What to look for in a CFI?

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Brandon Hicks

Filing Flight Plan
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My wife and I had our Discovery flights yesterday at KMGJ. I had a great time, as expected but more importantly, so did she! No air sickness which was one of her biggest worries. Particulay when she realized just how small the Da-20 and Technam LSA planes were! I could tell she was a little nervous so I was overjoyed to see a smile and wave as they taxied off the runway! She had a blast and even wanted to watch Top Gun last night after dinner lol!

After speaking with them and based a number of factors, primarily plane availability, school and CFI options, we have also decided to bypass the Light Sport license and go straight to the PPL so our flights were in the DA-20. Thank you for all the great advise and various opinions from everyone

This decision does open up a few more options for local schools and we have decided to do a discovery flight with another school out of 20N just to have a bit more perspective before making a final decision.

The CFI we flew with yesterday was nice, competent and thorough- no complaints but we were both a bit suprised by how young he was.

I wanted to ask what people feel are the primary things one should look for in a CFI and how do you make a derermination for how suitable they are in a relatively short 1-2 hour meeting/discovery flight?

Thanks.
 
I usually start by asking them if they’re Bob Hoover and then work my expectations lower from there. :)
 
Their schedule and their reliability and how soon after my discovery flight can I solo?

Ok 2 out of those 3 fo sho.
 
References. Preferably some who have completed training, are in training, and stopped training.
 
Personally I my biggest criteria would be someone who kept there hands off the stinking controls unless it was necessary. My initial instructor was young but a great instructor. He rarely touched the controls unless he was demonstrating something. I flew with another instructor who flew out of the same club and he was all over the controls. I hated it.

The good instructor would let you make the mistake (assuming there was no danger involved) and then say did you see what you did there? Don't do that.
 
Schedule flexibility/availability and personality were the big ones for me.
 
A flight instructor with a certificate that is plastic instead of paper and written in crayon..???

I agree with others here, a syllabus, hands off the controls unless absolute necessary, calm demeanor, no yelling or childish curse words in normal conversation and interested in you achieving your goal.
 
Good decision on going PPL. MAKE SURE YOU CAN GET A CLASS III MEDICAL BEFORE YOU SPEND MONEY. The biggest factor choosing an instructor, for me, is being able to have two way conversation and trust. That is the starting point for me.
 
IMO no way to know until you fly with them a couple times. You really need to know you mesh. There only one way to know that.
 
The biggest consideration is personality. Do they mesh with you. Do they teach in a way that helps you learn. Do they teach in a way that keeps you interested.

And for what it's worth, some of my best instructors have been young guys that just got their CFI and are building hours for the airlines. Some of my worst instructors have been old guys that have been teaching for decades. From what I've seen age and experience don't have much to do with it. Many people may disagree with me here.

Walboy said:
In addition to some of the above comments, find out if they use a syllabus...or some sort of structured approach besides the ACS. If they wing it, move on.
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Yes they should have some sort of plan for how to get you from 0 hours to your checkride, but I never enjoyed the more structured approach. The flight school I used was less structured and more laid back. It took a few more hours than a more structured (Part 141 program) would have, but I experienced more different things and enjoyed the experience a lot more than I would have otherwise.

If my instructor could tell I was getting frustrated or reaching a learning plateau, he would make the next lesson a fun flight or just something different. Maybe we'd just go fly around. Maybe we'd fly to a different (interesting) airport (small, narrow, near a lake, etc.). Maybe we'd go to grass airport. Maybe we'd try a different plane. Maybe we'd try flying under the hood (or some actual IMC). Maybe we'd fly somewhere for lunch. Making sure I enjoyed the process was key (for me) to actually completing the training.
 
Timbeck2 said:
I didn't know Mark wore glasses.
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All ya had to do was ask! I think it was caused by drinking too much of that Korean booze, So Ju or something it was called. Vision starting going downhill right after I rotated back to the states.
 
