A Cool thing about flight instructing...

[brcase]

I have said one of the cool things about flight instructing is I get to fly a lot of different airplanes and people pay me to it do it.

True this is not every flight instructors experience, but doing it part time and specializing in Tailwheel aircraft has giving me a lot of great opportunities to fly a lot of different airplanes.

I have had days where I have flown 8 different airplanes in the same day...
Was updating my logbook and noticed in my last 12 flight I flown the following models, not all were instruction flights, I did fly my glider and tow a few gliders also, actually 23 glider tows in two days ...

J-3 Intro flight
C-182A Glider Towing
PA-25 Glider Towing
C-172 instruction
LS6b (8 hrs of glider flying in 2 flights)
Bearhawk 4place- Insurance checkout
FlightDesign CTSW- Currency checkout
C-210 Flight Review/Wings instruction
BC12D - Intro flight

Going back about 2 more pages in my log book I can add a
PA22-150
C-170
8GCBC
CC11 Sport cub
Beech Skipper
7BCM Champ
Cruisair 14-13-2
C-172XP
SkyRanger


Brian
CFIIG/ASEL

 

[Baked Potato]

That's pretty cool. As a student I have wondered how easy it is for the CFIs to switch between planes from hour to hour? All with their own procedures, cockpit layouts, MPH/knots, etc.

 

[brcase]

That's pretty cool. As a student I have wondered how easy it is for the CFIs to switch between planes from hour to hour? All with their own procedures, cockpit layouts, MPH/knots, etc.

This is another reason good checklists are important, So I can quickly review procedures specific to a specific airplane.
After flying a lot of different models one learns what things tend to be the same or similar across the models, and which models tend to have significant differences What I find is that visually looking out the window most (not all) have a very similar attitudes for each phase of flight, or I have learned what to look at to make the attitudes look similar. I find I can fly most airplanes just by looking out the window and then back up what I think feels right to what the manuals and procedures say about the airplane, they usually match pretty well.


Brian

 

[luvflyin]

I have said one of the cool things about flight instructing is I get to fly a lot of different airplanes and people pay me to it do it.

True this is not every flight instructors experience, but doing it part time and specializing in Tailwheel aircraft has giving me a lot of great opportunities to fly a lot of different airplanes.

I have had days where I have flown 8 different airplanes in the same day...
Was updating my logbook and noticed in my last 12 flight I flown the following models, not all were instruction flights, I did fly my glider and tow a few gliders also, actually 23 glider tows in two days ...

J-3 Intro flight
C-182A Glider Towing
PA-25 Glider Towing
C-172 instruction
LS6b (8 hrs of glider flying in 2 flights)
Bearhawk 4place- Insurance checkout
FlightDesign CTSW- Currency checkout
C-210 Flight Review/Wings instruction
BC12D - Intro flight

Going back about 2 more pages in my log book I can add a
PA22-150
C-170
8GCBC
CC11 Sport cub
Beech Skipper
7BCM Champ
Cruisair 14-13-2
C-172XP
SkyRanger


Brian
CFIIG/ASEL

Have you ever given primary instruction in a plane that you haven’t flown before?

 

[brcase]

Have you ever given primary instruction in a plane that you haven’t flown before?

I have, but if possible I will try to fly with someone familiar with the airplane 1st.
If that is not possible, I will do a flight or two to get familiar with it 1st.

There are a few airplane that I have refused to instruct in, unless I could fly with someone that was familiar with it, The highly modified CompAir 6 is one that comes to mind at the moment. Wasn't primary instruction for it, but even then I wanted to have some one show me the airplane before I was responsible for flying it.

I did do primary instruction in a CruiseMaster once, it was one I required a flight with another owner before I would instruct in it.


Brian
CFIIG/ASEL

 

[mondtster]

My logbook is looking pretty bland as of late. These days almost all my time is either in my Super Cub or the helicopter, although I'm likely one of the few folks giving primary and advanced instruction in a Rallye. Back when I was instructing a lot it wasn't uncommon to be jumping between 4 different aircraft types in the course of a day or two, depending on what was going on.

I feel bad for the folks who only know one or two types, especially if they are an instructor. I think it is much easier to describe and learn flight characteristics and concepts when the experience base is broader.