Boondocks Instrument Training 2.0...

MBDiagMan

MBDiagMan

Final Approach
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Doc
....or is it 3.0, or 4.0, or something, anyway I am trying something different.

I have struggled to get the right instructor and situation to complete my training. I have completed my written and I ncluding my hood time for my Private, I have more than 15 hours under the hood with a CFII. I had a guy who is a good instructor, come to town for a few days. I paid him very handsomely for two and a half days plus put him up in a hotel. I got six hours logged out of it and a bunch of ground school that covered things I can learn on my own and other things that I already feel comfortable with. The worst of it was that he came across as abrasive and caustic which was not an environment for efficient learning.

Previous to him I had flown with someone who is a good instructor but is fifty or so miles away, so that wasn’t working out great, mainly because of the ferrying back and forth. There is a local CFI that I have known for a while who told me that only the last three hours must be done with a CFII. He is a reasonably good instructor with a very reasonable rate. He says he can get me there. Whether or not it is true that only the last three hours must be done with a CFII should be a non issue as far as that goes since I already have fifteen hours hood time logged with a CFII.

My thinking now is to take the local CFI to the old instructor fifty miles away and have a meeting. If the CFII flies a check with me occasionally as I move along and then finishes me up for the checkride while the local CFI flies with me as an instructing Safety pilot, it might work.

The remote instructor has said that I should get a safety pilot and practice rather than paying him to do it, but I can’t really find anyone on the field to safety for me. The local instructor doesn’t charge much and it might very well be that he can teach me all of it such that all I will need to do is fly the last hours with the the remote guy and let him set up the checkride.

Thoughts? Since none of you to know the detailed background, feel free to ask questions and thanks for your thoughts.
 
I'm pretty much finished with my IR training and the instructor is very important, you have to trust them. I had some "humps" to get over, and if you are wondering about your instructor you may never get over those humps. There are too many good instructors out there to put up with a crappy one.
 
Also, it is often advantageous to have your CFII familiar with your expected examiner.
 
Yes, the examiner knowledge is one of the things I am concerned about. I am hoping that between the two of them one will come up with something. The local guy claims to know one.
 
PaulS said:
I'm pretty much finished with my IR training and the instructor is very important, you have to trust them. I had some "humps" to get over, and if you are wondering about your instructor you may never get over those humps. There are too many good instructors out there to put up with a crappy one.
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What you say is correct except for the “too many good instructors” part. I’m sure it’s true where you are, but I am in the boondocks with a severe limit to the number of instrument instructors.
 
When I did it, there were two CFIIs in the area; I used one, and before we were done the other one moved away. I also passed! Two pieces of empirical proof that I picked the right one.

That said, my CFII was a 40-ish regional ATP going through a midlife career change and hadn't taught in many years, with zero Mooney experience. But we made it work. I was concerned with thoroughly learning things and becoming proficient rather than finishing up in minimum time.

Ask around your airport and others nearby. Check for facebook pages (yuck! I don't belong), ask other pilots. There's gotta be someone you can get along with.

Good luck!
 
MBDiagMan said:
What you say is correct except for the “too many good instructors” part. I’m sure it’s true where you are, but I am in the boondocks with a severe limit to the number of instrument instructors.
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Would you be willong to hop over to TKI to link up with an instructor? If so, I can recommend a real good one who teaches from there.
 
Hank S said:
When I did it, there were two CFIIs in the area; I used one, and before we were done the other one moved away. I also passed! Two pieces of empirical proof that I picked the right one.

That said, my CFII was a 40-ish regional ATP going through a midlife career change and hadn't taught in many years, with zero Mooney experience. But we made it work. I was concerned with thoroughly learning things and becoming proficient rather than finishing up in minimum time.

Ask around your airport and others nearby. Check for facebook pages (yuck! I don't belong), ask other pilots. There's gotta be someone you can get along with.

Good luck!
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I too want to be proficient, not just good enough to pass the test.
 
