Keeping in touch with your instructor?

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Melissa2983298

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Melissa
I just passed my PPL checkride, so I'm obviously done with my training for now. I'm an 18 year old girl, and my instructor has known me since I was 12 (he trained my mom as well). Is it normal for people to keep in touch with their instructor after their training is done and call them every once in a while and ask them to meet up for lunch? Does anyone on here keep in touch with their instructor?
 
Yep. I still keep in touch with my CFI that did my Private. I moved on to another flight school for my Instrument and currently my Commercial but still at the same airport. Every now and then I'll stop by his flight school and say hi. I try to be friendly and smile at everyone at my airport because they are all possible future employers and its all about networking and making connections
 
I plan on keeping in touch with mine. The entire reason I picked him as my CFI is he has a joy of flying that is infectious and I enjoy talking with him. Also, I will be taking a mountain flying course with him shortly after getting my Private cert and tailwheel endorsement with him. He's got 9,000 hours so there is a ton of learning I can have around him, also, it's great to meet new friends in this area.
 
Who are you going to do your instrument training with :D
 
We have a group of pilots that all trained at the same school who meet every Thursday evening to have dinner so I see my instructor fairly frequently.
 
Ive become great friends with mine. Does my bfr. Just went night flying with him after 2 yrs noncurrent and we grab wings and beer when possible.
 
I got my private pilot license 36 years ago and I still call my original CFI and talk about flying every once in awhile. I've lost touch with my instr/comm/cfi instructors...one is a check pilot for FedEx now and I have tried to make contact with him, though unsuccessfully.

As for my students, I hear from quite a few of them from time to time, and still do regular BFRs and IPCs with several of them...and occasionally lunch or breakfast get-togethers.
 
My best friend in the whole world was my instrument and commercial instructor.
 
I'd love to, but like most CFIs, he bailed for an airline job and I lost track of him. Can't blame him. He wanted to follow his brother. During some of my lessons, he'd change frequencies to talk to his brother as he flew overhead.
 
I've lost track of my CFI from WI over the years (he moved to FL), but -- amazingly -- I usually run into him at Oshkosh every year!

For a guy I tried to kill so many times, he's always remarkably cordial...

Mary's CFI got sucked into the airlines just a few weeks after she passed her checkride, never to be heard from again...
 
My CFI was a student in college same time I was. 20+ years later, not only are we still in contact, but we've made the trip back to the airport where I learned to fly and he taught. He owns and airplane, and so do I.

It was weird how much hadn't changed. 20 years seemed like a long time, 20 years ago.
 
Once you get your ppl you should be at another level in your relationship with your instructor. It's always good to keep In touch and share flying stories. You will probably become friends if you keep up a relationship.
 
I kept in touch and flew with him occasionally to keep up to par. He was killed a few years later moving a Luscombe for a friend so that it could be annualed. It had not been flown for a while, had car gas in it, stalled at about 100 feet on takeoff, went into trees. He died doing a favor for a friend. After that I was always very careful of what I flew and who worked on it.
 
It depends on your relationship with the instructor. I definitely still keep in touch with mine. Of course, he not only put me through 5 ratings, he was my boss for a while, and also a great friend.
 
I was friends with my CFII for the private before she taught me to fly.

I've been friends with my instrument CFII since 1990. Recently he helped me learn to reload.
 
My ppl instructor and I became really good friends. We are close in age and we hangout regularly along with our wives. I still rent at the flight school where he works, and 9 times out of 10, he jumps in with me when I fly. Sometimes he needs to get away from teaching an just look out the window or do some low passes and other fun (not by the book) type stuff. As a bonus, anytime I need a little dual, it's pro bono.
 
I work part time for my PPL instructor and occasionally chat with my instrument instructor. Always a good idea to maintain good contacts :yes:
 
Still friends.
Fly to visit with him frequently. (only been 10 months since PPL though)
 
I would love to, but my original CFI passed away a number of years ago. I knew him through the local amateur radio club before I started flying lessons.
 
Ghery said:
I would love to, but my original CFI passed away a number of years ago. I knew him through the local amateur radio club before I started flying lessons.
Click to expand...


Mine too. Cancer got him in his prime :(


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I keep in touch with mine, and am actually going up with him tomorrow:)
 
Absolutely its normal to stay in touch with a good CFI. I've been friendly with a few of mine and use them for additional ratings and Flight Reviews as well.
 
In touch with multiple past instructors. Totally normal. Many have moved far far away. We try to see them if we're in their towns. One wandered off to Alaska and then Japan. He's kinda hard to see regularly. ;)
 
I still keep in touch. Don't talk as often as we used to. Sadly he got into some drug/alcohol/depression issues and no longer flies.
 
I had one student reconnect via Facebook. The problem with me is that I started chasing the professional pilot dream and ended up in Florida instead of California.
 
A good instructor that you get along with is priceless. Keep in touch and go flying with him once in awhile at least to make sure you are not making unnecessary mistakes. You now have a license to learn. Can't wait to be there myself!
 
I have not been able to locate my primary instructors (one's name is too common; the other's Swedish and unreadable in my logbook), but a year or so ago, I located my instrument instructor on Facebook after about 20 years of no contact and we continue to keep in touch.
 
I see or talk with my primary instructor at least a couple times a week. He's a coworker and one of my best friends. I still get BFRs from him and he gives no breaks.
 
I became good friends with both instructors I had, so the answer to your question is Yes.
 
I'll occasionally txt my cfi and vise versa. I'll also see him at the airport I trained at, but we don't hang out.
 
I keep in touch with many former students, ranging from a call or e-mail once or twice a year to close friends I travel half way across the country to see! Three have invited me to their weddings...
 
Talked to my first CFI a couple years ago after running into a coworker of his while I was in Philly. Gave him a call, and talked for a bit. Ran into my instrument CFI at the FSDO 4 years ago, we were both renewing our CFI and happened to have back to back appointments. Other than that, nothing.
 
My Instructor and I remained close and spoke often right up to his passing. He was also my dad. My mom was a CFI too. :)


Jim R
Collierville, TN

N7155H--1946 Piper J-3 Cub
N3368K--1946 Globe GC-1B Swift
 
I keep in touch with my original CFI.

I would say that more than half my students have been in touch with me after they got their certificates/ratings. Most of the time it is aviation related questions they have or a flight review. Sometimes it is an offer to stop by the hangar for a cold one after a day of flying.
 
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