Advantages of CFI'ing over freight or other.....

Advantages of CFI\'ing over freight or other.....

Beeru Dozo-
That's Japanese for, here is a beer, and let's relax a little.

At the risk of revisiting last nights train wreck, I'd like to know what the advantage of doing more than 1000 hours of flight instructing is. Below 1000 hours I can see it as a good way to build time over that magic 135 IFR requirement, but after that?

One thing might be to keep your head sharp, in order to teach the regs you have to know them, same for shooting an NDB. But I'm thinking that actually flying the NDB approach single pilot has got to be worth more, or am I wrong here?

We are all going to be civilized, right?
 
Re: Advantages of CFI\'ing over freight or other.....

Does it really matter? Everyone has the right to do their own thing. There are too many variables for each person to say that one direction is "better" than another. For Billy Bob, flight instructing might be a better fit. For Joe Shmoe, freight might be more interesting. To narrow it down to "which is better" will never work.
 
Re: Advantages of CFI\'ing over freight or other.....

My dumb two cents
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For me, learning insurance was one thing, but teaching it to others always kept me on the ball and someone was always coming up with a question I had yet to face. It's a constant learning experience becasue of the variety of knowledge. So even agents that have been in insurance for 40 years still benefit from teaching or explaining to others because it is inevitable that something new will come up. That tells me that there should not be a limit to how long a person should be a teacher in any field, because the value of teaching never ends. Neither does the rewards of helping others. I don't see why there has to be a limit. BUt, alas, as I said, that's MY opinion, it may not be applicable to you, cause I am not a pilot and don't know if things are different. KWIM?
 
Re: Advantages of CFI\'ing over freight or other.....

I have not yet gotten to the thousand hour mark, but in my experience thus far, I usually tend to learn something new each flight, whether it be overcoming a communication problem, adapting myself to my students learning style or simply trying to rephrase something complex into something the student understands.

I expect that this is holds true after the thousand hour mark. One thing I am sure of is that Flight Instruction probably becomes more mundane as time goes by, but as a professional its my job to supress any sort of attitude that this monotony may produce. It is the same I am sure with the 135/121 guys, at first you are constantly learning but after a few years although you have new experiences and still learn new things it becomes "just a job" and it their responsibility as professional pilots to stay focused and never let their guard down....
 
Re: Advantages of CFI\'ing over freight or other.....

Here goes my two cents...........Every path has pluses and minuses. For me, being a CFI has drastic minuses compared to alot of other routes.
MORAL OF THE STORY - Don't take one persons word as a concrete gauge of what to do. Put your personal situation in the equation, I can almost guarantee you'll come up with a different answer.
 
Re: Advantages of CFI\'ing over freight or other.....

I think the one thing that teaching gives you an edge on is interpersonal skills. You have to be able to teach everyone, from a guy who just steps in there and is the second coming of the Wright Brothers to someone who just doesn't seem to get it, no matter how many times he tries. And you have to deal with different personalities and different learning styles.

That has to give you a leg up when it comes interview time. Everyone who has gotten an interview has all the skills needed for the job. It's their interpersonal skills that will get them or lose them the job.
 
Re: Advantages of CFI\'ing over freight or other.....

[ QUOTE ]
I'd like to know what the advantage of doing more than 1000 hours of flight instructing is.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, its better than sitting around doing nothing while waiting for a better job........
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Re: Advantages of CFI\'ing over freight or other.....

How about the joy of teaching others to fly?

I really doubt many pilots have forgotten their private certificate CFIs!
 
Re: Advantages of CFI\'ing over freight or other.....

I,m going to start working on my CFI in September and I'm looking foward to teaching people how to fly. I think it will be alot of fun.
A few months ago, I got to take a buddy up that had never been in any kind of aircraft, private or commercial. I took him over his house on a nice cool day for about a 1/2 hr flight. When we landed, he was so excited he said he wanted to learn how to fly and that he wanted me to teach him. It made me feel really good to be able to share the joy of flight with someone who never had been airborn before. I know it may sound kinda hokey, but it was a really good experience , one I hope to duplicate again and again. I can't wait to be a flight instructor.
 