MBDiagMan said:
There is a local CFI that I have known for a while who told me that only the last three hours must be done with a CFII. He is a reasonably good instructor with a very reasonable rate. He says he can get me there. Whether or not it is true that only the last three hours must be done with a CFII should be a non issue as far as that goes since I already have fifteen hours hood time logged with a CFII.
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What he's talking about is the 3 hours of checkride prep for the signoff. THAT has to be with a CFII, but it does not necessarily have to be the last 3 hours, it just has to be within two calendar months. 61.65(d)(2)(i):

§61.65 Instrument rating requirements.
(d) Aeronautical experience for the instrument-airplane rating. A person who applies for an instrument-airplane rating must have logged:
(2) Forty hours of actual or simulated instrument time in the areas of operation listed in paragraph (c) of this section, of which 15 hours must have been received from an authorized instructor who holds an instrument-airplane rating, and the instrument time includes:
(i) Three hours of instrument flight training from an authorized instructor in an airplane that is appropriate to the instrument-airplane rating within 2 calendar months before the date of the practical test;

My thinking now is to take the local CFI to the old instructor fifty miles away and have a meeting. If the CFII flies a check with me occasionally as I move along and then finishes me up for the checkride while the local CFI flies with me as an instructing Safety pilot, it might work.
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Not a bad plan. In fact, if the local CFI is interested, maybe you could work it such that he gets his CFII as part of the process as well, since he'll be able to have a student guinea pig (you) to practice instructing instruments on.
 
Mike, Thanks for the referral, but my goal is to do it locally. I can go to Paris or Longview or Tyler, but I don’t want to spend so much time and fuel ferrying back and forth to an instructor. My current pursuit is the local CFI doing most of the teaching and the CFII doing the final three hours and setting up the checkride. It might be that I fly with the local CFI and then go to your guy in McKinney for the finish up.
 
I flew with the local CFI this morning. It was very productive flight time. I finally have a training program that I think will get me there. He has a CFII that will work with him for the final portions of training and sign off for the checkride. He also has a DPE that he is familiar with.

Life is good. I will chronicle the progress in this thread.
 
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It is going surprisingly well with the CFI. He is a decent instructor and easily tolerable to fly with. I have learned from others who have flown with the DPE I will be using that I will not being going in blind. I really believe this is going to work.

BTW, I got some actual with this instructor last week and it wasn’t as I expected. I just flew the instruments with the hood off, no big deal. The top side kept pointing up and all was well. My biggest challenge is just learning to be comfortable with the radio.
 
MBDiagMan said:
My biggest challenge is just learning to be comfortable with the radio.
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If that is your biggest challenge, then the remainder is cake.

Keep in mind that if you fly into the NE side of the DFW Bravo, that can be one of the busier sectors for Regional Approach with some controllers going from 90 wpm gusting to 120. Don't be afraid to ask the controller to repeat an instruction and slow down.

Here is the LiveATC link for KADS that will get you to that sector of Regional Approach if you wish to listen and get used to the chatter. Just scroll down to the bottom to find the button that launches the feed.

https://www.liveatc.net/search/?icao=kads
 
Yeah Mike. I have done flight following in the DFW Bravo and a few times ended up with approach or departure machine gunning to the big boys. I have been working on this, so hopefully I can keep up with them next time. I am getting the flying part. I am probably better than halfway there now.
 
I would drive the 50 miles and get the damn thing done. But then I drive over 70 miles each way M-F to do A&P work because I like the airport, the airplanes that I work on, and the folks that I work with.
 
I have to walk 15 miles, in the snow, through big snow drifts, at 20 below zero, in flip flops and a bathing suit, uphill both ways to get to my airplane.
 
I don’t think I ever”complained” about the instructor being fifty miles away. I just said that the ferrying back and forth wasn’t working out well. I spent a number of years with one plane hangared forty five minutes in one direction and the other plane forty five minutes the other direction, so I have paid my dues going distances from home to fly.

I have a plan in place now that seems to be working without getting hotel rooms for instructors and paying them by the day, or ferrying a half hour both ways.
 
PaulS said:
I have to walk 15 miles, in the snow, through big snow drifts, at 20 below zero, in flip flops and a bathing suit, uphill both ways to get to my airplane.
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You forgot to mention the 3 hour engine preheat by hand rubbing
 
Rgbeard said:
When you say "ferrying" - is that just code for flying your plane to another airport?
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Yes, it means flying 50 miles, doing a lesson then flying home.

I think I would be making progress, but weather has been too bad for even instrument flying and on top of that I got a bad cold that has turned into Flu.

Flying is most definitely a lesson in patience.
 
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