The Flying Turkey: A working CFI

TheFlyingTurkey

TheFlyingTurkey

Fetus Worshiper
***This is my new thread on what it is like to be a working CFI at Pan Am. Now that I am an employee, I won't be sharing my opinions, but I will share some experiences I have with training from the other side of the coin...a CFI. And I wont get too specific when discussing students.***

The day finally came and I got my first student. I started on Wednesday, and flew once a day through Friday. I am getting two more students starting Monday so I'll have 3 total, all of them Chinese. They will fly once a day until they finish ground school, then twice a day.

My first student was in the Chinese air force and flew some type of trainer aircraft, then transitioned into a jet trainer, but I don't know the type. Most of the Chinese students here were in the air force and have some flying experience. My student hadn't flown in over two years so I approached the first few flights as you would with any new student. His English is very good and I was surprised at how good it was, and he was very eager to talk on the radio. I have noticed the Chinese students are very competative, highly motivated, and intelligent. (and they love the NBA!)
 
I am curious... Since you say most of the Chinese students have flight experience in the Chinese Air Force, is the program modified for them, or do they still have to fulfill ALL of the requirements? Same hours/missions and what not?

I bet it is kind of wierd getting back into the swing of things yourself!!

Good luck, and Have Fun!!!!
 
Jojo, the Chinese are starting at private then instrument, then CRM, then commercial-multi, then commercial single add-on. Then they go back to China to fly A320's or 737's or some other big jet. My students will be driving heavy iron well before I see anything bigger than a Seminole!
 
Montanapilot, in my "previous" life I was an industrial air conditioning technician. It's a great job to fall back on, and that's what I did while I waited for students. I stayed working in the Vero/Ft. Pierce/Port St. Lucie area, and drove home to Fort Lauderdale on the weekends.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Jojo, the Chinese are starting at private then instrument, then CRM, then commercial-multi, then commercial single add-on. Then they go back to China to fly A320's or 737's or some other big jet. My students will be driving heavy iron well before I see anything bigger than a Seminole!

[/ QUOTE ]

Isn't that crazy!! Hard to believe that with just a little "quality" with you, they will be off to fly the big stuff!!!!
 
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Jojo, the Chinese are starting at private then instrument, then CRM, then commercial-multi, then commercial single add-on. Then they go back to China to fly A320's or 737's or some other big jet. My students will be driving heavy iron well before I see anything bigger than a Seminole!

[/ QUOTE ]

Isn't that crazy!! Hard to believe that with just a little "quality" with you, they will be off to fly the big stuff!!!!

[/ QUOTE ]

that's suppose to be "quality time"....
 
What a challenge it is instructing students who's first language is something other than English. I have 3 students, one of them speaks English very well. The other two can barely speak it. They can repeat tower instructions, but they really don't comprehend what is being said. If they have any questions, it takes 15 minutes just to figure out what the question is. My one student who speaks English is way ahead of the other two, and I know it has all to do with how well he understands the language.
Teaching these guys to fly isn't really that hard, but making them understand what they are doing is much more difficult.
Overall instructing is what I thought it would be... hard work. But not as hard as my old job!
 
Turk, i feel ya. i have a Polish student who speaks pretty well but there are still times i can't understand what he is saying. add to that, that he is kind of quiet and i sometimes wonder if he understands what i'm saying. its all kinds of fun
 
Big day today!
Today I soloed my first student! It was a big day for both of us. It was signifigant for me, but not so much for my student. He already has some flying experince when he was in the Chinese Air Force, and already has 40 hours solo, but not in these slow moving Archers. (Keep in mind his last flight in the air force was 2 years ago)

A solo from a CFI's point of view: For me, I wasn't very nervous. My phylosophy is: if you are prepared and ready, there is nothing to be nervous about. I felt that same way when I first soloed on 9/18/02. My student was eager to solo and he was ready, so it worked out great. We flew to KOBE (uncontrolled) at 07:00. Nice and quiet and we pretty much had the airport to ourselves. We did a couple touch & go's, and a full stop taxi back. Then he dropped me off at the FBO and off he went. I listened in on the FBO radio, and watched from a nearby taxiway. He did 3 full stop taxi backs, then came back to the ramp. I took some photo's of the flight, and of him after he landed. He was a happy camper. Great day.
 
Hi turk! I read through most of your postings, sounds like you are definately motivated and dedicated! Remember, your students will be a direct reflection of your leadership. Great job and keep up the good work!

