Stories about your CFI

Sac Arrow

Sac Arrow

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Snorting his way across the USA
Do you have any interesting stories about your CFI? Here's one about my CFI....

I was in the cockpit with my CFI when we were having this discussion: "Yeah I flew with Bob Rogers the other day. He's a great Instructor."
"Oh, really, I never knew that. What does he instruct? Piano?"
"No, haha I mean Bob the CFI, like you!"
"Ooooooh, yeah Bob the CFI is a great guy yes. But he's not a CFII, like me."
"Oh, yeah."
"I heard you talking with the chief of the school about me the other day. You referred to me as 'your CFI."
"Uh, yeah."
"You shall address me as 'your CFII."
"Oh, sorry. Yeah, I know, we covered that in the first lesson."

Hah. I just addressed him as "My CFI" and he can't do a damn thing about it! A-hole.
 
My primary (SEL) instructor died in a crash about two years after I passed my check ride.
 
Sac Arrow said:
Do you have any interesting stories about your CFI? Here's one about my CFI....

I was in the cockpit with my CFI when we were having this discussion: "Yeah I flew with Bob Rogers the other day. He's a great Instructor."
"Oh, really, I never knew that. What does he instruct? Piano?"
"No, haha I mean Bob the CFI, like you!"
"Ooooooh, yeah Bob the CFI is a great guy yes. But he's not a CFII, like me."
"Oh, yeah."
"I heard you talking with the chief of the school about me the other day. You referred to me as 'your CFI."
"Uh, yeah."
"You shall address me as 'your CFII."
"Oh, sorry. Yeah, I know, we covered that in the first lesson."

Hah. I just addressed him as "My CFI" and he can't do a damn thing about it! A-hole.
Click to expand...

Does he (assuming your CFII is male) want you to address him as C-F-I-I or does he want you to call him C-F-"double I"?
 
lowtimer said:
Does he (assuming your CFII is male) want you to address him as C-F-I-I or does he want you to call him C-F-"double I"?
Click to expand...

I wouldn't dare call him C-F-"double I". He's a black male, and would jump all over me for the Snoop Dogg speak. "This ain't Long Beach, you know."
 
Sorry man, it's the truth. I will never forget reading about it on the way back from the mailbox that Sunday morning. Very darn humbling to say the least. That's not half the story, its even worse. Might tell about it some day.
 
My primary CFI was a oil company helo pilot. He was in Peru flying geophysical missions in the 70's and the guys would get restless so the foreman would send him to town 50 miles away in the jet ranger to pickup supplies (food) and entertainment for the men. He would fly back with a couple of whores and their record players. When the music started you would get on, when it stopped, next contestant. He said since he was the only pilot there, he went first. :)
 
Doing emergency procedures in a 152 for my ASEL.

CFI drop a pencil on the floor
CFI: Can you get that?
I lean over to get it and the engine goes to idle. I don't even look up, and push the throttle back in.
CFI: (laughing) No, your engine just quit, what do you do?

He tried and tried and tried to get me rattled with emergencies, and every time I was just slow and methodical about it. During one emergency...

CFI: OK, what's the deal? You never get rattled on emergencies, everyone else freaks out.
Me: We're at what, 5000AGL?
CFI Yeah.
(continuing going through the checklist)
Me: And we are descending at what a 1000 feet per minute?
CFI: Yeah
Me: So that gives us five minutes or so?
CFI: Yeah
Me: Well three days a week I have three to four black belts coming at me, and I have about a quarter of a second to figure out what my plan of attack or defense is with them. So when I get to the point with that where I can actually think about what I am going to do versus four black belts in half a second, five minutes to get the engine restarted is an eternity.
CFI: OK, we aren't doing emergency procedures anymore.

First lesson doing power off 180s for my CFI rating.

CFI: There's no way you will make the runway from here.
Me: Wanna bet?
CFI: I'm telling you that you can't
Me: Just watch.
...
...
...
CFI: OK, I guess I don't need to teach you anything about power off 180s.

