I know a CFI who failed a few rides and when on to passed many students on their first try. I'd give him a try before you ditch him/her.
Agree, some people may be very skilled and smart, and be good teachers, just bad for whatever reason at taking and passing tests. The inverse is true too, I've met many crazy "smart" people (based on degrees hanging on their walls) that are just terrible teachers
it took 4 drawings and another CFII to draw a correct holding pattern entry
Having said that, pattern entries really don't have to be that hard and a CFI should be able to explain it or demonstrate it without too much grief. I find a lot of people get very hung up on 70*/110* TO/FROM etc., and way over complicate the thing, especially in their explanation. I found the Kings Course (oddly enough) to do a terrible job at explaining it, but my CFII did a fantastic job. What worked for me was to set the OBS to center the CDI then use my fingers to overlay the pattern to show teardrop/parallel/direct. If the top of the OBS says 210 (for example) the math is much easier in your head for the 70*/110* hold radial to figure out the entry*
You should never blindly trust a CFI. They're not infallible and you should always double check their answers if they don't give you a reference.
When I first started flying I was victim of this.. then later learned to look things up and verify them. Even with a 3,000 CFII I'll question something, not in a rude way, but in a "gee, maybe I didn't understand that right, FAR XX.XXX said this, am I interpreting it wrong?" and that usually makes for a good discussion and someone will learn from it
Personally, to me the most important thing with CFI/CFII is that the personalities click.. that can make learning to fly a load of fun, or a very grueling and frustrating exercise. I know some people are more resource limited based on where they fly out of, but if you don't click with an instructor it is worth finding someone else. Especially since you're going to be spending thousands of dollars you want the experience to be as positive as reasonably possible
*incidentally, not sure why so much of the instrument training is focused on holds. I feel like people spend an inordinate time on them, when in reality most GA people will extremely rarely be told to hold, and the pattern entries for holds are just suggestions anyway, not FAA mandated. I would gladly spend more time flying various approaches and studying approach plates. Someone I was talking to with over 3,000 hours said they've only ever been asked to hold twice (GA pilot though)
