Picking your CFI...

killbilly

killbilly

Vocals, Lyrics, Triangle, Washboard, Kittens
Been getting a lot of advice lately from y'all, and one of the things I've been hearing consistently is "pick a CFI you can work with."

What I want to hear from you experienced guys is this: What criteria should a new student pilot use to evaluate a CFI? What questions (and answers) would you consider paramount? What teaching techniques should a new student ask about? And what is important vs. irrelevant? What do you generally consider something worthy of running far away from, vs. an instructor who really "gets it?"

I raise the question because I'm smart enough to know that I don't know everything that I need to know yet to make decisions.

So, with the experience you have, how would YOU pick your instructor?
 
First off you should look for someone that is enthusiastic about the job. Getting someone that is just there to build time is gonna hurt you in the long run. For starters, they aren't gonna be that effective b/c they're not going to be paying attention, and if they're really unscrupulous, you might wind up flying hours you don't need.

Pick someone who's personality meshes with yours. I've been lucky with my instructors. I could tell right off the bat if I liked them or not, and my last instructor (who eventually became a co-worker) was damn near my twin. Ask them what their career goals are. If they say they eventually want to move on, that's a GOOD thing. They're being honest and up front with you. I had to turn a couple of potential students towards other instructors my last two months at Skymates b/c they were part time, and I knew I wouldn't be there the six months they were planning on taking to get their PPL. Find an instructor who's schedule matches with yours. Odds are if you find an enthusiastic instructor, they'll be more willing to work to YOUR schedule.

Never forget that you're the customer. You should (for the most part) be able to set the schedule, but remember the CFI is a person too, and they also have needs. I had one student that would call me and ask if we could fly in an hour. Sometimes I would have nothing going on, and I'd say sure. Sometimes I was either off doing something not remotely associated with the school or with another student. If it was either of the last two, he would get upset. I eventually had to tell him that I couldn't be his instructor anymore. Bottom line, don't be THAT guy.

The teaching techniques are something the CFI should be up on. As a new student, you may or may not know how you learn best. If you know you're a visual/hands-on/demonstration/whatever type learner, great. Tell the CFI so they know how to work with you. If not, don't stress. A good CFI will be able to poke and prod until they figure out how you learn best.

Don't shy away from a CFI just b/c they're young or new. What they lack in experience is often made up for in enthusiam. A good CFI just starting out will ask the more experienced guys around him when things creep up (right Brett? :) ). Every CFI was once a newby.

Finally, just go with your gut. You've done yourself a great service asking the questions and knowing that you need a little guidance. If your instincts tell you "This guy seems to know his stuff" or "This guy is trying to take me for a ride," go with them.
 
Ok I'm gonna really add to what Steve said.

There is nothing wrong with new guys. I don't want to bag on the guys that have a few hundred hours of dual given, but when you're fresh off that initial CFI ride (which has a 90% failure rate with the Fort Worth FSDO), you really have your crap together. You're hungry to go out and do well with your students and you want to be the best possible instructor there is. I'm not saying that after a few hundred hours that you don't, but the edge is certinally taken off after a while and many flight instructors become much more chill than when they first started.

If you want a high energy guy that wants to go out and get it done, find a new instructor. They're going to want to ram rod you through just as much as you want. But if you are more into chill and laid back, find somebody with a little more experience. Personally I like guys that have that "go get 'em" attitude and want to get in the airplane and throw down with a purpose.
 
Here's something from http://flighttraining.aopa.org/learntofly/school/

AOPA said:
A good flight instructor is important because your life will depend on what he or she teaches you. Don't hesitate to ask questions about the training and experience of the flight instructors. You might ask what the average flight time is and what the pass/fail rate is among the instructors. (A pass rate of 100 percent doesn't indicate good instruction.) You might also talk to some of the other students at the school to ask about their flight instructors.

Your primary instructor should be at least a certificated flight instructor (CFI). Ensure that your instrument instructor has an instrument instructor rating (CFII). Instrument training received from a non-rated instructor can cause problems when it comes to meeting FAA requirements.

