Free CFI

.....doing the jobs no.....
 
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gmata007 said:
Hello Everybody,

I have a proposal for anybody who needs the help of a CFI. I would like to offer my service for free!

The deal is this: I currently fly as a F.O on a ERJ-145 in Mexico (I have dual citizenship) but I want to get back to flying in the US, particularly the regionals for now hopefully a legacy airline some day.

The only problem is that i am a little short on my PIC time to get my ATP, i need exactly 60 hours to get to the minimum of 250. Therefore I think a good way to get that time could be to Instruct, I would benefit from the PIC time and also I could help somebody else saving some money with my free service.

I am still working as an F.O but I'll have 2 weeks off the first half of November. If somebody knows anybody that could benefit from this deals I would be happy to hear about it.

Thanks!
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Let's see, you are 60 hours short of 250 which means you only have 190 hours and are flying for a regional in Mexico. You can't even be a commercial pilot or CFI in the US. I do not know Mexican regs but I doubt if you can even do it there. Also, it should not take you long to get 60 more hours if you are flying for a regional. Your story lacks credibility.

However if true, someone remind me not to fly on a Mexican carrier.
 
SkyDog58 said:
Let's see, you are 60 hours short of 250 which means you only have 190 hours and are flying for a regional in Mexico. You can't even be a commercial pilot or CFI in the US. I do not know Mexican regs but I doubt if you can even do it there. Also, it should not take you long to get 60 more hours if you are flying for a regional. Your story lacks credibility.

However if true, someone remind me not to fly on a Mexican carrier.
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Relax - All time is quoted in pesos so its legit
 
Commercial pilot certificate only requires 100 PIC hours in the US. Part 135 SIC in the US has no time requirements other than what you need to get your commercial certificate.
 
pilotx86 said:
Thanks for undercutting those who are scraping by as those of us who scraped by to make a living as a CFI. Great way to lower the bar of professionalism in this industry.
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Good thing you don't live in a military town. Welcome to life.
 
SkyDog58 said:
Let's see, you are 60 hours short of 250 which means you only have 190 hours and are flying for a regional in Mexico. You can't even be a commercial pilot or CFI in the US. I do not know Mexican regs but I doubt if you can even do it there. Also, it should not take you long to get 60 more hours if you are flying for a regional. Your story lacks credibility.

However if true, someone remind me not to fly on a Mexican carrier.
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Perhaps he qualifies for §61.160(c) or (d) and meant 1,250 hours, not 250 hours. Agreed that he can build 60 hours faster in his current gig.
 
Guessing you're a crap CFI if your services are worthless (not worth charging for).

As a working pilot, stay in Mexico bud, with things starting to look up in our industry, folks like you don't help, we don't need worthless CFI/Pilots, who have no pride in their "profession" dragging our industry back down.
 
Usually the CFI cost isn't what hurts (its usually very reasonable) It's the plane cost that hurts.
 
There are so many flight schools around the country that are in need of CFIs, that the idea of working for free is simply ridiculous.
 
Sorry guys never meant to undercut or disrespect the current CFI's who work hard every day. I knew I would be running the risk of people taking this thread the wrong way but It seem like a good idea at the time. I graduated from a part 141 school in the US using my GiBill since I was active duty Airforce C-17 loadmaster. I have very low time as a PIC because i graduated with pretty much the minimums for each of my ratings. After school I instructed at a part 141 school for only about 40 hours when I got invited to fly in Mexico. In Mexico like many other countries you can fly an RJ with only a commercial license, (it used to be like that here in the states). Now I have over 1300 tt but only 190 PIC, I am not going to get any PIC time until I upgrade to captain here, which could happen within a few months the problem is that I would have to sign a 2 year contract for the training and I don't want to stay here that long. Since I have some time off in November it seemed like a good idea to try, I only have 2 weeks off and It would be extremely hard to find a job for only 2 weeks.

