Who thinks CFII requirements need to be raised?

There should be more time requirements for CFII

  • Yes, absolutely.

    Votes: 9 18.8%
  • No, status quo is fine.

    Votes: 39 81.3%

  • Total voters
    48
I would like to see more requirements for starting threads on this board.
 
If you're retired or otherwise financially set, then being a "for the joy of it" CFI at $25/hr works.

If you're aspiring for an airline career, then being a "for the time building" CFI (where you may gross $25/hr) works.

Very few folks can raise a family in a major metro area even if they were charging and keeping $50/hr for being a CFI. Weather and other factors get in the way.
Um, yeah. I'm married, with one on the way, and teaching full time. $25/hr is NOT enough to have a decent living. Right now I can only afford this because I have a place to stay for virtually nothing... And I charge a bit more than $25/hr. If you are doing it because you love it (I do) and try to do it full time, you're going to have to charge a bit more than that if you aren't already on some sort of retirement pay. Besides, only cheapskates aren't interested in the well being of those they do business with. I'm OK with the $65/hr shop rate that I get charged by a mechanic, and the auto mechanic I may have to take my car to soon charges $75/hr, while my plumber friend gets $60/hr. Professionals shouldn't be expected to starve for your wallet.

Ryan
 
Um, yeah. I'm married, with one on the way, and teaching full time. $25/hr is NOT enough to have a decent living. Right now I can only afford this because I have a place to stay for virtually nothing... And I charge a bit more than $25/hr. If you are doing it because you love it (I do) and try to do it full time, you're going to have to charge a bit more than that if you aren't already on some sort of retirement pay. Besides, only cheapskates aren't interested in the well being of those they do business with. I'm OK with the $65/hr shop rate that I get charged by a mechanic, and the auto mechanic I may have to take my car to soon charges $75/hr, while my plumber friend gets $60/hr. Professionals shouldn't be expected to starve for your wallet.

Ryan

This is very true. Pilots invest tons of money, time, and effort to become the best they can. And then get paid often 20/25/hr. On a part time basis, often 1099 without benefits. I once looked into finishing my com/cfi and moving to FL (Bravard county area) in the 90's. I found out that while the cost of living was low, they only paid their instructors $9 an hour w2 part time. WOW I thought. How can one afford to live on that, build hours, and begin to recoup the cost? Especially when one has to be available or at the airport from dawn till dusk, even in beautiful weather, to hope to put in anywhere near 40 hours a week.

We need to keep our 'mentors' motivated to share their love of aviation to keep experienced instructors around. That's for sure!
 
Wrong. I charge $25/hr. A number of other freelance instructors that aren't about building time, are also in that range. My primary was also not a time builder - $25/hr. My SES and ME instructor was also not a time builder. Thank you for playing, we have some lovely parting gifts for you.

What are you doing charging $25/hr in 2013 and where is this out of?
 
Um, yeah. I'm married, with one on the way, and teaching full time. $25/hr is NOT enough to have a decent living. Right now I can only afford this because I have a place to stay for virtually nothing... And I charge a bit more than $25/hr. If you are doing it because you love it (I do) and try to do it full time, you're going to have to charge a bit more than that if you aren't already on some sort of retirement pay. Besides, only cheapskates aren't interested in the well being of those they do business with. I'm OK with the $65/hr shop rate that I get charged by a mechanic, and the auto mechanic I may have to take my car to soon charges $75/hr, while my plumber friend gets $60/hr. Professionals shouldn't be expected to starve for your wallet.

Ryan

Pretty much this.
 
I would like to see more requirements for starting threads on this board.

No kidding. Especially with all the hate towards an CFI who may have career aspirations beyond instructing that prevails here. I don''t plan on doing this full time for the rest of my career,but that doesn't mean I hate instructing and don't care about my students. In fact, the exact opposite is true. Those grey hair CFIs (who I regularly take advice from) were new once too...
 
No kidding. Especially with all the hate towards an CFI who may have career aspirations beyond instructing that prevails here. I don''t plan on doing this full time for the rest of my career,but that doesn't mean I hate instructing and don't care about my students. In fact, the exact opposite is true. Those grey hair CFIs (who I regularly take advice from) were new once too...

I have zero issue with new CFIs, I have issues with CFIs that mention "only xxx more hours until..." every other flight.
 
Over 95% of the instructors I know are NOT building time - in fact off the top of my head, I can't think of a current instructor I know who is building time. Stay away from the puppy mills and you see that percentage swing vastly more my way. My price doesn't go up. I'm just charging enough to cover gas to and from the airport, and a bite to eat after each lesson since I'm not eating at home, and maybe a little extra.

I wonder if this is where they grey hair comes in, in that those folks are less likely to be time builders and more into it for the instructing.
 
I have zero issue with new CFIs, I have issues with CFIs that mention "only xxx more hours until..." every other flight.


I don't think a CFI should mention that to a student unless directly asked. I also don't think we need to terminate the entire group of CFI's to stop something I've never heard of happening. (Not saying it's never happened...just I've never heard of it).
 
