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bstratt

bstratt

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Feb 23, 2005
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Canuck
Well I've been getting that itch again to add to my qualifications but am in a bit of a quandry. I don't really see the point in getting a seaplane rating mainly because I don't have access to one and very, very few places rent them. I figured what's the point of getting the rating if you're not going to use it - you'll just get rusty anyway. Similarly for tail dragger or multi. My plane is neither and after paying the sunk costs for mine I don't think I'll pay to rent.

So, I wound up thinking about a CFI or CFII but my wife says "What's the point when you have no time to teach. Wait until you're closer to retirement."

So here's my question - if you have no time to teach and it'll probably be 3-4 years before you do, is a CFI or CFII a waste of time and money or is it still worth it?
 
I'm the poster child for "Why bother with ASES?" I began my flight training on floats in Juneau and finished up on wheels in Seattle. For no reason that I can recall, I decided to add the seaplane rating to my certificate....so far, I have 32 hours on floats, almost all of it dual, and while the experience helped me a lot in teaching soft field landings and not landing on all three at once, it has been of no practical value. Get your CFI.

Bob Gardner
 
Barry,

Ya get ratings for FUN and to learn more about the art of flying. CFI, ASES, AMEL will all accomplish that. However, I think maybe the one that would be of most use to an ASEL pilot would be a glider rating - Those glider guys really seem to have a good sense of what the air around them is doing.
 
How about one of those emergency handling/maneuvers courses? That will significantly upgrade your stick-and-rudder skills and provide some interesting things you can use when you go for CFI later.
 
You could keep going backwards on all the questions of should I get a rating? Do you use your commercial? Get paid for using it? If not, why did you originally get it? Why did you originally get your private? Because you could, or because you wanted to. For most of us there is no practical value to ANY of our ratings, we got them because we wanted a challenge, or because we wanted to do something "cool", or because, well, pick a myriad of reasons. Sort of the reason I dropped some coin to play in the World Series of Poker next month. Not because it's of practical value, or because I am planning on becoming a professional poker player, but simply because I can say, "I played in the World Series of Poker." If I win some money, that's a bonus. How many people can say that? How many people can say I have a multi rating? a seaplane rating? Hell, a private pilot rating? You do it because you can.

But to answer your question, if you are going to get your CFI, only get it if you are going to put it to use right away, because you have to renew it every two anyway.
 
I don't know that the fact that you won't use it for 3-4 years is a good reason to not get your CFI, assuming you ARE planning on using it later.

Mainly, you can do it without any real time constraints. That means you can take the time to absorb the material and build a broader base on the knowledge and teaching skills. Use the discussions here to your advantage in that regard...as you study the FOI, look for examples here, both good and bad, that relate to the material. Same with the PTS tasks.

Ask questions here about how people would teach various topics in the PTS, and relate it not only to the PTS tasks themselves, but the various "FOI" methods used.

When you discuss instructional "problems" with your instructor, continue those discussions here for different viewpoints that you can absorb into your teaching style.

Our local flight school is mainly employed with a college program. I see more instructors whose CFI checkride is done "before the end of the semester" rather than "when they're ready". BIG difference. You'll see it, the examiner/inspector will see it, and your students will see it.

Fly safe!

David
 
Like Ed and Kent said.

I got additional ratings/endorsements for the training. And, you never know when the opportunity may present itself to utilize the additional skill set. I've had some interesting flying experiences because I had the qualifications that I would not have had otherwise. Everyone flies for various personal reasons. Know thyself.
 
Steve said:
I got additional ratings/endorsements for the training. And, you never know when the opportunity may present itself to utilize the additional skill set. I've had some interesting flying experiences because I had the qualifications that I would not have had otherwise.
Click to expand...

Exactly - That's why tailwheel and multi are my next two priorities. I'm gambling that said interesting flying experiences are most likely to happen for me with one of those. :)
 
Thanks for the input guys. I'm going to think about it some more based on the above, I'm still thinking about the CFI but I've also added Ron's input into the thought process as well. It also made me think about a mountain flying course. These are things I can do in my plane or are potentially of benefit in my plane so I can see the benefits.
 
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