Any ways disregard my offer, I will figure something else.
 
If your goal was to get 60 hours in 2 weeks as a CFI, well I imagine that's a pretty rare thing even for a well-established CFI with a full-time job with existing students at a part 141 school working 7 days a week. I can't see a realistic way to do that as an un-established newcomer to an area on leave for only 2 weeks.
 
Of course that was NOT my intention to get all that time in such a short period.

Any ways like I said the offer is off.
 
gmata007 said:
Of course that was NOT my intention to get all that time in such a short period.

Any ways like I said the offer is off.
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Take everything here with a grain of salt, and don't back down so quickly. I don't see anything wrong with what you were offering. How much you charge has nothing to do with your professionalism, and you don't owe anything to other CFIs making their way up the chain. You have a need and are willing to make some sacrifices to improve your situation. I don't buy all the high dudgeon displayed here. My only advice is to not be so easily influenced by anonymous posters on forum, and do what you need to do to get where you want to be. I offered 2hrs of free instruction last week just because I wanted to. That takes nothing away from my abilities as a CFI and certainly doesn't diminish my professionalism. I don't see it a hit against CFIs or GA or whatever else was suggested. There are plenty of young pilots out there offering themselves up in less dignified ways than you were suggesting, so I don't see the problem.
 
ifly4fun said:
Seemed like a nice offer. If you were a CFII i'd take ya up on it.
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Hey man, I know a chick who will to cardio thoracic surgery for free too, she's been thinking of getting into it, doesn't really know what she's doing, but she's got some sharp knives and steady hands, PM me if you're in the market, she'll need the use of your kitchen as she has full carpet and hardwood at her place, and with the blood and all.
 
James331 said:
Hey man, I know a chick who will to cardio thoracic surgery for free too, she's been thinking of getting into it, doesn't really know what she's doing, but she's got some sharp knives and steady hands, PM me if you're in the market, she'll need the use of your kitchen as she has full carpet and hardwood at her place, and with the blood and all.
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Right... because comparing a novice with no documented skills is exactly the same as a pilot with appropriate certifications... do you guys read the riot act to the independent CFI's charging $20/hr who are making the poor flight school cfi's charging $50hr starve to death?
 
Yea, I don't get the hostility, he needs the hours, not the money. He wants to trade his time for the hours he needs.
 
James331 said:
Hey man, I know a chick who will to cardio thoracic surgery for free too, she's been thinking of getting into it, doesn't really know what she's doing, but she's got some sharp knives and steady hands, PM me if you're in the market, she'll need the use of your kitchen as she has full carpet and hardwood at her place, and with the blood and all.
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Look, the dude just needs to build some PIC hours. He could just serve as a safety pilot for an instrument rated pilot and log the time as PIC for flight instruction given. Provide the instructor doesn't exceed his abilities and the person receiving instruction has a realistic expectation of the services provided, I don't see a problem, regardless of what he charges. Heck, I could hop in and give dual in a P51 Mustang, but just because I charged $100/hr to do it doesn't make the flight training any more valuable.
 
I say go for it dude. Disregard the blowhards here!
 
Guessing the two of you don't put food on your table with the industry
 
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James331 said:
Hey man, I know a chick who will to cardio thoracic surgery for free too, she's been thinking of getting into it, doesn't really know what she's doing, but she's got some sharp knives and steady hands, PM me if you're in the market, she'll need the use of your kitchen as she has full carpet and hardwood at her place, and with the blood and all.
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One doesn't need to do cardio thoracic surgery for free to learn how to do it. You actually can get paid to do it. What do you think surgical residencies are all about.
 
