CFI initial in central-ish Michigan?

Low&Slow

Low&Slow

Ancora imparo
I want to get my CFI and CFII.
Anybody have any good recommendations?
Probably anywhere within an hour drive from Grand Ledge/Lansing would be acceptable. I'd like to find someone/someplace that has had recent CFI candidates, has an excellent success rate for CFI candidates, and is passionate about teaching others to teach well. I don't have the time, the patience, or the money to waste on mediocre instruction, nor do I want a mediocre mentor.
Google didn't help me much, so it's time to ask y'all on here.
Thanks.
 
well if you want to pay out the wazoo WMU College of Aviation has a good program.

In my experience the CFI initial checkride was more about the classroom teaching, regs, etc. The flying part while teaching the FAA was fairly straight forward. Just don't let the FAA examiner bully you. It is a test to see if you will stand your ground and have confidence in yourself.
 
Thanks Bandit_Driver.
I looked at WMU, you're right, they're expensive.
I wouldn't mind working for them part-time after I have my certificates though. They look like they stay busy.

Andrews University (C20) in Berrien Springs might also be an option. Although they're about two hours away, I have a place to stay near there if I want/need to.
 
modernicarus said:
Thanks Bandit_Driver.
I looked at WMU, you're right, they're expensive.
I wouldn't mind working for them part-time after I have my certificates though. They look like they stay busy.

Andrews University (C20) in Berrien Springs might also be an option. Although they're about two hours away, I have a place to stay near there if I want/need to.
Click to expand...

You'll want to live near where you will be a CFI. This will allow you to have the best QOL on a limited budget and pickup students easily. I lived 45 minutes away from the airport when I was a CFI and I felt it was too far. I'd often have a late night student and an early morning one the next day. It didn't make sense to waste the gas driving home. I slept too many nights in the office.
 
I'm planning on working part-time as an independent CFI/CFIII in the Lansing area unless I can get on with WMU as a part-time CFI.
I just can't justify or afford to pay $10k for the CFI initial and then another $6k for the CFII add on, so WMU is probably not going to be a good training choice for me. I'm also not sure how serious, dedicated, and sincere the instructors would be there. "Get your hours and get out, quality of instruction be damned" seems to be the theme amongst instructors at most big schools. I don't know if they could be regarded as a pilot-mill, but they are very 121 focused, and that's not a realistic goal for me anymore.
Anyhow, I started a new job this past January and I am going through a transition. I work in the Lansing area as an airframe mechanic, but have a house near C20 in Berrien Springs. We work four ten-hour shifts. I spend half the week sleeping at work, and the other half at home after a two hour commute. I am planning on selling the house and finding one near Lansing, preferably somewhere between Lansing and Battle Creek. It kind of all depends on the housing market as to where I actually end up next year. I don't want to be more than 30 minutes from an airfield though, unless I buy enough land to have my own grass strip.
I've been trying to get my CFI since 1992, but it just never seems to work out. Something always happens. I was planning on going to Colorado Contrails this January/February in 2016, but recent events have once again precluded my plans of obtaining it. So, I'm trying to adjust once again and keep rolling. I'll get it someday. It's too late for me to have a real career as a professional pilot now (I'll be 47 in January), but I'm still going to get it even if it takes me another 20-something years.
 
Last edited:
hook_dupin said:
You don't have to find a DPE to do the initial... you call him to find out who he thinks is the best CFI is in the area to teach you. You likely still will get to go the FSDO.
Click to expand...
Cool thanks!
I saw a DPE on the Solo Aviation website that Jason5 recommended, I'll give him a call and see if he has a few minutes to talk.
 
Wow, time flies! I started this thread while I was still deployed to the Middle East in 2015.
Update: Took the ground school at Solo in 2016 after coming back home and didn't realize how much I had forgotten from not being in a training environment for 25 years.
I finally started flying again after over a decade of not flying. I felt like a student pilot with zero hours at first and was so disgusted, ashamed, and embarrassed at how poorly my first hour went that I contemplated not flying as a profession. But decided to stick with it and give myself a chance instead. I'm glad I did because It came back to me relatively quickly.
I got proficient and confident again in less than ten hours and started prepping for a checkride late in the summer, but then Michigan Fall and Winter arrived and mother nature stepped in. Usable daylight hours became fewer and fewer and the wx seemed to always suck. Low ceilings, rain, fog, mist, wind, freezing rain, snow, etc.
Then I needed to have surgery in January to repair an injury to my left shoulder. I'm still recovering from that surgery right now. It's very painful, but I know it's going to be for the better.
Depending on how physical therapy goes, I'm hoping to be able to start flying again in March, but I feel like April is probably going to be more realistic. Hopefully I will pick up proficiency, especially in the commercial maneuvers, very quickly after not flying for six months or so. Maybe 2017 will be the year I finally become a CFI. I sure hope so, chasing this dream of flying for a living can be frustrating and exhausting.
My goals this year (2017) are to obtain CFI, tailwheel endorsement, single-engine seaplane certificate, and start on CFII.
I'm not worried about employment right now. There are already four busy flight schools that want me to work for them after I get my CFI, and I might have found a part-time tailwheel gig in a DC-3 (with radials, not that ugly Basler turboprop). Hopefully that will work out.
 
Last edited:
Stick with it, you'll get there!

I did my CFI initial last year at age 54 after an early retirement from a stressful systems engineering job. It took me 20 years but I did it. Adding the CFII next month. It's a great feeling sharing aviation knowledge and helping others realize their aviation dreams.
 
Sounds like your on your way. I am in a similar boat and am pursuing my initial after not flying for 8 years; I feel your pain.

Had I seen this thread earlier I would have been quick to recommend NMC in Traverse. Looking at their website it looks like there's been some changes since I was there but I really did enjoy their program. And you can't beat living in TC! A lot of the more senior instructors would also fly with Air Services Inc to gain some 135 experience too if thats what your into, but again, that was 9-10 years ago.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top