(I had been practicing them non stop in my PA28 for two years, and was training in the Arrow, so I knew them down cold.)
 
I first met my CFII on a brutally cold night at Dallas Flight Center (KDAL) in 1974. I was 26 and he was 21 (with peach fuzz and a squeaky voice). I'm thinkin' : oh ****, the VA is wasting money here. But he took me thru an IR, ME and commercial. Since then, he's gone on to be the chief FI at a major airline, now flying a plum route. Bob, if you're listening, I love ya. :goofy::yes:
 
There was a CFI who I worked with at Long Beach in the early 1970s. He had a lot of rotor experience, and had written a training manual published for the Hughes 269A/300 series. He also had given me some dual in the McCulloch J-2 Gyroplane.

He had previously been a CAA/FAA inspector, and was the last to have given a checkride to Howard Hughes. It was about 1958. He was driven out to the Hughes airstrip in Culver City in the middle of the night, and flew with Howard in a Convair 240. Said he did real well.
 
tmyers said:
Sorry man, it's the truth. I will never forget reading about it on the way back from the mailbox that Sunday morning. Very darn humbling to say the least. That's not half the story, its even worse. Might tell about it some day.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I have a good friend of mine who's always had an interest in flying, and I even flew him and his newly married wife on a night flight over San Francisco as a wedding present.

I asked him why he didn't pursue flight lessons, and apparently he did, and when he showed up for his first lesson, he learned his CFI and another trainee died in a crash the day before. Kind of freaked him out and he didn't go any further.
 
During PPL training------

Going into my first towered field. I over heard from some other students that day that they might be shutting down the tower.

Me: "Good evening, Texarkana Tower, we are in-bound from the North with a question"

TWR: "Good evening whats your question?"

Me: " I heard that you were getting fired"

TWR" "I have not heard that and by the way Class D is closed for a military arrival"

Me: Looking at my CFI "When did that happen, I checked the NOTAMS..."

CFI: Deadpan face " When you opened your mouth"

During my CFI Ride------

Inspector: "Wow that was a great ride with one exception"

Me: "What's that?"

Inspector" "You look like a F%^&*&G dirtbag"

*I had on my nice jeans, my work dress shoes, a brown shirt and my hair happened to be long. :confused:
 
The day I soloed, after 18 hours (I think), the CFI changed the radio frequency when I wasn't looking. I did not notice because I was too preoccupied flying an airplane all alone, also, we never went over radio frequencies. Yet somehow he thought he should test me on something he never taught me.
 
Sac Arrow said:
Do you have any interesting stories about your CFI? Here's one about my CFI....

I was in the cockpit with my CFI when we were having this discussion: "Yeah I flew with Bob Rogers the other day. He's a great Instructor."
"Oh, really, I never knew that. What does he instruct? Piano?"
"No, haha I mean Bob the CFI, like you!"
"Ooooooh, yeah Bob the CFI is a great guy yes. But he's not a CFII, like me."
"Oh, yeah."
"I heard you talking with the chief of the school about me the other day. You referred to me as 'your CFI."
"Uh, yeah."
"You shall address me as 'your CFII."
"Oh, sorry. Yeah, I know, we covered that in the first lesson."

Hah. I just addressed him as "My CFI" and he can't do a damn thing about it! A-hole.
Click to expand...

This story was confusing as hell until I realized that when I first read it, I reversed which person was which. :redface:
 
Mine is dead. Killed during the impossible turn at his home airport in his own airplane. Just over 30 years old.
 
Last edited:
I think people have missed the point of this thread Ed.
 
My first CFI(I) ;) is still a great personal friend. He was diagnosed with cancer during my primary training so I spent a lot of time at his place mostly distracting him by asking him stupid aviation questions.

You know, all the usual never-ending debate stuff. He loves to teach more than just about anything so he'd explain things for hours. He later said it was great to have something better to do than just sit around feeling sick during chemo. Being hopelessly addicted to airplanes I could have sat there for days.