Wow. @James331, you should've let sleeping dogs lie! Revived the post and got a smack down. ;)
 
jordane93 said:
Your time and skills are valuable man! Charge for your services.
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One thing that seams to be missed is that the student is covering the plane and fuel while he logs time.. that has value, even the faa recognizes that.
 
ifly4fun said:
One thing that seams to be missed is that the student is covering the plane and fuel while he logs time.. that has value, even the faa recognizes that.
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That cheapens the service though and cheapens the profession. CFI's are professionals who deserve more pay than just hours. Just like I don't agree with commercial pilots doing a free ferry. There are professional ferry pilots who deserve the money not just because they want the time.
 
jordane93 said:
That cheapens the service though and cheapens the profession. CFI's are professionals who deserve more pay than just hours. Just like I don't agree with commercial pilots doing a free ferry. There are professional ferry pilots who deserve the money not just because they want the time.
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It's a free market society. I suppose I could get upset living in an area that's dominated by military, almost every branch... which means the employment market is flooded with military retirees who are drawing a 50% pension, and can afford to work for less than I. But that's the choices I've made, so I accept them and don't blame the military.
 
jordane93 said:
That cheapens the service though and cheapens the profession. CFI's are professionals who deserve more pay than just hours. Just like I don't agree with commercial pilots doing a free ferry. There are professional ferry pilots who deserve the money not just because they want the time.
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Everyone has priorities that change due to circumstances, and value is measured by more than just money. You are arguing for a very subjective ethic that is not binding on anyone but yourself. You need to establish why he should sacrifice short term advantages in order to uphold this nebulous idea of honoring the profession.
 
Cooter said:
Everyone has priorities that change due to circumstances, and value is measured by more than just money. You are arguing for a very subjective ethic that is not binding on anyone but yourself. You need to establish why he should sacrifice short term advantages in order to uphold this nebulous idea of honoring the profession.
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Yea it all comes down to preference. I have and always will charge for my service becasuse I think my service is worthwhile and should be compensated monetarily as I think all CFIs should. Obviously not everyone thinks the way I do and they are entitled to their opinion as well.
 
Cooter said:
Everyone has priorities that change due to circumstances, and value is measured by more than just money. You are arguing for a very subjective ethic that is not binding on anyone but yourself. You need to establish why he should sacrifice short term advantages in order to uphold this nebulous idea of honoring the profession.
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I take it you're still on AD and haven't started working in this industry yet?
 
James331 said:
Guessing the two of you don't put food on your table with the industry
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This is POA. Most of the folks here are not professional pilots, but are still quick to add their two cents.

If you want professional advice, there are other boards....
 
I highly doubt there's a single pilot out there that hasn't given away his flight services in some form. It's just particularly bad form when you're "holding out" for free (or severely discounted).

Over the last two years there were a bunch of folks who took their ATP written in 7/2014 (thus grandfathering themselves in the pre-ATP CTP rules) and needed to do their ATP checkride by 7/2016. If it was June 2016 and you were in their shoes, and you were short 15 hours of multi, or 30 hours of total time, would you not fly for free to get those hours before your ATP written turned into a pumpkin and then you're forced to take the several thousand dollar course? Working for free to log time is still cheaper than paying for flight time. I can't blame 'em

Not saying it's right but it's better than folks BSing their hours. I generally believe more pilots in a cockpit is a good thing so if a CFI gets an opportunity to fly, and the PIC gets a second set of eyes he/she otherwise wouldn't have had, I think it's a good thing. I honestly don't think that cheapens the profession.
 
Fearless Tower said:
I take it you're still on AD and haven't started working in this industry yet?
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Are our opinions captive to our immediate experience? My objection to James' rebuke of the OP is that it is none of his business. The guy can do what he needs to do to get where he wants to be. If there is some type of unwritten rule of obligation to the industry, I'd like to know what it is and what defines a successful fulfillment of that obligation. As Jordan pointed out, it is merely preference and personal opinion.

My opinion: Industry pay and prestige is not determined by CFIs holding out for more pay or making demands. Instructing is most often a means to an end and it is largely treated as such. Let the poor guy do what he needs to move up to a better lifestyle.
 
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