First day as a CFI!

P

pilot1

New Member
Wow! My most deepest respect to all of you fellow CFI guys out there! On my first day on the job I can already see how instructing can be just as challenging as it is rewarding. I learned so much in only a few hours of dual including a couple of scary situations (x-wind landings are pretty interesting with student pilots). All in all it was a really good confidence builder! It seems like I do know my stuff... :)

On a side note, how do you guys log your time? I'm pretty sure you can only log the landings that you do on your own and not the student's right? Also, do you write your student's name on your logbook for each entry? I know is not needed, but do you find it helpful?
 
Congrats! It sure is a lot of fun, and it’s very rewarding to teach someone how to fly! :)

I only log the landings that I’m the sole manipulator for (which isn’t often at all)

As far as the comments that I put in my logbook, I record the student’s name, what lesson was conducted, and the result of the lesson (complete / incomplete). If I wasn't instructing at a 141 school, I’d still log what was done during the lesson in the comments part as a CYA.
 
i remember my first day of instructing. a buddy of mine told me i wouldn't have a clue what i was doing for the first 50 hours.. it's true, it'll get easier and easier.
i only log the landings i do. make sure you keep current by yourself somehow. youll see that you can usually get a few landings in here and there. and i don't know if you are a cfii, but dont log any approaches unless you actually fly it, or if any portion of it starts in IMC. and everyone does the remarks section differentely, but i put their name and a portion of what we did. (stalls, steep, emergency procedures, short/soft field t/o, lndgs, etc)

congrats, and don't worry, you'll have many many more scary moments than those crosswind landings that you did today.
 
Congrats. Instructing is a great way to build time and get experience especially if you're a CFII. Keep you feet on the rudders and a hand ready to grab the yoke and you will have very very few scary moments. Enjoy.
 
Congratulations. However, I do log the landings that I have to either save myself, airplane or before I poop my pants. :) At the same spirit, I also log the approachs that might be danger to another a/c, such as full scale to one side, altitude is off by more than 100 w/ parallel traffic...etc.
 
adreamer said:
However, I do log the landings that I have to either save myself, airplane or before I poop my pants. :) At the same spirit, I also log the approachs that might be danger to another a/c, such as full scale to one side, altitude is off by more than 100 w/ parallel traffic...etc.
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The regs are pretty clear that landings for currency need to be "sole manipulator." Helping a student means you're not sole manipulator. Nothing wrong with logging these landings if that's what you want to do, but you can't count them for currency.

Also, I'll throw in a reminder that currency also includes three *takeoffs* in the previous 90 days. It's a detail that we easily forget about.

As for the approaches...what does doing a "dangerous" approach have anything to do with logging it?

The regs clearly say for currency the pilot must "perform" approaches. I take this to mean the pilot logging the approach must actually be the one at the controls...correct me if I'm wrong. I don't believe sitting in the right seat giving instruction during the approach qualifies as performing the approach. Again, you can log it if you want...but don't count it for currency.
 
GAPILOT said:
Keep you feet on the rudders and a hand ready to grab the yoke
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Please, please, do not keep your feet ON the rudder pedals. Keep them near, but not on. You will be making small, subtle pressures that the student (or you) are not aware of, and the student will become accustomed to a certain rudder pressure and it will be different when he is solo.

Also, while you must be 'cocked & ready' to have your hands take the control wheel, you must not be looking like it. You must develop the look that you are relaxed and trust the student, but you are quick like a snake on the controls when needed.
 
nosehair said:
Please, please, do not keep your feet ON the rudder pedals. Keep them near, but not on. You will be making small, subtle pressures that the student (or you) are not aware of, and the student will become accustomed to a certain rudder pressure and it will be different when he is solo.

Also, while you must be 'cocked & ready' to have your hands take the control wheel, you must not be looking like it. You must develop the look that you are relaxed and trust the student, but you are quick like a snake on the controls when needed.
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haha, quick like a snake. what you said was right, you can't LOOK like youre ready for them to make errors.
 
pilot1 said:
On a side note, how do you guys log your time? I'm pretty sure you can only log the landings that you do on your own and not the student's right? Also, do you write your student's name on your logbook for each entry? I know is not needed, but do you find it helpful?
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Basic logging for visual instructors:

FAR: 61.51(e)(3):
==============================
An authorized instructor may log as pilot-in-command time all flight time while acting as an authorized instructor.
==============================

So, you may log all the time you are instructing as PIC (whether or not you are in fact PIC). You've already figured out that takeoffs and landings used for currency under 61.57(a) (which is the only FAA reason to log them requires you be the sole manipulator of the controls (and remember that you must maintain currency if you are flying with a pilot who is not the acting PIC on the flight)

You chould get a variety of answers about what information about the lesson to put in your logbook. In my case, I only put the students name in the remarks, but I also maintain a more detailed record of every lesson. (This usually devolves into an argument between those who think that having no records at all will help them escape potential liability and those who think that good recordkeeping is a sign of a professional.)
 