Later in my Private training we had his two year old in the car seat in the back of the 172 and all I could think to myself was, "If I screw up, I don't just hurt me and him but I'll also hurt his kid." No stress. Ha. Interestingly it set the tone for my flying to this day.

Passengers truly are precious cargo and require your utmost care and preparation as an aviator.

The *kid* in the car seat is graduated from college now, has all his ratings including glider add on and is a CFI. He's headed for an airline somewhere someday. Makes me feel old. Heh.

His dad, my CFI, once karate chopped me between the shoulder and neck during a training flight. "Little tense are you??" "Owww!" "Relax, Nathan. Your shoulders were headed for your ears!"

To this day when I get stressed on a flight I think of that karate chop and force my shoulders down to relax.

He also managed to figure out an impressive scheme (which included a very funny call to a Chief Pilot about rules for non-rev passengers on empty airplane repositioning flights) to get me into the jump seat of an ATR-42 long long ago. And we won't get anyone else in trouble by mentioning whether I got to try out one of the other seats.

Let's just say I have it on the solid opinion of three airline pilots that I don't hand fly the ATR as well as the autopilot does in cruise. ;)

I also have it on solid opinion that you push the trigger switch away from you to talk on the intercom when not in VOX, and pull it toward you to transmit. I also know also how many jokes one must tell at 3AM in Ft Worth Center's airspace before some other pilot keys up laughing. And the Center controller of the otherwise utterly quiet sector says, "Stuck mic." as a hint. That's gotta be one on the most embarrassing things I've ever done, er... Have it on good opinion that I should never do... in a cockpit. ;)

All of the CFIs I've ever flown with are good people. Even the rare one or two that rubbed me the wrong way for training purposes, I'd still fly with them and swap tall tales. Never had a boring CFI.
 
A good friend of mine had a CFI that he said freaked out when he slipped a 172 with any amount of flaps out (he said the POH approves slips with 20 degrees flaps). And that he once thought the CFI was going to take controls when he was mid slip at 50 ft because it was to low to slip. My friend also said that this CFI would only do power on stalls at. 1600-1800 rpm because that was close enough! Glad I didn't fly with that CFI!


-VanDy
 
The guy I finished up my training with is a charter & corporate pilot, flies for a living an just instructs to make a little extra cash. So we're coming back from a training flight, and I taxi over to the ramp and shut down. CFI says, "Oh, crap. You see that guy with the hat coming this way?"

"Yeah, you know him?"

"He's FAA, and you're about to get ramp checked. And of course this is the ONE DAY I forgot my d@mn wallet. I don't have my certificates with me. I'm going to exit the plane and try to avoid him, see you in the FBO later."

And he scoots around the back of the plane... and I get ramped... no big deal.

First thing I asked the FAA guy was, "Hey, I'm glad you stopped by! I don't need any kind of, like, license or anything to fly one of these, right?"

He didn't even blink. "Well, no, it just means more paperwork for me if you don't."
 
tmyers said:
Thread goes into needles and needles have points.
Click to expand...
Before the thread goes into the needle, you wet the thread and pull it into a point so that it will go into the needle.

CFI care.
 
Be happy to tell all about the two instructors that it took to get me to SEL, including one I fired and one that died in a plane crash, then the two that got me to instrument. One I fired and on that went on to fly in the Netherlands.

But not now, I need a real keyboard.
 
OK, found a real keyboard,

Started out with my first CFI (i am going to use CFI because it is much easier to type). Took a few lessons and he was always showing up late. In the 6 hours I flew with him he cancelled two or three lessons, and just didn't show up for a couple more. I spoke with the airport owner (I knew him and his wife) and he said I have this other guy that is very good but he only takes two students a year and you will have to interview with him for him to take you on.

Said interview went well. This CFI told me that he would not teach me to pass the check ride, but that he would teach me to fly and that ability would allow me to pass the check ride. I liked the sound of that. At 9.1 hours total he turned me loose to solo.

