Gentlemen, i understand flight instructing is probably your only source of income but please have a conscious that flight training in itself is very expensive and it only puts a bigger dent in your student's wallet to full your stomach, which to me is 100% ridiculous!!
I don't mean to sound like a jerk, but I'll be completely blunt--it's not my problem that flying is expensive. I wish everybody could afford it, but that's not the reality of flying these days. I'm not going to cut my own financial well-being because I feel sorry that a particular customer is having a hard time paying for their training. Some people have the resources to pay for it, some don't. That's life.
Will I try to rip them off? Of course not. I do everything I can to make every lesson as productive, efficient, and cost effective as possible. I pack as much learning in to each session as possible.
But to say I should cut breaks to people because flying is already expensive enough does not make sense to me.
To jrh, so far in my training i have only had two flight instructors. The frist one was 50 years old and my current is 68. I prefer older guys to teach me because i personally feel i can learn a lot more and not have to worry about them leaving to fly a shiney jet while half way through my training. Both of them signed me off as soon as they saw i can do the manuveurs and not try to stretch out my training to full their pockets. My current flight instructor is just like you. He isn't doing this for the money or to build hours. He is a self made millionaire who is a veteran of the US army and just teaches for fun.
That's great, I'm glad you've found good quality instructors to work with.
However, it's important to understand that the types of instructors who are willing to cut so many corners in order to give cheap instruction are rarities. It's great that you found them, but don't get upset that most instructors are not like the ones you've found.
I'd also like to clarify a point bluntly--aside from a love of teaching, I doubt I'm much like your current instructor. I'm not independently wealthy and I have financial obligations to take care of. I make my living as an instructor. As in--if I don't work as an instructor, I don't eat or have a roof over my head.
I don't mean to sound harsh, I'm just trying to drive home the point that even though I love teaching, I love my job, I want to be a nice guy, I want to help people out as much as I can, etc. (as most good instructors probably do), at the end of the day, I do this to support myself, not play around all day at the airport for free.
I've developed this mindset after literally years of previously getting used and abused as a CFI. I've found a way to be successful at what I do, but my plan only works if I draw lines and stick to them. That's the only way I can do what I love, plus not be homeless.
All i am saying to these guys is have a conscious. I am very close to my CPL and when i do go for my CFIs i'll never charge ridiculous fees as some instructors do. If me and my student are together for 4 hours and i only do one hour of ground, then i'll charge them for 1 hour and not 4 because it's "my time". Infact i won't even charge anything for close friends or family, or people in general who i'd like to help.
That's fine, nothing wrong with that if you're willing to do those things. Just don't expect every other instructor in the industry to follow along.
I half way joke here but it is kinda true. A young student flying on loans I have no problem picking up a check but most of the time flying with those who have a solid job doing this for fun are almost always likely to pick up the check for me. and yeah its a good time to get some ground work in but its a better time to get to know the student. Don't get me wrong, this isn't an always or every student type of deal. This philosophy has worked for me in the couple years I have been doing this.
