Dilemma..

TopGunn

TopGunn

Well-Known Member
Fellow pilots, i am looking for a mass opinion/advise. I am scheduled to go to CFI school in September for 30 days with American Flyers at Pompano Beach, FL.. The cost of CFI - CFII program will be $2,995. It will be a 30 day school. I think it is fairly a good price for a complete program. Plus will walk away with 2 Ratings, and i am quite sure i can secure a CFI position at my local flight school, where i acquired all of my 3 initial ratings.

On the other hand, i have a local gig that will allow me to fly traffic 3 times a day and build hours. I have not acquired the position yet, but it is not impossible either. What would you do if you were in my situation?

Understand this, i will not have any source of income for 30 days, plus i will be away from my pregnant wife and daughter :(. It is a tough bullet to bite but i am leaning more towards getting my instructor's rating. I think it will make me much better and more qualified pilot.

All inputs are welcomed. :beer:
 
TopGunn said:
Fellow pilots, i am looking for a mass opinion/advise. I am scheduled to go to CFI school in September for 30 days with American Flyers at Pompano Beach, FL.. The cost of CFI - CFII program will be $2,995. It will be a 30 day school. I think it is fairly a good price for a complete program. Plus will walk away with 2 Ratings, and i am quite sure i can secure a CFI position at my local flight school, where i acquired all of my 3 initial ratings.

On the other hand, i have a local gig that will allow me to fly traffic 3 times a day and build hours. I have not acquired the position yet, but it is not impossible either. What would you do if you were in my situation?

Understand this, i will not have any source of income for 30 days, plus i will be away from my pregnant wife and daughter :(. It is a tough bullet to bite but i am leaning more towards getting my instructor's rating. I think it will make me much better and more qualified pilot.

All inputs are welcomed. :beer:
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Go for the CFI.
 
Go for the CFI/CFII, but I'd do it at your local airport with a local CFI. It'll probably be close to the same price (providing you do a lot of self study, but most of it is anyway for the FOI and making lesson plans and such).

That way you can get the local job, have a paycheck, be with your family, and still get the CFI/CFII.
 
"Plus will walk away with 2 Ratings, and i am quite sure i can secure a CFI position at my local flight school, where i acquired all of my 3 initial ratings"

Man, that sounds an awful lot like a "Pay for training" thingy, and we CAN'T have that now, can we??!! You would be taking the job of some poor sod who won't get off the couch to get his tickets after all, shouldn't your local flight school be PAYING YOU to get that training??

<edited> Stay at home and wait for the phone to ring, what ever you do, DO NOT PAY for your training, and don't do it for free either, if they offer you that...
 
Go for the CFI if you can afford it and if you can be away from your family for a month. Can you keep your traffic job in case your local CFI gig doesn't work out immediately? You might be able to do traffic and CFI at the same time also if things are slow at the flight school.
 
TopGunn said:
Understand this, i will not have any source of income for 30 days, plus i will be away from my pregnant wife and daughter :(. It is a tough bullet to bite but i am leaning more towards getting my instructor's rating. I think it will make me much better and more qualified pilot.

All inputs are welcomed. :beer:
Click to expand...


I think your decision has been made here.

And realize, no one can make this decision for you, but you.
 
Timbo said:
Man, that sounds an awful lot like a "Pay for training" thingy, and we CAN'T have that now, can we??!! You would be taking the job of some poor sod who won't get off the couch to get his tickets after all, shouldn't your local flight school be PAYING YOU to get that training??
Click to expand...

Timbo... I'm sure you have a lot of really great experience to share on this forum (and indeed, a whole bunch of your posts have been great for the community), but you're kind of being trollish on this. You sure as hell should know (unless you came up through the military and walked into your current 121 gig straight from Uncle Sam) that FAA ratings aren't "pay for training" and the PFT that people give people crap about is paying for TIME not TRAINING anyway. People also tend to frown on paying for a JOB, but that's not really what is at stake here.

My point being... just because you got a verbal beat down (and it was hardly that) in another thread about something kind of similar, please don't go pissing all over a different thread just to make your point.

Thanks.
 
Timbo said:
"Plus will walk away with 2 Ratings, and i am quite sure i can secure a CFI position at my local flight school, where i acquired all of my 3 initial ratings"

Man, that sounds an awful lot like a "Pay for training" thingy, and we CAN'T have that now, can we??!! You would be taking the job of some poor sod who won't get off the couch to get his tickets after all, shouldn't your local flight school be PAYING YOU to get that training??

<edited> Stay at home and wait for the phone to ring, what ever you do, DO NOT PAY for your training, and don't do it for free either, if they offer you that...
Click to expand...

Why are you so pissy? Getting your CFI is NOT paying to fly. You're actually paying for training towards a rating.. just like paying for your private, instrument, commercial, etc.

To the OP:

It all depends on your situation and how you think you and your wife will be able to handle no income and being separated for a little while. I definitely learned a lot during my CFI training though and I think that, if you can afford it, it is very much worth the time. A lot of corporate gigs seem to like if if you have your CFI, so it could be beneficial to your future career even if it isn't an instructing job.
 
Truth is you'll always be able to get your CFI, but you won't always be able to keep the traffic watch gig you have nailed down now. With the economy the way it is, unless you're confident that you could land an instructing job soon after you finish, I'd keep the flying job you have now and do the CFI on the side locally.
 
JJ429PA said:
Truth is you'll always be able to get your CFI, but you won't always be able to keep the traffic watch gig you have nailed down now. With the economy the way it is, unless you're confident that you could land an instructing job soon after you finish, I'd keep the flying job you have now and do the CFI on the side locally.
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+1
 
Timbo said:
"Plus will walk away with 2 Ratings, and i am quite sure i can secure a CFI position at my local flight school, where i acquired all of my 3 initial ratings"

Man, that sounds an awful lot like a "Pay for training" thingy, and we CAN'T have that now, can we??!! You would be taking the job of some poor sod who won't get off the couch to get his tickets after all, shouldn't your local flight school be PAYING YOU to get that training??

<edited> Stay at home and wait for the phone to ring, what ever you do, DO NOT PAY for your training, and don't do it for free either, if they offer you that...
Click to expand...

:eek:

:chair:
 
Timbo said:
"Plus will walk away with 2 Ratings, and i am quite sure i can secure a CFI position at my local flight school, where i acquired all of my 3 initial ratings"

Man, that sounds an awful lot like a "Pay for training" thingy, and we CAN'T have that now, can we??!! You would be taking the job of some poor sod who won't get off the couch to get his tickets after all, shouldn't your local flight school be PAYING YOU to get that training??

<edited> Stay at home and wait for the phone to ring, what ever you do, DO NOT PAY for your training, and don't do it for free either, if they offer you that...
Click to expand...

:confused:

I'm really confused here, how does anything he's planning on doing translate to "Pay-for-training?" .........I have 50k in debt for paying for training.
 
Grabo172 said:
Go for the CFI/CFII, but I'd do it at your local airport with a local CFI. It'll probably be close to the same price (providing you do a lot of self study, but most of it is anyway for the FOI and making lesson plans and such).

That way you can get the local job, have a paycheck, be with your family, and still get the CFI/CFII.
Click to expand...

Good Point. I have spoken to the flight school and actually the hiring manager recommended me to attend these schools rather than going through a local school. Weird, i know! The reason being is they only have one flight instructor who is completely dedicated to his line of work. The rest are just getting burnt out with the same routine and have lost the dedication, IMO.
 
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