Bad Flight Instructor?

Jim Levy

New Member
I recently scheduled a flight review to get current after being out of aviation for over a decade. The day of the flight review the instructor was 40 minutes late and didn't notify me he was running behind.

We completed the ground instruction and then headed out for the actual flight instruction. During this phase he said numerous times that he was doing things that he recommended I don't do myself but he was trying to save me time/cost. Examples: a rolling run up and staying in ground effect during a landing to avoid the extended taxing by landing further down the runway.

The worst experience I had during the flight was shortly after take up I had to adjust the plane for proper attitude and began a little sick to my stomach. I have not flown for a decade and was not used to the feeling yet. The flight instructor mentioned that I would have to get used to the feeling again. After that statement he took controls of the plane and without warning pulled the yolk all the way back and then slammed it all the way down. A severe climb and then a severe drop in attitude. The roller coaster effect was so violent the ashtrays, pieces of plastic and misc items in the plane flew up and hit the ceiling of the plane and landed everywhere. After that I began rather sick to my stomach and spent the rest of the flight just wanting to land and leave.

Should a flight instructor with a private pilot wanting to only become current and whom has not flown in over ten years act like this on intro flight?

Thanks
 
That is terrible. Find another instructor, no reason to do a rolling run up, he should be letting you do it so you can go through the paces of operating the aircraft systems. About the pitching up and down like that, at no time ever should that be done during normal flight operations.​
 
Holy balls, I don't even know where to start. How do people like this even get past the FOI section of their CFI oral?

Find a new CFI and have fun getting back into flying.


From what I've heard over this past week or so ... do you understand the operating principal of a battering ram? ;>

~Foxy
 
Derg said:
Showing up late without explanation should have been the first and final straw.

My nickname at TPA was 'shows up 5 minutes before departure, calls out 10 early'. Oh how not having ACARS was nice!
 
Completely unacceptable. Sorry you had that experience, but don't let it dissuade you from continuing to fly. Find a new CFI.
 
I once straight up asked a flight school I was looking to do a BFR with who was the least "prick-ish" CFI they had. Been around flight schools long enough to know the tired personality types that I don't have the time or energy to mess with. But, have been pleasantly surprised for the most part with the quality of instructors I have gone up with.
 
Sorry for the bad experience you had. I know flying isn't cheap but maybe go on another flight for just 45mins to an hour with another instructor who will take his/her time with you and make sure you are going through the motions at a pace that is more comfortable for you. And in all honesty, if I EVER had a pilot take the controls from me and start making abrupt control inputs, I would probably place their head into the avionics panel. And when we got down I'd say he was acting in an irrational and unsafe manor and I was afraid for my safety and the safety of those on the ground. What a •.
 
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