CFI questions
Hi, I have been a CFI, II, MEI for 14 years. I am not active as an instructor but my tickets are current. First it is OK to ask how many hours or experience the instructor or mechanic has but I would not go with that question personally. The FAA, thru the FAR's dictate aircraft maintenance and the qualification and licensing of Instructors and Mechanics. SO there should be some level of safety there, but there are important issues for the student, like will I be able to get a plane when I want one.
As far as age or experience I get real mad when people put down CFI's with little or no knowledge of what the profession involves. I did my time, about 1800 hours dual given and still counting, and loved it. I loved helping people get their wings so to speak. Although I fly a Boeing now, I still have great respect for any instructor, C-150 to B777. A new instructor may be just fine, although an instructor that has at least one past private pilot completion, thru successful check ride, is a plus.
With that said there are good instructors and not so good instructors, it is like anything, but more grey hair is not necessarily the key. It is also chemistry (personalities) between you and the instructor. You are the customer and you get to choose, but you also should plan on getting an instructor and sticking with them. Staying with one instructor is totally to your benifit. Once the instructor is chosen they are the boss so to speak, but it is a boss you can fire. If it is not jiving a switch may be in order. It is rare but it happens. I only "lost" one student. I would not solo him (I could not he scared me). He went on to fly with another instructor and another and than disappeared. Its not always the instructors fault either.
Like anything, shop around. First go and visit all the FBO/Flight schools in your area. Go for a "demo flight" at every one of the potential schools. They usually offer a discount for the first flight, which is a good deal. That 20-30 minute "demo" can be logged, so be sure one of the first things you buy is a little student / pilot flight log book. Don't get a huge Captains log, just a standard pilot log is fine. Log the demo time and have the CFI sign it, with his Lic#, date and description what you did. It may not get you your licence sooner, but it is good practice to log your time.
Chances you are not going to take a "demo" with every instructor; that would be a waste, but at least you will get a feel for a few different instructors, one of which may be the one. Even if you don't think its the school for you, it may be worth while to do the demo, if nothing else for a cheaper lesson. You want to visit at differnt times, week day and week end. Meet as many of the instructors for a face to face casually chat. Also ask the person behind the counter about the instructors, "what's Joe like"; they might have a "Bio" or "MO" to give you; "He is a great instructor but he has chronic gas".
NEXT. I am joking of course but you might glean some insight or useful info about the instructors from the staff.
Some instructors may only work evenings or weekends. That my be convenient for you if you have a 9-5 Yob. May be you are self employed or want to fly early morning or noon? Never the less meet them, talk to a few and most important talk to some students, ones that completed or near complete. Good instructors are busy by word of mouth. Nuff said.
Maintenance is important, but you want a fleet that is available. If they have one C152 and that is what you are flying it WILL be down or not available for many reasons. The more planes the better. Go look at it. Is it tired looking? Ask to see the log books. Its a business and like all business they have amenities. Is this a place you would want to rent after you licence?
I would suggest you plan to start in the spring and finish before late fall so there are no (less) weather delays. Stretching out a program past 6 months is too long. You should have your life arranged so you have time to fly at least 2 or even 3 times a week. If you go weeks between flights you forget and are wasting time. Continuity is very important. Set the check ride, figuratively on the first day for flight instruction. Get the PTT (practical test standard). now I have addressed flight training. The ground instruction and test prep is something you can start anytime and can self study or take a home course on DVD, internet, books and tapes. How do you learn? Do you like to read? You like a live lectures. Ground and flight compliment each other but they are not mutually inclusive. In fact you can take your written with ZERO flight hours, but that's not ideal. Some overlap with gound and flight training is best. You will need a CFI's approval or a graduation certificate to take the written test.
My personal techniques or rules for student pilots are: Keep flight lessons short in the early phase of training, no more than a hour total Blk to Blk.(students get tired and anything over that is a waste). No need to bore holes in the sky looking at the country side. Get away for the airport and do air-work, don't pound out 20 T/G's the first lessons. Sure 1 or 2 T/G's as part of every lesson after returning from the air-work is fine. You have to learn to fly first before doing the pattern work. Regardless rule one keep it short. When you leave the pattern there should be instruction going on the whole time. Intense but short lessons are most efficient. I say 2/3rds of my private students finished in approx 50 hours or less, of those quite a few in the low 40's. The national average is much higher. (I guess around 60-70 hours, don't know the current average any more). The reason it takes longer is inconsistent training schedule, instructor's not planning well, like they only do dual, and before you know it you have 40 hours. Than you and the instructor say, hey you need to do more SOLO! Once you first solo you need to continue to solo concurrently with your dual instruction, not solo as an after thought. The FAA changed the ratio of solo to dual, which was 20/20. I think 20 hours of dual is plenty for the average pilot. Remember these are MINs not required. You can always do more. Any way when you do your first solo (wear an old shirt that day
), make sure you continue to solo after that.
(NOTE: Any mention of HOURS to complete a milestone is approx, and really it means nothing. EVERYONE is differnt and takes different times. Never get crazy about soloing in X hours or taking you check ride with Y hours. Hours in the FAR's are mins. The instructor will tell you when you are ready. Training is not hours or doing XYZ it is training to proficiency. Remember to have fun by the way, because that is what its all about. You should always be aware of the "completion standards" or the criteria you're being measured by. The PTT (Prct. Test Std.) is very critical to that understanding. Like in level flight you must maintain your altitude and heading by a certain amount. The instructor should not have to tell you being 100 feet off is not acceptable standards, you should know, for example.)
If your RV-9A is not ready for a while, you have time. You can do all your training in a Cessna but suggest you try some dual or even check out in a low wing plane like a Piper or other low wing plane before flying your RV-9A. Of course transition training with a CFI in a RV9A is highly recommended. If you have any specific questions, write me at
[email protected]. George