Everyone wants the best instructor; the reality is the school will assign one to you.
 
You guys are cracking me up. Thanks for all the great insight and advise. I agree completely on the syllabus, especually with two of us.

We were discussing it last night and logistics is probably going to need to play a pretty big role in this as well. Since we’ll both be taking lessons at the same time, mostly on weekends and vacation time, ideally we would be able to fly simultaneously with different instructors to reduce the amount of waiting around time while the other is flying although that time could be used for studying ground school stuff as well.

Really appreciate all the input, guys, thanks.
 
Looks, all things being equal.

Also I wouldn’t fly with a guy that walks away after you land and expects you to put away the plane by yourself. I have had a number of people comment “my previous instructors never helped me tie down the plane”. I have walked out there with an iPad and a headset, you came out with a duffel bag which is now spread all inside the plane.
 
If it is not possible for simultaneous lessons in your individual airplanes, there is still value in doing lessons "back to back". One of you does the lesson with the other in the back as observer. Then when lesson done, you switch places and the CFI does the same lesson for the observer.

This would need an airplane larger than the Diamond 20 though.
 
Clip4 said:
Everyone wants the best instructor; the reality is the school will assign one to you.
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Not everyone uses a school. I never have, only independant CFIs and CFIIs.
 
slacktide said:
Not everyone uses a school. I never have, only independant CFIs and CFIIs.
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Good for you, but those instructors who also have a plane for you to rent are getting rather hard to find and it not like you are going to go out and interview 5 of them.

Just because someone is independant doesn't automatically mean they are good. I know a lot that are rather substandard. I know a few who are over the top good.
 
Clip4 said:
Good for you, but those instructors who also have a plane for you to rent are getting rather hard to find and it not like you are going to go out and interview 5 of them.
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I’ve never rented a plane from a CFI. Can’t say I’ve met any independant CFIs that rented their own aircraft, although I’m sure that there are a few out there.

I’ve always either been in a club, a partnership, or a sole owner, and hired my own instructor as I saw fit. The club maintained a list of 30 independant instructors who where checked out in their aircraft, and were always willing to check out a new CFI if you wanted one.

I don’t think it is unreasonable to interview a half dozen independant CFIs to figure out which one is the right fit for you. Take some ownership of your education rather than accepting whichever instructor some school assigns to you.
 
slacktide said:
I’ve never rented a plane from a CFI. Can’t say I’ve met any independant CFIs that rented their own aircraft, although I’m sure that there are a few out there.

I’ve always either been in a club, a partnership, or a sole owner, and hired my own instructor as I saw fit. The club maintained a list of 30 independant instructors who where checked out in their aircraft, and were always willing to check out a new CFI if you wanted one.

I don’t think it is unreasonable to interview a half dozen independant CFIs to figure out which one is the right fit for you. Take some ownership of your education rather than accepting whichever instructor some school assigns to you.
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not many clubs around with 30 CFIs either. I am in a mid size city with a Class C airport. Only 3 clubs within 30 mile radius, 2 take no primary students and the 3 is a commercial Part 141 flying club.
 
Make sure they wear deodorant or atleast a good cologne. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
 
slacktide said:
Then don’t complain about the lack of CFIs and flying clubs in your area.
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Ok, you do a nationwide search for flying clubs with 30 independent CFIs and post a list of cities for me to move to. Oh, and let's eliminate California right off the bat.
 
Clip4 said:
Ok, you do a nationwide search for flying clubs with 30 independent CFIs and post a list of cities for me to move to. Oh, and let's eliminate California right off the bat.
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We have three flight on the field (not counting helicopters). We have 10 CFIs where I work, good luck finding a CFI with good availability at any of the three whether your flavor is 61 or 141. Don't know that a nationwide search would tell you their availability regardless.

Point is...if you have been to all of the schools in the area and you can't find what you need. You might just have to try something else like not flying.
 
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