A good way to get acquainted with your instructor is to take an introductory lesson (not just a demonstration ride). During your lesson, assess your instructor's attitude. Only you can determine what personality best fits yours, but you want an instructor who expects perfection, who will work with you until it's achieved, and who cares about you as a person as well as a student.
Click to expand...

When I met my first instructor, I went on an intro flight with him and I could just tell that he had his act together. He was confident, dressed sharp, showed up on time, was friendly, patient, answered all my questions, etc. He seemed like a cool guy that I could stand to spend 40 hours sitting next to in a cramped, noisy environment. Oh, and he was a senior in college and had very little experiece as an instructor--but everything turned out great.

For my "interview" with him, I can't remember specifically what I asked, but I think I basically outlined a plan I had already come up with--I wanted to fly a lot, I had a King Schools video course for ground school, and I wanted to get done in three months. Then I started asking...what do you think of this? What will it cost? Is there anything you'd do differently? Will this work? I got the feeling that he was being very honest with me and wasn't BSing about anything.

Also, another tip to add--even after you start flying with an instructor, it's ok to switch to somebody else. I've heard way too many students complaining about their instructor...he's not patient with me....she's so boring...I feel like he's wasting my money, she's not pushing me through training fast enough. I ask them why they don't switch, and it's always something like, "Oh, it'd be awkward to ask to switch," or something along those lines.

I tell all my students after our first lesson together that I like flying with them, and that I'll do my best to be a good instructor and help them reach their goals, but I understand they have their style of learning, and I have my style of teaching, and if for some reason they decide after a few lessons they'd rather try another instructor, I won't be at all offended. I want them to do whatever it takes to succeed, and sometimes that means switching instructors midway through training. It's just part of the game, and a truly professional instructor should understand that. I want to get that out in the open right away, because I don't want any of my students to be those students who complain about me behind my back.

By the way, kudos to you for doing some research in this area! Out of all the students I've had (25+), I've only had one who took the time to interview me and make sure I was a good instructor for them. I'm surprised at how many people blindly accept whoever they randomly get for their first instructor!
 
Great responses.

I know that personalities and techniques vary - and yeah, there are some personality types which I can mesh with and some types that I don't.

I'm a tell-me, show-me, make-me-do-it, critique-me and then let-me-try-again kind of person. I guess I need to look for someone who teaches that way, or at least can adapt.

As I'm still looking around - is there anything y'all can tell me that should be strictly avoided?
 
John Herreshoff said:
Smelly instructors
Click to expand...

So was that spilled Kool-Aid on the front of your shirt at SkyMates that day or were ya just sweatin' in the plane?

Not that I could smell you. I smoke too many cigarettes to smell anything but my own boogers.

Quit date a week from tomorrow. Ugh. How that will suck.

Anyway - I hear what y'all are saying about interviewing instructors, and while it would be nice to take a flight with every instructor candidate, that could get pretty darn expensive pretty quick (at $100 a pop.)

Do Chief Instructors/Owners keep evaluations on their instructors? Would they be willing to share evaluations with prospective clients?
 
killbilly said:
As I'm still looking around - is there anything y'all can tell me that should be strictly avoided?
Click to expand...

Hmm...the first thought that comes to my head is anybody who either doesn't make you feel safe or doesn't take the time to answer your questions.

Really, it's hard to define for somebody with no aviation experience what isn't acceptable. I'd say to keep researching other aspects of aviation and find out what the norms and averages are. Average cost, average time it takes, normal progression through different stages of training, etc. Make sure your instructor isn't doing or saying anything that is wildly outside the commonly accepted way things are done. If you get a bad feeling about something, come back here and post a question about it.
 
You want to talk with LeAnne at Skymates, she knows us all pretty well and she knows our indivudal teaching styles. She'll match you up pretty well with somebody that you should get along with.

But if you don't it's no big deal, just switch instructors. I've had a student or two that I know I wouldn't get along with and was very upfront with LeAnne about it because I knew I was wasting their time because we just didn't match up. They got put with somebody else and everybody is happier because of it. No harm, no foul in my book.
 
killbilly said:
Do Chief Instructors/Owners keep evaluations on their instructors? Would they be willing to share evaluations with prospective clients?
Click to expand...

