2 months as a CFI

jordane93

jordane93

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Sep 9, 2013
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Long Island, NY
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Jordan
2 months have already passed since I got my CFI certificate. Just want to give an update for anyone is interested. I have 113.4 hours dual given and just over 400 hours. I just recently started working full time last week as I finished up school and I've been working 6-7 days a week. I soloed my first student a few weeks ago and have two more that should solo within the next weeks weather permitting and if they do well on the prog check. The days are long but I am learning so much. I still have a lot to learn but it's cool to see my students progress in their training and know that I actually taught them something and they learned from it! In two weeks I'll start training on the SR-20/22 so I can start to instruct in those planes. The instructors at my school say once you fly in the Cirrus, you don't want to go back to any other plane. Looking forward to learning more about the Cirrus and can't wait to start flying it.
 
Congrats. Flight instructing has always been enjoyable and very satisfying for me, sharing my passion for flight with others. It sounds like you're off and running. Keep going!
 
congrats that a nice way to build up some hours - sh* I'm happy getting in a .7 here and there nice
 
Glad to hear you're enjoying it! It's something I've never had a desire to do, but I'm thankful there are still folks like you who want to do it. :thumbsup:
 
LDJones said:
Congrats. Flight instructing has always been enjoyable and very satisfying for me, sharing my passion for flight with others. It sounds like you're off and running. Keep going!
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Yea so far I really enjoy it. I'm still getting in the groove of things so I'm looking forward to it.
 
azure said:
Glad to hear you're enjoying it! It's something I've never had a desire to do, but I'm thankful there are still folks like you who want to do it. :thumbsup:
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It's definitely not for everyone!
 
Walboy said:
Thanks for the update.

I have heard CFIs say that when you have an enthusiastic student who puts forth effort studying/chair flying between flying lessons being an instructor is fantastic. They go on to say when a student wants to be spoon fed and spends zero time on aviation outside of the flying lesson, it's an awful job. They say there are more of the latter than the former. Have you had a taste of this?
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I really only have one student who I have to spoon feed the info to. I assign him homework and he never does it. I have no problem doing that because he ends up paying for my time. It does kind of suck when he doesn't do/look up the homework. It's pretty simple stuff too. Like look up what slow flight is, why do we do it, what the procedure is. It's one page and he doesn't even spend time to look it up. The rest of my students are awesome. They always do their homework and show up prepared. Luckily all the students I have are pretty good with showing up on time.
 
jordane93 said:
I really only have one student who I have to spoon feed the info to. I assign him homework and he never does it. I have no problem doing that because he ends up paying for my time. It does kind of suck when he doesn't do/look up the homework. It's pretty simple stuff too. Like look up what slow flight is, why do we do it, what the procedure is. It's one page and he doesn't even spend time to look it up. The rest of my students are awesome. They always do their homework and show up prepared. Luckily all the students I have are pretty good with showing up on time.
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Aviation is something you need to have a passion for. Why does he want to fly?
 
It's nice to see someone with something good to say about flying for work. It seems like so many pilots do nothing but complain. It's disappointing, especially for someone who is working towards that goal. Nice to see someone who is enjoying it, and has a good attitude.
 
Thanks for giving feedback on your first experience as CFI.:) I guess there are always people around, who need spoon feeding and will not decide or do anything on their own. :rolleyes: It's good that most of your students are differently - it will make your life far easier and the job more interesting.
 
ktup-flyer said:
Aviation is something you need to have a passion for. Why does he want to fly?
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That's true, but it could be a student who's parents are pushing him until that passion develops later. As a 29 yr old, it's still fresh in my mind how nonchalant I was about life in my younger years.

As an electric guitar player and a pilot, I would of greatly benefited by starting each activity earlier in my life even if it took me being pushed for a while.
 
So you get a satisfaction from teaching - thats the CFI I would be looking for no doubt (both as student or employer). Good stuff, keep it up. And when you get some challenging students/situations it might suck but you will learn when you work through it.
 
Congrats Jordan! I had the privilege to do most of my training & my initial CFI at KFRG.

I miss NY.
 
ktup-flyer said:
Aviation is something you need to have a passion for. Why does he want to fly?
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Not really sure. His flying is great. I just need to have him pick up a book. He had his pre solo prog check today so hopefully that woke him up
 
MikeELP said:
Good to hear you're enjoying it, Jordan!!

Have you had a student scare the crap out of you yet? :D
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First day after I got my ticket, I had a student almost put us into the grass while taxiing, almost stall on departure, and go 45 degrees of bank in the traffic pattern. A few weeks later I almost got put into a spin while teaching power off stalls. I had a blast:lol:
 
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jordane93 said:
First day after I got my ticket, I had a student put us into the grass while taxiing, almost stall on departure, and go 45 degrees of bank in the traffic pattern. A few weeks later I almost got put into a spin while teaching power off stalls. I had a blast:lol:
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This is exactly why I never want to be a CFI. At least my students only try to drive me crazy, yours actually try to kill you! :yikes:
 
azure said:
This is exactly why I never want to be a CFI. At least my students only try to drive me crazy, yours actually try to kill you! :yikes:
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Oops. I meant to say ALMOST put us in the grass. I did not let it go that far!
 
Nice! After spending about 6 months instructing, I've only had 2 really close ones. One guy just didn't flare and locked up on the controls. I guess he was just going to hit the ground prop first. I had to physically slam him off the controls. The second, I told him to gently bring the nose up while flaring one day and he suddenly went full aft. Also had to physically knock him off. I saved it, but I was told our tail was less than a foot from the ground. How we didn't immediately stall and turn the plane into a crushed coke can, I have no clue.
 
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