become a free lance flight instructor?

S

squeezemylemon

Well-Known Member
hi,

is it easy to teach free lance these days?. advertises on Craiglist....
how much I should ask? 30$/hour?left this business 10 years ago, want go back teaching.

I think to rent a plane or buy my own plane in the future.

to start:

-choose a good area (florida where weather is nice 365days/year)and not too far from big flight schools.
- business card
-advertise on free website
-make my own gmail website (can be ban if commercial?)
-teach in a fbo room, my own room, or bar(depend of noise)
-sell block time (10% discount if 10 hours paid in advance, 20% if...)
-found accomodation (long term hotel)and give free taxi from hotel to airport to my students
-find a cool and relaxed examiner for a 100% pass.
-create my own club, the squeezemy lemon club!

you ideas are welcome!
 
You will have a hard time renting a plane and doing this as most FBO's don't allow this. As for renting a private airplane or even buying your own, you have to make sure you have proper insurance and inspections which adds a huge overhead to the operation. The best bet is to find a flying club that does allow a member to instruct in the aircraft.
 
thank you.

I believe place is the key.
now I am not in the USA. I am just looking for a place where to crash and florida seem to be the best bet for job prospect and teach as a free lance if not hired.I have 2000h and a FAA ATP+MEII.

I was thinking of fort lauderdale? near Vero Beach maybe...be not to far of Miami and life/rent is not too expensive like CA.
Florida offer lot of free sun as well unlike other states where I have been with bad winters where nobody fly.

I may look for planes around, c152-172, and I will rent from owners.
Don't tell me in a multimillion people town, there are not 2-3 students who would be interested to make their PP with me.

You will have a hard time renting a plane and doing this as most FBO's don't allow this
Click to expand...

why not??
 
Why not... Liability for one plus they will have there own staff of CFI's that they profit from already.
 
I've used three different free lance flight instructors in the central Florida area over the years and they all charged me $35/hr.
 
thank you Troy, I presume a flight instructor in a big academy cost 40-50$/h ?
I am looking back in 135 cargo where the money is, I never really understand how people make a living in the States.
Must be hard for you? appartment are expensive, salaries are very low..
 
The local part 61 flight schools charge $40-$50 and the bigger academies like Aerosim in Sanford charge $55-$60 per hour for instruction. The free lance is really a win-win situation because the student pays a lot less per hour and the instructor gets to put a lot more in their pocket. All of the instructors I used were actually instructors at flight schools doing free lance instruction on their time off.
Living in the US isn't really all that bad, it's not what it use to be but it's livable. The average median salary in the United States is $42k and it's recommended not to spend more than 25% of your gross on your rent or mortgage so that would $800, which you can get a decent 1 bedroom apartment for that much (except for some of the bigger cities like NYC). It's hard to raise a family off the median salary but most married couples are both workers in the US so living off 80k with a family is comfortable middle class living. It's very hard to live off of aviation pay starting out in the US, most that do it get financial support from their family until their pay gets decent. What country are you living in now?
 
"Must be hard for you? appartment are expensive, salaries are very low.."

Second job. Flight instruction is not steady income, so having another steady job helps. I actually had another CFI ask me the same question yesterday with regards to just renting an airplane from an FBO to train students in. The fact is, you can't. I don't know of any FBO that would allow an outside uninsured CFI to come in, rent an airplane, and let a nameless student bang it around for an hour. There aren't even many clubs that would allow this either, unless all parties involved were club members. You either have to work for a flight school, buy your own plane, or find a person with his/her own plane.
 
squeezemylemon said:
...I am just looking for a place where to crash and florida seem to be the best bet...
Click to expand...
Hahaha! Funny choice of words! :laff:

I knew what you meant, I just thought it was funny how you worded it.

Buy and read a book called "The Savvy Flight Instructor". I think you'll like it. It will help answer a lot of your questions and probably give you some things to think about that you haven't thought of yet.
 
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