CFIs Needed

TaterSalad said:
What's the general feeling around there about instrument training in the Alarus? We have 2 at my school, and we're slowly phasing them out as primary or instrument trainers. I really can't imagine teaching someone instruments in an Alarus, as they're so ridiculously unstable! Truth be told, other than the instrumentation and how much fun they can be as an experienced pilot (read: engine out steep approaches and can you say almost sideways forward slips), I hate the damn things!
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I think they fly quite nicely. They do take a little getting used to. My only complaint is they feel a little nose heavy on takeoff and landing. They feel plenty stable enough, I think more stable than a 152. What year are the ones at your school? Maybe some improvements have been made.
 
flyguy said:
I think they fly quite nicely. They do take a little getting used to. My only complaint is they feel a little nose heavy on takeoff and landing. They feel plenty stable enough, I think more stable than a 152. What year are the ones at your school? Maybe some improvements have been made.
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I think we have an '02 and '03 model. As far as the stability, take it up on a good bumpy day, and let go of the controls. It'll be all over the sky, and does not want to come back to level on it's own. Not to mention, have you ever noticed how the nose swings all over the place when it's turbulent, on it's own? If you haven't trained many primary students in it yet, vs another trainer I assume you'll see it eventually. If it's anything like our experience, it'll take your students, on average, 10 hrs longer to solo in the Alarus than in a 172. Sure, as a pilot with some hours, it's easy for us to fly. But put someone in there brand new, that's having to make continuous small corrections, just to keep it upright, and it'll delay the learning process.

As for the nose heaviness..........I've definitely noticed it on takeoff. There's nothing like that first takeoff with a new student, where it suddenly comes "unglued" and up you go at a 15 degree pitch! If you've noticed, it seems to be worse with 2 in the plane than just 1. I think the CG is at the very forward limits with 2 in there, and that's keeping the nose down. It also feels as if the wing could almost be at a slight negative angle of attack on the ground? Landings took me a little while, but I've gotten used to them now, and can grease em on most of the time. Banged the tail skid a couple times at first though, lol!
 
Our Alaruses are brand new. So far we've been training private in both Alarus and 152, and they have all been soloing at about the same time. I have noticed a bit of lateral instability if you let go of the controls, but its controls are very effective making it easy to recover if it starts to get away from you. So far we've had very few problems. Maybe the design has been improved. None of the flight instructors are worried about instrument training in the Alarus. We are much more worried about IFR communications given their lack of English.
 
flyguy said:
We are much more worried about IFR communications given their lack of English.
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Oh my god... very good point.

It is one thing learning to say "turning right base for runway 31" but it is something altogether different having to amend clearances and such not while in IMC.
 
Especially when such clearances may consist of nonsensical names of fixes.

"Mr. CFI, what center mean by 'TINRE' and 'HODNI'?"
 
Is it preferable to get there ASAP with CFII and do MEI there, or would they prefer if we already had an MEI ticket? Also, I remember talk of a July class, is that still the plan? Was there another in September? How far in advance of a start date do they like to start interviewing? I'm eager to get out there and apply!
 
NORCAL pilot said:
Is it preferable to get there ASAP with CFII and do MEI there, or would they prefer if we already had an MEI ticket? Also, I remember talk of a July class, is that still the plan? Was there another in September? How far in advance of a start date do they like to start interviewing? I'm eager to get out there and apply!
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Seven news CFIs per month in May, June, July, August, September, and October is what I was told. The latter months could be less than seven if current CFIs stay as their first students finish up around then.

As for the II and MEI, there are instructors here who don't have the MEI yet. That's all I know though. That and that there are ground instructors who'll have their CFI soon. I haven't been here long.
 
So Castle is really busy now? That was where I used to send students as an "easy" cross-country--easy to find, huge runway, not that much traffic.

IFR training with foreign students can be brutal. I lucked out of most of it, but a co-worker of mine had quite a few. His trick (learned from our vastly more experienced chief instructor) was to put a tiny mic in his headset and record the entire flight, then make the students study every flight to learn terminology.

"Mr. CFI, what center mean by 'TINRE' and 'HODNI'?"
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I don't know if they're still out of Napa, but Japan Air Lines used to do instrument training into Stockton, Livermore, and Tracy. There's an IAF for approaches into Tracy called MANCO, which in Japanese slang is a very...um...crude term for a body part. We used to hear them reading back "proceed direct MANCO" all the time.
 
Nick said:
Seven news CFIs per month in May, June, July, August, September, and October is what I was told. The latter months could be less than seven if current CFIs stay as their first students finish up around then.