Congrats on your first day! I just hit that milestone a few months ago. For me the biggest adjustment has been to just let the students make their own mistakes rather than 'helping' them. Obviously we don't want to break the airplane, run over little kids on the ramp, or pull off a wing, but once I stopped fixing that bit of sideload on landing, or doing other little adjustments, my students have started progressing more quickly (well, at least until winter arrived with the joys of lake effect snow...) I felt kind of bad about it because one of my students said "you were really helping me somehow before, weren't you?" Oops. That license to learn description is pretty accurate.
Wait til your first student solos- pretty cool to watch when they taxi up after their first pattern solo....
 
nosehair said:
Please, please, do not keep your feet ON the rudder pedals. Keep them near, but not on. You will be making small, subtle pressures that the student (or you) are not aware of, and the student will become accustomed to a certain rudder pressure and it will be different when he is solo.

Also, while you must be 'cocked & ready' to have your hands take the control wheel, you must not be looking like it. You must develop the look that you are relaxed and trust the student, but you are quick like a snake on the controls when needed.
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:yeahthat: This is very good advice.

To add to that, when you *are* doing something with the controls, I'd recommend verbalizing it. I'll say, "Here, add a little left rudder like this," as I push in on the rudder, or, "I'm helping you pull, pull a little more," when I'm teaching students to flare for landing.

This way they know more of what is happening, and why. The controls aren't just "magically" moving. A low time student pilot can't always tell the difference between their inputs, the instructor's inputs, and random turbulence inputs, unless the instructor verbalizes what's happening.
 
jrh said:
I'll say, "Here, add a little left rudder like this," as I push in on the rudder, or, "I'm helping you pull, pull a little more," when I'm teaching students to flare for landing.
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During my PPL my instructor would tap on the rudder pedal so you would feel it in your foot but not actually move the rudder. I think it helped a lot to have that tactile feeling than just verbally annunciating, "more rudder."
 
Thanks a lot for all the responses and advice. You guys rock! I really have to work on looking more relaxed. I still keep my hands a little too close to the yoke just in case. I guess it will all come with time...

I am a CFII, and with this comes another question. Can you legally fly an approach in a non-IFR certified aircraft? This question is assuming that the weather is VFR so it would be just a practice approach. I'm thinking that you can do it but probably can't log it. What do you guys think??
 
pilot1 said:
I am a CFII, and with this comes another question. Can you legally fly an approach in a non-IFR certified aircraft? This question is assuming that the weather is VFR so it would be just a practice approach. I'm thinking that you can do it but probably can't log it. What do you guys think??
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Sure you can fly it, and sure you can log it.

If the aircraft isn't certified for IFR, of course you can't actually file IFR and be on an IFR flight plan. However, if you're VFR shooting practice approaches, have fun.

Where in the regs does it say you have to be in an IFR certified plane to log an approach? It doesn't.

In fact, you don't even need an IFR certified plane for an instrument checkride. All you need is a plane equiped to perform all the required tasks in the PTS by sole reference to the instruments. There are plenty of VFR-only planes out there that have enough instruments and avionics in them to perform all the required tasks on an IFR checkride.
 
Congrats man! You might feel a bit overwhelmed for a while but it'll become natural shortly after. I got my cfi this past August. I couldn't wait to start instructing. I did some freelance stuff until I got on with a school in January and I just passed 100 hours dual given today. Let me tell you it's one of the coolest things to watch your students grow into actual pilots. It's kind of like building your own pilot from scratch. Very neat. And I've probably learned more in that little bit of time instructing than I did during all my flying before that. And by the way... it's true what they teach you when you're training to be a cfi. They really are ALL trying to kill you. Hahaha. Good luck and keep the dirty side down!
 
Awesome! That first time you take a student up is ranked right up there next to first solo in my book. Its very stressful and exciting all at the same time! When I hit the 100 dual given mark it was a great milestone to see how much I had improved as a pilot. I felt so comfortable in that airplane and I could land it with the trim wheel. Cross winds, huh, no problem. :D After the 100 dual given mark, I didn't notice as much improvement in my own performance, but at 200 DG I could shoot an ILS down to mins while handling radios, aircraft control and all the while teaching a lesson. Thats when I realized "Holy crap! I couldn't have imagined doing this 5 months ago!".

Have fun, enjoy it. Because man it is a rewarding feeling, especially when you see your students excitement after they pass a checkride. :)
 
Airdale said:
Awesome! That first time you take a student up is ranked right up there next to first solo in my book. Its very stressful and exciting all at the same time! When I hit the 100 dual given mark it was a great milestone to see how much I had improved as a pilot. I felt so comfortable in that airplane and I could land it with the trim wheel. Cross winds, huh, no problem. :D After the 100 dual given mark, I didn't notice as much improvement in my own performance, but at 200 DG I could shoot an ILS down to mins while handling radios, aircraft control and all the while teaching a lesson. Thats when I realized "Holy crap! I couldn't have imagined doing this 5 months ago!".

Have fun, enjoy it. Because man it is a rewarding feeling, especially when you see your students excitement after they pass a checkride. :)
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yup! i just flew thru (bad pun) the 100 dual given mark last week. up to 115 or so now :D
 
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