC computers.
Click to expand...

Amen. Pass the Tylenol.

FlyingTiger said:
This is a well timed thread; I've been seriously considering getting my CFI. I have a law practice so it would only be part time i.e not for time building or the money, ha. Believe I would be good at it but have concerns about if I would enjoy it or not. Ultimately I think as long as I don't overdue it, it would be a good experience and open the doors to some opportunities at the local FBO.
Click to expand...

You can ask @LDJones about what happens to lawyers who part-time teach. I'm pretty sure he's in a simulator today doing a recurrent in the jet. Ha.

CC268 said:
I didn't realize I didn't even mention it in my original post...but I would not be instructing as a career haha...just to build time in order to move onto other things (regionals, etc).
Click to expand...

Boo. Keep teaching, just switch to something fun like gliders while you look down upon us peons from your jet while sipping a cup of coffee as step one in the emergency checklist. LOL.
 
CC268 said:
I didn't realize I didn't even mention it in my original post...but I would not be instructing as a career haha...just to build time in order to move onto other things (regionals, etc).
Click to expand...

Understood, and that's true of many others. Still, please take the responsibility of teaching others to fly seriously. Though it's a means to an end to you, you have an obligation to undertake your task with professionalism and enthusiasm.
 
I do this full time, independent of any schools. I teach in my company's C150 and spend a majority of my time in owners' aircraft teaching them. What I've got going right now is a great setup that allows me to work a reasonable number of hours and get paid a lot better than I would in the flight school world. I spent 3 years instructing in flight schools, and the difference from then and now is night and day. (That's not to say I didn't enjoy my time doing the flight school grind.)

I currently have 5 IFR students and 4 primary students. There is a seemingly never-ending stream of clientele in greater DFW to the point where I encourage anyone out here who is good at instructing and basic business practices to get out and do it on their own, too.

For anyone considering becoming a CFI: now is the time to do it. Schools and aircraft owners are dying for CFIs. Wages and rates are going up as a result, and you can make a decent living at it if you play your cards right and get good at what you do.
 
jordane93 said:
Or how about when you have 5 students in one day and every student is doing pattern work
Click to expand...
Oh lordy. I had 5(!!!!) pre-solo at the same time about a month ago. And not five all in different places, they were all doing pattern work. 50 landing days are exhausting.
 
Ryan F. said:
Understood, and that's true of many others. Still, please take the responsibility of teaching others to fly seriously. Though it's a means to an end to you, you have an obligation to undertake your task with professionalism and enthusiasm.
Click to expand...

I am an engineer so professionalism is already a part of my career!
 
Burn-out is possible.
The attitude and preparation of the student are important factors which you can hopefully influence but can't control.
Flying costs so much that many students want to go A-Z as efficiently as possible and want a syllabus that supports that but doesn't really teach flying as an holistic experience; this can be frustrating.
There's no money in it.
If you're a good instructor, you are not taking the wheel more often than necessary so you don't really fly that much. Did you check your landing currency lately, CFI? :)
Many young CFI's are See One, Do One, Teach One and some do but many don't come to the conclusion that they aren't as complete an instructor as the student needs and deserves. This CFI and the "get a ticket" student fit together hand in glove, but the product can be scary for the rest of us. :)
I prefer teaching higher end students now. It's fun to fly with a pretty good pilot and help them improve and often improve one's self in the process. It's rewarding to talk aerodynamics with someone who "gets it" rather than someone who just wants to know which way to push the wheel.
It's all fun at first, like many things in life.
 
jnmeade said:
I prefer teaching higher end students now. It's fun to fly with a pretty good pilot and help them improve and often improve one's self in the process. It's rewarding to talk aerodynamics with someone who "gets it" rather than someone who just wants to know which way to push the wheel.
It's all fun at first, like many things in life.
Click to expand...

Well stated. I think many instructors move very quickly from enjoying instruction at the student pilot level to finding it tedious. Though we were all there once, it can definitely become tedious teaching the basics, and the workload in the cockpit is very high for the instructor. When I was a full-time CFI, many moons ago, I quickly gravitated towards commercial, instrument, multiengine and ATP students. I tended to hand off the private pilot applicants to new instructors.

That's not the case today; there's a complexity in the simplicity of the instruction at the private pilot level and the nuances and dynamics of that endeavor has made it interesting to me, again. I look at the flight training funnel as a system now and I'm intrigued by ways we could systematically impart better ADM and CRM skills onto pilots during the primary phase of their training. Of course, this requires instructors committed to going beyond the ACS, and as evidenced by this thread, a significant portion of the rotating instructor cadre put in their time just to achieve their own goals. Thus, the complexity of building a system that builds the best possible private pilots regardless of this reality.
 
Harold Rutila said:
I do this full time, independent of any schools. I teach in my company's C150 and spend a majority of my time in owners' aircraft teaching them. What I've got going right now is a great setup that allows me to work a reasonable number of hours and get paid a lot better than I would in the flight school world. I spent 3 years instructing in flight schools, and the difference from then and now is night and day. (That's not to say I didn't enjoy my time doing the flight school grind.)

I currently have 5 IFR students and 4 primary students. There is a seemingly never-ending stream of clientele in greater DFW to the point where I encourage anyone out here who is good at instructing and basic business practices to get out and do it on their own, too.

For anyone considering becoming a CFI: now is the time to do it. Schools and aircraft owners are dying for CFIs. Wages and rates are going up as a result, and you can make a decent living at it if you play your cards right and get good at what you do.
Click to expand...

This is the other thing I would want to highly consider...go independent or work for a flight school. I will say, if I worked for a flight school I would likely go to where I got my PPL which is at KSDL at a "higher end" flight school. They mostly serve the wealthier clientele. They also have 4 Cirrus' (3 of which are brand new, SR20, SR22, SR22T) and I gotta admit I want to fly one of those someday (they are a Cirrus approved flight school or whatever you call it). They also have 3 172s and a beautiful Piper Arrow. I think it would be fun to fly the Arrow and Cirrus.
 
This thread REALLY makes me want to walk away from my corporate gig and start teaching. I've been teaching music for years so I can just expand my studio and start teaching flying as well... I need to get out of corporate world even if I do like the paychecks...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top