Good question. Maybe, maybe not, but it can't hurt to ask.

What you might do is talk to the owner/manager of the operation and tell them your plans--your time frame, learning style, end goals, etc. and ask if they have two or three instructors who they think would work best with you. Then fly an intro flight with those two or three and pick your favorite.
 
If you go with Skymates, I'd definately take a little bit of time to talk to LeAnne. She's always had a knack for successfully pairing up students and instructors. Plus, she's been doing this instructing thing for quite a while....
 
I had a good instructor. Or so it seemed. After the 3rd or 4th lesson, I just didn't feel like we were making any progress. I repeted the exact same lesson 3 times and then i stoped flying with her. This might be because I am "Just a kid" who wants to fly. Don't get me wrong she is a good person, but I know she is here to build time. She needed to slow down. relax. Take her time to get to the "majors". So then I switched CFIs to the president of the club, and that is 1000X better. This guy is 60+ yrs. of age and has been running the club for 30+ yrs. He is flying for the love of flying, which I admire greatly. Flying with him has its advantages, for example when we stop at other airports, we go in and chat with people he knows and maybe pick up stuff from other airports then take it back to KOSU.

Bottom Line: Pick an instructor who you admire, and you understand there passion for aviation. It will make your experince much better. You only learn to fly once.
 
This flight training thing is all about patients. You should have an instructing who is not yelling at you about altititude during hour one of flight training. But if you know that you are a slacker and need a good kick in the behind to keep things going smooth......let them know. I've had students that have told me to really give it to them if they slack and I've had students that really have to be soft spoken with. I've also had students that I have to really jump up and down ....and give really big pats on the back when something was done correctly.

Figure out what student you are and tell the instructor to treat you accordingly.....i.e... If you do alot of self study, let them know that.
If you have a hard time grasping something, let them know.


I tell my students to take a few hours to see if they like me If they don't...fire me. Everybody isn't for everybody. I also tell them to stop me mid sentence(if they have to) if they don't understand something in ground school and get any questions answered.

If you have trouble executing something within the first few hours, don't be to quick to call it quits with an instructor. Some parts of your flight training will just take time to get.

I wish I would have known about JC when I did my flight training. I would have saved a lot of money and headaches.
 
There are alot of things that I really really like about my instructor and a couple of things that really bothered me.

Something that I thought I disliked was that he would sometimes jump on me for bad landings, not holding airspeed, not getting something during some ground instruction, he seriously came close to getting slapped a couple of times.lol. And he NEVER says "Great job.", or "Good one", it's always a very casual "You did good and crap." as I'm about to drive away.

I thought that those kind of things were bad for me for a while, but then I noticed his other students and decided that I needed an attitude adjustment. Since then, everything's been fine, we had fun on the xcountries, hoodwork convo was very entertaining, and he is a real joking funny kind of guy. I understand his personality a bit more, and I just remember that I'm not always going to be flying with other pilots who cater to me 100%. I also think I was taking it too personal.

The only thing that irks me to think about now is a couple weeks ago when doing the night touch and goes. At mid rwy on the downwind leg he says,

"You know what, I'm gonna go ahead and pay for your checkride...IFFFFF, you can land us without touching the yoke."

"Alright, you're on.'

End of the rwy, carb heat, 1500, 10 degrees of flaps. Trimmed good, everything's looking good, my arms are smuggly crossed on my chest. Downwind to base... still lookin' good.

As I turn to final and get perfectly aligned on the rwy he starts fidgeting,

"Hold on..."

"Nope, you already made the bet."

He's scared now, and I'm freakin' out cuz I'm actually about to do it and get my checkride paid for.

Comin' down nice and smooth, I got my hand on the throttle, ready to flare, and then my dumba$$ puts in the perfect amount of power, but doesn't even think to increase right rudder as I did it and then I instinctively grabbed the yoke as we pitched to the left a little bit. He started laughing and I started cussing.

He still didn't say, "Decent job", but he did say he was scared and wouldn't make the bet again. I was gushing like a schoolgirl over the praise.:D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top