Sorry all: I posted the above under a long lost sign-in while resurrecting an old machine. The good news is that the old laptop works; the bad news is that I've probably committed a grave malfeasance of some sort. Mea culpa.
How do you choose which students to "offer those services" to?
I'll take a different approach.
Well I don't "offer services" - should've stated it another way but I didn't re-read as thoroughly as I should have done. I have CFI friends who will occasionally ask for help with a particular student; I always say yes if I can find the time.
The difference isn't necessarily known until the student either crashes, or doesn't.
My suggestion would be "an instructor willing to work for free isn't an instructor you want to use." You have definitely shown that that isn't universally true, but "I'll cover rental if you'll instruct me for free" is different from joining a club and using a club instructor. And as a proponent of flying clubs, I'd say that's probably the way to go for the OP, though the approach should be to find a good flying club that offers volunteer instructors who are *not* time builders rather than looking for the free instructor as the criterion for finding a club - That's probably more likely to result in finding a "club" that exists solely to abuse time builders.
That's very different from what the OP is talking about, though.
It's great that you're able to help students when they encounter difficulty with some aspect of training. You are a professional who obviously has much to offer as an instructor, and you're entitled to, and entirely deserving of, compensation for your services. Of course, you are also entitled to perform those services free-of-charge and I do appreciate your consideration of the CFIs in your community for whom compensation is an important source of income. With regard to the students whom you do not charge, I wonder if their financial state/ability to pay plays a part in your decision not to charge a fee.
No, I figure if I'm not charging some, I better not charge any. I figure it comes out in the wash, I'm in a position to help others; hopefully they will pass it on one day.
Warbirds? I hope business is good, because it takes a lot more than a nickle in the grass to pay those bills.Whole different story when people come to my business to learn warbird stuff of course; that's a business that I am pursuing and have a lot of bills to do so.
I have been continuously active in aviation since 1996 and have met exactly two instructors that did not charge for all the instruction they provided. When they did work for free it was kept discreet and only when they found someone they wanted to help. The fact that you know “dozens” that never charge anyone is quite shocking. Almost unbelievable.
Haha, that would be a trick!
Come on down and I'll introduce you.
You don’t have to prove it to me and I’m not vested enough to come see. Good on ya I reckon. Can’t say I would have been very appreciative when I was feeding my family as a cfi. To each their own.
There are folks who could easily pull that trick off with their pocket change.
I see--it's more of a luxury hobby for you. So if that hypothetical warbird operation across the field were being run as a for-profit enterprise you could easily undercut them and drive them out of business. You might not do so but there are others who would, just as some CFIs instruct for free.
And if so, then so what? Are you not a capitalist? Do you not believe in free markets?
Free markets. Good one!
The lowest-priced CFIs tanked the profession long before you and I arrived, and many pilots earn their certificates and ratings without having ever flown with an actual professional flight instructor. As we all know, a large percentage of instruction is performed by inexperienced pilots building time, and for those CFIs flight time itself is a form of compensation. If an hour in their logbook would cost them $170, and they get paid $40 per hour for dual given, then their effective compensation is $210 (and the promise of higher-paying work down the road). But for any CFI trying to make a career out of it, or just trying to eat and pay bills while working toward that higher-paying job...well, a fat logbook and a hundred hours per month @ $40/hr. doesn't buy a lot of groceries or impress a mortgage lender. In another thread, flyingcheesehead shared this humorous anecdote: "When I was in primary flight training, my CFI said 'ooooh, we get paid on Friday! I can finally buy that box of ramen I've had my eye on...'"
I'm not sure what you are driving at man. Someone else could "easily undercut me" but then I'm the bad guy for hypothetically undercutting someone else? I see you have a pitchfork, but I'm not sure what you are going after.
Why, yes--I do have a pitchfork. And let's not forget the torch. But don't take it personally.
I didnt' find that confusing. It doesn't cost him anything to help a student in a plane the student is providing. It would cost him a lot to provide free warbird instruction, so he charges for that, to cover gas and oil and maintenance. But he doesn't need the income from it; it just helps subsidize his hobby.
Why do you hate freedom?
You understood his post, but did you understand my response?
Undoubtedly true, and perhaps universal across GA in this country. What would you guess to be the cause of that paradox?
Have you given it much thought? Lindberg knows a dozen or so CFIs who instruct for free, and his account is just one data point among thousands. As I previously posted, it's the cumulative impact of that subset of the CFI population, over a long period of time.
Again, why do you think that the state of flight instruction in GA has evolved to this point?
No one can fault you for that. You should expect to get (at least) what you paid for.
Why do you hate freedom
Ironic response in light of your many red herrings.
I’ve given it all the thought it deserves, which is to say isn’t much. I’ve been flying since 1985 and in my experience the state of flight instruction hasn’t changed all that much in all that time. So color me on the side of the sky isn’t falling side of the argument. YMMV……
Yeah, you're undoubtedly right: it is what it is. Or perhaps it's the same as it ever was, considering that all of my own GA training and most of my dual given predate 1985 and little has changed, unless it has changed for the worse.
