Flight Instructing on the side

planesiscool

New Member
Is there anybody in the forums that does flight instructing on the side?

After much thought and prayer I don't think I want to be a full time pilot because of the strain on my family life. I love to fly but not nearly enough to be away from my family for days at a time plus the job I have now is something I could do for the rest of my life. I would still, however, like to get my ratings so I could flight instruct when I wanted to fly.

thoughts...
 
Is there anybody in the forums that does flight instructing on the side?

After much thought and prayer I don't think I want to be a full time pilot because of the strain on my family life. I love to fly but not nearly enough to be away from my family for days at a time plus the job I have now is something I could do for the rest of my life. I would still, however, like to get my ratings so I could flight instruct when I wanted to fly.

thoughts...

How old are you?
 
Although I am not an instructor, I will throw out my few cents worth anyway...


I think that is a pretty good idea. Of course, depending where you are certificate wise, it could be a pricey venture. I work with a couple guys who do it on the side and really enjoy it. One guy does tailwheel stuff and nothing else.

We all know how crazy the aviation profession(s) are/is, and for you to realize that 135 or 121 flying may not be the best thing for you and your family is being responsible. Of course if life situations change and you are instructing part-time, you will already have most of the work done if you decide to take the plunge into a full time flying gig.

I am guessing you are over the age of 30, sounding all responsible and stuff! (Some sarcasm, but not much).
 
I would still, however, like to get my ratings so I could flight instruct when I wanted to fly.thoughts...

Good on you for putting your family ahead of a job. It's too bad more people don't do this.

This statement makes me question your motivations. It makes you sound like the only reason you want to get an instructor certificate is so that you can fly on your student's nickel. Is that what you're about?
 
I have been a part-time instructor for 7 or 8 years now. I have flown with several schools and independently as well. The best way to improve your own flying, is to teach others how its done right.

fed
 
Is there anybody in the forums that does flight instructing on the side?
I do. In my case I wasn't thinking about teaching as a career. I already had a career when I started to learn how to fly. As I learned more, teaching was obvious.

And I can't make it full time because I can't afford the pay cut, although I expect to teach much more when I retire than I do now.
 
I've been doing it for the last two years. I have a full time day job in the IT industry and instruct mornings/evenings/weekends. So far it has worked pretty nice for me. You may want to pace yourself a bit, since it can be time consuming if you take too many students and can affect your other job or your social life.

You don't get to fly the airplane yourself that much and you barely speak on the radio, so I still enjoy a flight by myself or with some friends sometimes. What I find surprising is that even though I'm rarely a sole manipulator, whenever I am, I'm doing quite well at flying and I have managed to keep myself profficient even without flying the airplane myself.

In short, I would definetly recommend doing something like that, if you have the desire to teach.
 
one word of experience, it can be tough to juggle instructing on the side. okay that was 10 words...

If you're looking for balance, having a second job can be demanding
 
Good on you for putting your family ahead of a job. It's too bad more people don't do this.

This statement makes me question your motivations. It makes you sound like the only reason you want to get an instructor certificate is so that you can fly on your student's nickel. Is that what you're about?


Just for informational purposes I am 25 and married with no kids. Uh...as far as your question no it isn't what I'm about. I enjoy teaching people things and I love to fly even if I'm not the one manipulating the controls. I play trumpet and guitar and one of the funnest things I have ever done is to teach lessons for these things. I also want to be able to pay for my own flights by doing this. I am just about finished with my private and if some day I can get to the instructor rating it would be great. I guess my vision is to get on with a flying club(possibly a flight school) and be an instructor for one of those. There are several in my area that have CFI's that only do it part time and I have talked to several of them that said they love it. They are guys/gals who decided that being a full time pilot is something that is just not worth the sacrifice you have to make but love to fly. I think my comment may have come off the wrong way; yes I want to make some money through this so I can afford every once in a while to go fly but I do think I would enjoy teaching part of the time. I doubt I would make enough to do anything but use it to fly.
 
one word of experience, it can be tough to juggle instructing on the side. okay that was 10 words...

If you're looking for balance, having a second job can be demanding


True dat...guys I have talked to at flying clubs say they only take 1 or 2 students at a time.
 
I instruct part time as well and truly enjoy it. As previously stated, you need to manage your time and student load so you do other things than just work/fly. That is a lesson I learned rather quickly. For that reason alone, I some down time during the week.
 
I enjoy teaching people things and I love to fly even if I'm not the one manipulating the controls. I play trumpet and guitar and one of the funnest things I have ever done is to teach lessons for these things.
Completely biased view (since this in large part describes me) but I think your motivation is perfect.
 
Midlife - you're an attorney, right? What kind of teaching schedule are you able to keep and still practice law?
A lousy one. I was working in-house for a company about 10 minutes from the airport when I started teaching and had a relatively flexible schedule - even managed to get away for a long lunch for a mid-day lesson once a week. But even then, I never carried more than 2 regular students.

I went back to private practice a few years ago and things changed. Weekdays are shot. I pretty much stick with one regular at a time - on weekends - and that's generally someone whose schedule is as bad as mine, although I do flight reviews and short-term.

Looking forward to when I can start cutting back on lawyering and teaching more regularly.

btw, 9 posts and you caught that I was a lawyer? Or have we met on some other board?
 
Here is something to keep in mind. Absolute bare minimum cost to get your CFI is around 20K to 30K, probably more now. You could save most of that and just get an instrument rating. Then, you could use the other 10 or 20 grand you saved to do a bunch of flying on your own. It will take a looooong time recoup your investment otherwise.

But, if you go into this expecting to flush all that cash and never see a return on investment, go for it. If teaching is what you want to do, just think of the investment as the same thing as someone who throws 30 grand at a boat.
 
yeah...recouping your investment is going to be pretty close to impossible but I think you get other returns other than monetary from doing this.
 
I know a lot of people who do just what you're talking about. There are a bunch of guys in my flying club who instruct when they're not flying the heavy metal.

And you know what they all say?

It's more fun to teach a primary student than it is to fly a 737 or 757 from point a to point b.
 
I know a lot of people who do just what you're talking about. There are a bunch of guys in my flying club who instruct when they're not flying the heavy metal.

And you know what they all say?

It's more fun to teach a primary student than it is to fly a 737 or 757 from point a to point b.


That is what I would think plus it stays more of a hobby than becoming a job.
 
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