By the way, to bring the seriousness of their flight training into perspective, I remember when I was stationed in Pusan (Busan) South Korea 2001/2002 I watched a China Airlines plane crash into the side of a mountain just outside of Kimhae airport.....no pressure j/k. But on a good note, alot of people lived through that accident.
 
[ QUOTE ]
I watched a China Airlines plane crash into the side of a mountain just outside of Kimhae airport

[/ QUOTE ] Correction, it was Air China.
blush.gif
 
It's been a while since I last posted, so I thought I would get you all up to speed. (After all I am a busy CFI!) Well my 3 students are now down to two. I gave one up to another instructor who only had one student. Which as it turns out is better for me. With 3 you can really only fly them once a day, so only 3 flights for me. But with two I can fly each student twice a day, giving me 4 flights. So it worked out well.
My two students have been doing good, one better than the other, but I think that has to do with how well they speak English. My 1st student just passed stage 3 and will be taking his private checkride as soon as we can schedule it. His English is pretty good and he is a smart guy. My 2nd student is right on his heels, all we need to do is clean up some of the maneuvers and landings. He should be up for stage 3 on Monday.
Teaching the Chinese students has proved to be much more difficult than I thought it would be. It takes a lot of patience, and coming up with creative ways to communicate exactly what you want to get accross. Think of it this way: Try telling a 6 year old how to do a soft field landing. The reason for doing it, the aerodynamics of it. They hear what your saying, but they dont understand all the words. Same thing teaching people who's English is poor. Instructing in and of itself makes you a much better pilot, but instructing the Chinese takes it up a notch, and I am glad to be doing it.
spin2.gif
I broke 500tt today! I am averaging 90 hours a month, so the time is racking up. Last week was slow because of all the solo's my students have been doing. The way things are going, I could seriously be looking at doing some airline interviews by the end of this year. Here at the FPR campus it looks like we just had 6 instructors get hired at Skyway Airlines, and another 2 at Eagle. I may just shoot for Eagle myself as I would love to get based in Miami, my hometown. Time will tell...
 
Good news...
My very first student passed his private pilot checkride today!
Smilecrunch.gif
I have never seen a happier guy. I remember the feeling of all the weight being lifted off, what a huge relief! After the examiner issued him his temporary certificate, I took him over to the pilot shop and put his private pilot epaulet's on, and then he grabbed me around the waist, like he was going to give me a hug, and he lifted me up into the air and said "thank you"! Now remember, he is from China, so he's a pretty small dude, and I am 6'2" 240 lbs. I don't know but it must be some strange Chinese custom. What a great experince.
 
Congrats Turk!! I remember when my first student passed his....you're right...it DOES feel good to be the instructor!!! Good to hear you're flying as much as you are too. I wish I could, but I'm having to work a full time job to pay the bills (ie: Key Bank!!), but as soon as this flight school gets off the ground (it opened on Apr 1) and we get our 141 status, I hope to fly full time! Then I can solo my first student (the other guy was 100+ hrs when he found me) and hopefully get another notch under my belt!!

Congrats again Turk!!
Pappy
 
Good work Turk!!! I just started my CFI training, and am looking forward to the day when I actually get to start being paid to teach/fly!!

Keep it up!

LC
 
** UPDATE **

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/Smilecrunch.gif** UPDATE ** /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/Smilecrunch.gif

Well, things have been cruising right along for me at Pan Am. I have a student getting ready for his instrument checkride in less than a week. The big news is I am getting a raise! I have been asked to leave the Chinese section, and go into the South Korean section. This is huge because it is a salaried position, and I will be earning more than double what I was making before, plus benifits. It's really a cake deal...

The students coming in are already licensed pilots, they are just going to pan Am for proficiency! I will have 3 students, and they will each get 60 hours instrument training, and 40 hours multi training in 4 months. Thats it. No checkrides. And another 300 hours for me, 120 of it multi. Even better are the hours: Monday - Friday 8AM to 6PM. This does require a 6 month commitment from me to stay at Pan Am, which is not a problem as I only have 650 hours.

I am so glad the chief considered me for the position. Just shows hard work does pay off.
 
Re: ** UPDATE **

[ QUOTE ]
I have been asked to leave the Chinese section, and go into the South Korean section.

[/ QUOTE ]

No more Chow Mein - all Kim Chee!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top