Re: Advantages of CFI\'ing over freight or other.....

"I know it may sound kinda hokey, but it was a really good experience , one I hope to duplicate again and again. I can't wait to be a flight instructor."

*insert nodding emoticon*
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Re: Advantages of CFI\'ing over freight or other.....

I enjoy instructing but until the whole industry picks up and I can move up the instructing chain (consistent instrument and multi), I am not learning a whole lot, other that I am the master of sectionals, VFR regs, stalls, and cessna 150 ops.
I haven't flown an hour of actual or even a complex hour in four or five months. I LOVE instructing but the whole "CFI is better learning than freight just isnt true." Maybe multi instructing is but I'll know when I get there, but I am happy to just have a part time job.
 
Re: Advantages of CFI\'ing over freight or other.....

It depends on what you are doing. If you are flying around VFR all the time in a 150, freight might look pretty good. If you work for a large school with almost enough to live pay, insurance, vacation, etc. and get lots of multi-time, it might be better to stay than go to any old 135 job that comes up. I like teaching and am always learning. It is good to get a new student and make them into a good pilot.

Right now I am weighing the pros and cons. I have a decent place to live and am able to pay the bills. In several months I will meet 135 minimums. I am not willing to go anywhere and fly anything. If the pay was ok and the equipment was safe, I would be willing to go. The same is true for 121 jobs. I am not willing to relocate and make $14k a year in a Beech 1900. I may stay an instructor until I get the ATP, but not much longer than that.
 
Re: Advantages of CFI\'ing over freight or other.....

I believe that there are people out there who make good teachers and then there are people that don't. The unfortunate part is that the majority of pilots now are forced to instruct to get this magic number of hours. While I believe that it is great for those who are good at and enjoy instructing, it is terrible for those who don't. People who don't really enjoy hwat they are doing will not put the energy that they should into their work. While instructing can give you extremely valuable experience, so can flying unnamed cargo from point A to point B in the middle of the night with possible IMC. Any job flying will prepare you for the next step up, its a shame that the path is so defined. I personally fell that any time you lift those wheels off the ground you are putting your life and the life of your passengers in your hands. The more you do that, the more you are going to learn. i don't think a person can be judged by age, hours, or particular experience. Each person should be judged by maturity, ability, and knowledge. THat's what I would do if I were letting someone fly my business around. But that's not the world we live in and I realize that. It's just too bad.

Stepping down from my soapbox now.
 
And I overheard. . . .

I was at a flight school a couple of weeks ago (which shall remain nameless), and I overheard three of the CFIs there bitching about hating being flight instructors. They went on and on about what a big drag it was to instruct primary students, how they weren't paid enough (which is generally true, though), and how they picked the wrong career.

I felt like saying, "If you don't like your job, quit. Otherwise, shut up."

Sheesh.
 
Re: And I overheard. . . .

I'm glad this didn't turn into a flame war, because, well, flame wars suck.

The answers I got were pretty much what I was thinking as well. If I can sum it up.

1. Some people love to teach, and they are great at it, Like a duck in water.

2. Some people are using the teaching as a way of building up their own interpersonal skills.

3. Some people are doing it as a way to fly, just to stay flying until they get hired somewhere else, 135 freight, 135 pax charter or scheduled, 121 regional.

Is that about it? Sometimes I can be a bit obtuse, please correct me if if wrong or have left anything out.
 
Re: And I overheard. . . .

That sounds about right.

Personally, I'm doing it for all three reasons...if that makes any sense. I love instructing and I'd like to think I'm halfway decent at it. It has certainly increased my interpersonal skills immensely. But since instructing isn't exactly a high paying job, I will move up the career ladder just like most others (just not to the airlines). One thing I won't do is let my CFI expire...I plan on always instructing part time just for kicks.
 
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