As for the II and MEI, there are instructors here who don't have the MEI yet. That's all I know though. That and that there are ground instructors who'll have their CFI soon. I haven't been here long.
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Looks like Nick beat me to it. We just had a meeting yesterday and the Assistant Chief mentioned to us that he is desparate to find instructors for the upcoming months. There are even plans to go visit some of the major flight schools (ERAU, Flight Safety, PAFA, UND, etc.) to recruit instructors. We're expecting 25 students per month beginning in May or June. :)
 
Im interested in applying, seems like a good way to rack on hours and not worry about poverty, any current Sierra CFIs would like to share their overall experience there? average monthly pay? dorm life there? food edible? Anybody going for the Air China thing after 2 ten month contracts? any additional info on that? Thanks
 
Jonesberuitchamp said:
Im interested in applying, seems like a good way to rack on hours and not worry about poverty, any current Sierra CFIs would like to share their overall experience there? average monthly pay? dorm life there? food edible? Anybody going for the Air China thing after 2 ten month contracts? any additional info on that? Thanks
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Average monthly pay depends on the time of year and the weather (and TSA if you have new students) but you'll make more here than the average school for sure. I've been teaching ground school and this month I'll be brinning in about $3500 before taxes. That's not quite average though. I'd say about $2000 per month average as a flight instructor, but don't quote me, I've only been a full fledged flight instructor for 2 1/2 weeks.

Dorm life = reminds me of college. Very similar, except we only share a bathroom with one other person (my college dorms we shared with the entire floor) The rooms are nice. HVAC is a little touchy, summer heat is going to be brutal, but overall not too shabby at all.

Food edible - depends on how long you've been here. The first 3 weeks for me i had the mindset that I could eat anything that was free. But that's the last time I actually ate a meal in the cafeteria. It seems to me that the quality of the meat keeps going down to the point where I can't tell what is meat, what is bone, what is skin, and what kind of animal the whole mess came from. Edible? I'd say no, but most instructors eat there every meal without fuss. I think I may be a bit of a picky eater.
 
The shrimp today was nice.

And to answer your question, Jones, I don't know of a better deal than this.

Average monthly pay is probably more like $2,500 to $3,000. That beats most or all regional airline's first, second, even some third year pay. That also doesn't include any adjustment for free housing, food, laundry, and charts. That stuff has a significant dollar amount that isn't on the paycheck but does help you survive.

I estimate I have all my bare minimum, human "stay alive" expenses paid for on the third working day of each month, and the rest of my bills paid for around the tenth day. And I'm probably average.
 
J22 said:
Are any of the current instructors thinking about the Air China possibility?
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I doubt more than one or two are.

Air China is the Chinese national airline, run by the government (kind of). Not only that but advancement is done not strictly be seniority, but also by merit. Whether merit means a safe, knowledgeable pilot with experience or daddy-works-for-the-government is up for you to find out; I'm not sure. I do know that they hire direct entry captains, which, for an F/O, would mean longer upgrade time. For a five year commitment, you might want to know the approximate upgrade time before you pack up your stuff and move to China!

It's probably not for me, but still fun to consider.
 
There are a couple of instructors who are considering the Air China option, particularly becuase it's a way to get into the heavies, then come back after building up time. I'm not one of them, though. :)

Overall I am loving this job. To me (and I'm sure Nick, WAFlyboy, and Flyguy will agree) this is the best instructor "gig" out there. There is absolutely no instructor complaining here (well, except for the occasional "what is that?" meal). Can't wait till the twins get here.

Neil
 
WestIndian425 said:
There are a couple of instructors who are considering the Air China option, particularly becuase it's a way to get into the heavies, then come back after building up time. I'm not one of them, though. :)

Overall I am loving this job. To me (and I'm sure Nick, WAFlyboy, and Flyguy will agree) this is the best instructor "gig" out there. There is absolutely no instructor complaining here (well, except for the occasional "what is that?" meal). Can't wait till the twins get here.

Neil
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Neat, I have never trained twins before. Are there a lot of Asian twins or are they uncommon? The closet I ever got to training twins was a brother and sister. I still had trouble seeing the resemblence.
 
thanks for all the info, I got a call from the Chief CFI last week regarding the job, another question for the JCers that work there, what u guys do for fun out there? I'm not looking for a constant party club scene all the time, its out of my system, I graduate college in may. The town kinda seems in the middle of nowhere what you guys do in your free time? they have ping pong tables there?
 
Jonesberuitchamp said:
another question for the JCers that work there, what u guys do for fun out there?
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I'm putting my entire paycheck this period towards a new road bike, and there are Yosemite National Park maps all over my floor. The waterfalls are going to be awesome after all this rain and snow melts in the next two months.

Jonesberuitchamp said:
they have ping pong tables there?
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Yes...but I thought you said you weren't into drinking much anymore?
 
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