I don't think a CFI should mention that to a student unless directly asked. I also don't think we need to terminate the entire group of CFI's to stop something I've never heard of happening. (Not saying it's never happened...just I've never heard of it).

The one that I had for my commercial, said it nearly every flight. He was probably the worst instructor I had. He also had 0 IMC time, and I probably had 4-5 times the XC hours he did.
 
The one that I had for my commercial, said it nearly every flight. He was probably the worst instructor I had. He also had 0 IMC time, and I probably had 4-5 times the XC hours he did.

Okay, so the answer to your bad instructor problem is to ground all instructors that happen to share one trait he had...building time. Sounds like that wasn't even the trait you had issue with.
 
Okay, so the answer to your bad instructor problem is to ground all instructors that happen to share one trait he had...building time. Sounds like that wasn't even the trait you had issue with.

If the time building was not allowed, the issue wouldn't be allowed to manifest itself.

Personally I'd like to see CFI PIC time go the way of the dodo. Reduce the ATP time to 1000 hours, with more XC, more actual. Commercial is fine at 250, and push the CFI hours to 500 and CFII to 700 with 50-100 hours of actual IMC.
 
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If the time building was not allowed, the issue wouldn't be allowed to manifest itself.

With the same logic, if we gouged out the eyeballs of every CFI the issue would be solved too.
 
With the same logic, if we gouged out the eyeballs of every CFI the issue would be solved too.

Incorrect fallacy. Try again. No, actually, don't. You're in over your head.
 
If your CFI fills out his logbook before yours, find a new one. :)

I had to email my student a few times, "hey, what did I write in your logbbok, so mine matches what we put in yours?" My logbook never travels with me unless I am going to need it signed for some reason.
 
If the time building was not allowed, the issue wouldn't be allowed to manifest itself.

Personally I'd like to see CFI PIC time go the way of the dodo. Reduce the ATP time to 1000 hours, with more XC, more actual. Commercial is fine at 250, and push the CFI hours to 500 and CFII to 700 with 50-100 hours of actual IMC.

If you fired him, and told him why. Wouldn't the issue start correcting itself?
 
If you fired him, and told him why. Wouldn't the issue start correcting itself?

Unfortunately at the time it was the only place to do commercial without having to drive 2+ hours, which wasn't in the cards.
 
Incorrect fallacy. Try again. No, actually, don't. You're in over your head.

That is a double negative. So you're saying I'm correct or are you in over YOUR head?

I can tell when you're beat. You come back with a post like that. It says nothing and belittles. At this point I realize you are not in this to discuss. You simply want me and others to agree with you. We are not going to, but that's all you're looking for here, IMO.

So, I'll let it be. Sure. Change the rules to not allow CFI's to log their hours. Good luck with that.
 
That is a double negative. So you're saying I'm correct or are you in over YOUR head?

I can tell when you're beat. You come back with a post like that. It says nothing and belittles. At this point I realize you are not in this to discuss. You simply want me and others to agree with you. We are not going to, but that's all you're looking for here, IMO.

So, I'll let it be. Sure. Change the rules to not allow CFI's to log their hours. Good luck with that.

I missed a comma.

I get that you're an advocate for crappy instruction. So let's just keep putting ****ty instructors out there, and do nothing to try and combat it.
 
I missed a comma.

I get that you're an advocate for crappy instruction.

No, I am not.

So let's just keep putting ****ty instructors out there, and do nothing to try and combat it.

I'm neither for or against this. I just don't think your 'scorched earth - take their incentive to do the job away' approach is the way to go. I've been pretty consistant on that point.
 
Do not take the incentive to be a CFI away. Take the means to it away. You don't have high school kids teaching elementary school in lieu of interneships/residency/etc...so they can get a job as a CPA/computer programmer/erchitect/engineer/doctor.

Why do you encourage that in the aviation world?
 
I think a CFI should be able to log at least enough CFI PIC time to be current, and should get some form of credit for their effort, but I wouldn't be sorry to see less time builders. I have had to undo some of their work and help students that weren't treated very well by them, either. Had one guy come to me with 190 hours as and a bunch of instructors. Had to undo some confusion from multiple instructors, but got him finished in fairly short order.

Ryan

Sent from my unknown device using Tapatalk 2
 
I think a CFI should be able to log at least enough CFI PIC time to be current, and should get some form of credit for their effort, but I wouldn't be sorry to see less time builders. I have had to undo some of their work and help students that weren't treated very well by them, either. Had one guy come to me with 190 hours as and a bunch of instructors. Had to undo some confusion from multiple instructors, but got him finished in fairly short order.

Ryan

Sent from my unknown device using Tapatalk 2


It really doesn't matter what the rules are, there will always be a few that don't try to do the right thing ....
 
Personally I'd like to see CFI PIC time go the way of the dodo. Reduce the ATP time to 1000 hours, with more XC, more actual. Commercial is fine at 250, and push the CFI hours to 500 and CFII to 700 with 50-100 hours of actual IMC.

