Your first flight as a CFI

proxima3003

proxima3003

Well-Known Member
Im working on my initial CFI right now and am a bit anxious about that first student/flight/lesson. Anyone care to share a story about your first "day on the job"? Maybe Ive been reading too many stories about students doing crazy stuff and CFIs having to "survive" day to day...
 
It's not that big of a deal. You're doing something you've been training for. Most students don't try to kill you on day one. When the near death stories come out, it's a student that's (usually) post solo, you get a little complacent, and let the student go to far.

Also, just like all pilots, CFIs sometimes... um... embellish just the smallest amount. And the "my student tried to kill me" talk is pretty much just a way of expressing the normal day at work in a more exciting manner.
 
First day flying with a student was a post solo finishing up Private. Everything was going great we flew to a local airport entered the traffic pattern...by this point I had let my guard down because it was going so well. We enter the pattern get on short final over some trees and all of a sudden my student drops the controls and yelps help and our untrimmed airplane noses down towards the trees. I just didn't expect it...not that big of a deal just be on your toes.
 
I got lucky... a discovery flight.
Remember they see you as the 'sky god' that can do no wrong. Fly like you have done in the past and do not take the word of any one when it comes to Fuel, Oil and TFR's. I had to explain what full tanks are in a C172. It was not his fault... he looked said they were full and jumped down.. I looked and could see the tank rib... he did not know what full was supposed to look like.
 
Insurance checkout for a friend in his newly purchased PA-28-140. Nothing too exciting happened except for when he tried to dump the flaps (johnson bar....) before adding power on a go-around. A quick "No" and jamming of the throttle solved the problem.
 
My first flight was with a friends student. We were reviewing a power-off stall when things got interesting. He wasn't adding enough rudder, and when the stall came he saw he needed more rudder and kicked it full to the right. Next thing I know were in a spin. Wasn't really too freaked out because I've done alot before but after a rotation or two I got us out of it. He was a little "ghost" looking, but I showed him a power off, he did one pretty much to PTS on his next try.

Fun stuff though!
 
The first day was pretty easy for me because I still had the "I'm the PIC" mentality. As others have said, it's when you get a few weeks in and naturally become complacent is when things can get a little interesting. My advice is to always keep a close watch on every flight. Don't ever think of yourself as a passenger and don't stop looking for opportunities to learn and teach.
 
Well I logged my first 1.2 dual given today, Went great. My first student is my wife's boss! He has 4 flights under his belt but spaced weeks apart. due to his work(Surgeon) I had him preflight by the checklist and perform the engine start/taxi, I was on the controls with him for the takeoff which went alright considering his huge right rudder inputs lol. once airborne we went thru straight and level, level turns, climbs, descents. He did really well with the turns, stayed within 100 ft. Looking forward to the next flight!
 
I was nervous beyond reason. It's one thing to fly when you're paying for it, but when it's your job (not to mention your ticket) and some other poor bozo is footing the bill, there's a lot of pressure not just to do it safely, but do it efficently. I remember the first few months there was a constant voice in my head screaming "LEARN, DAMN YOU, LEARN!". I guess maybe that was partly an artifact of paying for my own training and feeling how much every extra hour cost those guys. I was a lot more "relaxed" with the MDs and JDs who were just going to wind up buying a Bonanza and flying it 50 miles twice a month to impress their girlfriends. And this is back when it was "cheap". Can't even imagine it now.
 
First flight was a nice easy rental checkout in a 172.

Second flight later that afternoon was flight one of a tailwheel endorsement in a C140. Not so easy.
 
My first student was the day after I passed my CFI ride.... luckily he is now my prodigy student and the lesson went very well. He had no idea that it was my first lesson with a student. This kid is sharp and I can't seem to trip him up on anything. He was just prior to solo when I picked him up and I soloed him shortly there after.

I think everyone has a student opposite of that, though as well... everything they do makes you incredibly irritated and they're very impatient with their training. One of those that you want the power-on stall to sort of "go awry" one time just to teach them themselves they don't know everything... :bang:
 
rd757 said:
My first student was the day after I passed my CFI ride.... luckily he is now my prodigy student and the lesson went very well. He had no idea that it was my first lesson with a student. This kid is sharp and I can't seem to trip him up on anything. He was just prior to solo when I picked him up and I soloed him shortly there after.

I think everyone has a student opposite of that, though as well... everything they do makes you incredibly irritated and they're very impatient with their training. One of those that you want the power-on stall to sort of "go awry" one time just to teach them themselves they don't know everything... :bang:
Click to expand...

And then you have one that the power on stall goes awry every. single. time. and they still don't understand that it's even wrong. And every landing is a bouncing madhouse and they don't understand why they can't solo.
 
My first flight as a CFI was a flight review for the first person who ever took me flying. It was kinda weird at first telling him what to do, but it was a great experience. We started off with a couple takeoffs and landings. He has well over 800 hours or so and he knew what he was doing. So, I just made sure he followed checklists and the airport pattern. Then we went out in the practice area and did some stalls and performance maneuvers. He is hoping to take his commercial check ride soon, but hadn't practiced the maneuvers for awhile so I gave him some pointers and demonstrated a couple. After that we talked about emergency procedures and did a simulated engine out landing. When we got back on the ground we talked about airspace and went through part 91 briefly. We also talked some more about the requirements for a commercial pilots license. Finally, we talked about using iPads in the cockpit and looked at some charts on the iPad. It was pretty cool to have my first student in march of 2012, be the fist guy I ever flew in a ga plane with back in October 2008
 
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