My training went very well and with 45.5 hours and 4 months of training I passed my SEL. that was July of 1986

I started my instrument training May of 1987 with avout 120 hours total time. My first instrument instructor (I am going to cell him a CFI as well) had me doing pattern A and pattern B drill in the hot Summer sun, yuck, but great lessons to stick in the memory banks. My problem with this guy just as my first CFI is that he was building time. Once I was sitting on the ramp in a 172 with the fan turning and he sees an owner pulling his 310 out of the hangar. Looks at me sand says lesson over I need to fly that airplane. I basically paid money for him to go fly. "Fired"

Second CFI was at a different field and he was also building time but was much more professional. He was originally from the Netherlands and had plans to go back home to fly commercial which he eventually did. He stuck with me over the next few months and in March of 88 I had my Instrument ticket.

Jerry (CFI) said I was ready for my check ride but still had to log another 10 hours to meet the minimums for time. He would always ask what I wanted to do and unusual attitude recovery was always my favorite. He put the 172 into some real doozies and I always managed to get it straight and level.

Only a few months later I am watching the evening news on Saturday night and see a new flash about an aircraft that has crashed at the McGhee Tyson Airport that night and that it was a local pilot.

I don't know why but John (the CFI that trained me to fly) came to mind. the next morning I went to get the Sunday morning paper before Church and there on the front page is Local Dayton Pilot John Chestnut killed in plane crash.

Here is an article I found with a search http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1988-12-10/news/8803110311_1_twin-engine-airplane-baker-cocaine

When ever I would ask John what he did for a living he always just told me import - export. I was always suspicious but just let it go. Now we know.

Yes he did have traces of Cocaine in his blood stream, still it is tough to realize the guy that taught you bought it flying.

And now my CFI is my good friend and cousin.

Life is good!!!!
 
My first instructor, in lesson #2, demonstrated a stall in the 152 and then it was my turn. I had, like one hour at that point, and during the stall the ball came off center a little. I recovered, and he whirled on me.

"KEEP THE BALL IN THE CENTER!!! IF YOU DON'T, HERE'S WHAT HAPPENS!!!" and then without further ado he spun it.

I didn't go back for lesson 3 for a year. He was still there, but I refused to fly with him again.
 
I was doing a night crosscountry with my instructor. Brand new sectional on my lap. Climbing out, he decided to prove to me that nothing bad happens if the door or window opens in flight. He pops the window and the cabin clears of all loose paper, including that brand new sectional.
Chris has since left the airport. As I hear it, he is fairly successful, having moved from instructor, to airport manager, to now a corporate (maybe NETJETS) pilot.
As a related note, years later, one of my passengers failed to secure the door properly and it popped open just as the wheels left the ground. I keyed the mike and calmly told the tower we had to return because the door had opened. No big deal but it was kind of noisy in the cabin. Pax was great. Just sat there and ignored the open door like I told her to.
 
Open doors are really a non issue unless you let them be.

Top latch came loose on a Club Arrow many years ago. The door used to like to pop open on descent in the Barron with regularity.

Recently flying my own Arrow I noticed a lot more noise and air blowing through the cabin. Looked up and sure enough some idiot had failed to latch the top latch. Unfortunately I was all alone so we know who the ahole was
 
tmyers said:
Recently flying my own Arrow I noticed a lot more noise and air blowing through the cabin. Looked up and sure enough some idiot had failed to latch the top latch. Unfortunately I was all alone so we know who the ahole was
Click to expand...


ROFL!!!
 
I was a aeronautical engineering student at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. My CFI was an instructor at the university also.

Rob, it looks great out. Let's get a lesson in. Rob says, "Sorry, I can't, I have class". I said, well I'll go fly on my own. Rob replies, "aren't you in my class".
 
Just prior to solo, my instructor ( a retired marine Harrier jock) was doing his damnedest to mess with me. Popped my window open on climbout, opened his door on final, killed the engine several times, would "bump" the controls like a "nervous passenger". None of it got to me because the plane still flew, right?

So after he pulled the throttle on me abeam the numbers and nailing the landing. My instructor just started laughing.

"This whole hour Ive been trying to mess you up, you dont flinch. On top of that your engine out landing was the best of the day."
 
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