Boy, you'd really hate me then. ATP-MEL with less than 500 hours airplane (30MEL). CFI/CFII as well. And nearly 75% of the limited instruction I've done on the basis of a commercial pilot certificate.

What you are advocating will be the end of GA as you know it. It will push the one user of large training fleets out of the picture, into a MCL scheme, where people flying right seat in your CRJ have never flown anything but it. You think that improves safety?
 
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Medial Collateral Ligament?

What evidence do you have that it would end GA "as we know it"?
 
Medial Collateral Ligament?

What evidence do you have that it would end GA "as we know it"?


While I too am not sure what 'MCL' stands for, your question has been answered.

Sure, instruction quality would go up. But that's because there would only be a handful of instructors across the nation. Cost would obviously follow. So a PPL goes to $25K. Student starts would also drop by 99%. With so few pilots it'd be that much easier to get rid of GA altogether as an unecessary expense. FBOs close, airports too.

We're already on that road, but not allowing CFIs to log time would make it a much shorter trip.

Snark aside your post did not discredit my point. MOST instructors (maybe not you) are in it for the time, not money. If they all go away that affects the supply and demand equation. When supply goes down price goes up.

My fault. I didn't mean MOST of the instructors 'you know' instruct to build time. I should have stated MOST of the instructors 'as a whole' instruct to build time.

Regardless, you have to concede that flight instruction is a classic way for people to build time. If that's true then a change to their ability to log that time would result in fewer instructors and fewer instructors would result in overall higher cost of training.

Are we really arguing this point? It really seems obvious to me.

I'm not aware of 'ATP mills'. I would think the ATP is a very small percentage of any 141 schools program. However,

If all those 'mills' were to close down or be forced to compete for professional instructors I think it stands to reason that the compensation for those instructors would go up.

I'm only speaking here of the idea of changing the regs to not allow the CFI to log the hours.

It's an academic discussion anyway. It's not going to happen. Even if it did airline interviewers would most likely just look at total time and add to it the hours of dual given and make a decision based on that. If the dual given were not allowed to be credited towards the 1500 then a problem arises where a pilot would have to decide how they wanted to get to the 1500.

Honestly, I'd rather have them instruct than go up and down 20 thousand times in a jump plane or tow banners over the same 10 mile stretch of beach or haul gliders.

CFI affords the greatest possibility of learning of all the ratings save maybe 'student pilot'. By that I mean the learning curve is the steepest for the CFI than all the others. Maybe Instrument comes close...

Whatever, opinions vary.
 
While I too am not sure what 'MCL' stands for, your question has been answered.

I suppose an incorrect answer, is an answer. Now, does anyone have a more plausible answer to the question?
 
The most consistent behavior pattern has always been and will always be the cheapest way to achieve the goal. Methods change as rules change, but the results are always the same.
 
I suppose an incorrect answer, is an answer. Now, does anyone have a more plausible answer to the question?

There is only one person that I can see that believes that answer to be incorrect.
 
There is only one person that I can see that believes that answer to be incorrect.

Perhaps you need to take some more economics classes. The simplistic straight line supply and demand vs price graph is not in play here. Try again.
 
Perhaps you need to take some more economics classes. The simplistic straight line supply and demand vs price graph is not in play here. Try again.

Your oft repeated end of post quip 'Try again' is annoying. I'm trying hard to see past it but you don't make it easy with your empty counter points. It's like arguing with a 3rd grader who time and time again simply sticks their tongue out at you.

I'm going to treat you the same way I'd treat someone else's kid who was displaying that behavior...I'm going to dis-engage.
 
Medial Collateral Ligament?

What evidence do you have that it would end GA "as we know it"?

Multi Crew License, as has been perpetuated by the Europeans. Because face it, a big number of flight schools would go away if there was no need to train airline pilots. But, at this point, I don't really give a crap, I've got everything I need from GA.
 
Your oft repeated end of post quip 'Try again' is annoying. I'm trying hard to see past it but you don't make it easy with your empty counter points. It's like arguing with a 3rd grader who time and time again simply sticks their tongue out at you.

I'm going to treat you the same way I'd treat someone else's kid who was displaying that behavior...I'm going to dis-engage.

Does that mean you're going to brush up on your economics and then come back with a more plausible situation if CFI time wasnt allowed to count toward the 1500 ? If you don't have a economics background and how things actually work outside of Intro To Economics I can completely understand your viewpoint. But in the real world thing happen a bit differently. I only offer "try again" because you just keep repeating the same thing over and over like a 5 year old that wants a cookie. Saying it over and over doesn't make it magically become true. So instead of "try again" I will suggest "perhaps you would like to approach it from a different perspective."
 
Well the FAA's job is not to regulate the supply and demand of pilots. Prohibiting CFIs from logging PIC time is absurd and is never going to happen. I would spend my energy on more realistic goals that are more likely to accomplish the desired objective.
 
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