Thinking about becoming a CFI

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Walboy

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Walboy
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Get your Ground Instructor's certificate. You can do it for free. And see if you like teaching....
 
You must have taken up passengers in your 750 hours, didn't you find any of them interested in flying? Did you find yourself explaining how it works? Did you demostrate flying to any of them?

If you got a kick out of doing that, then you will probably like doing it for strangers.

But remember this. Once you take on a student, you have made a commitment to show up, to deal with their strengths and weakness, to have patients with their ignorance and teach them without being patronizing or flippant, to be ready to not be in control of the aircraft while they learn, and to be ready to tell someone the truth about their progress or lack thereof and find a solution to the problems.

You never get to fly for them, and you will be regurgitating information that feels like a torrent to them, but is basic and boring to you.
 
The foi has been thoroughly discredited. Study the test, same as everything else.
 
This 59 year old ex-teacher is doing the same. I love introducing people to aviation, on average I introduce 1 person per week, love teaching, and would fly every day if I could. I'm thinking of it as a great retirement activity a decade or so from now.

Currently studying IFR and loving it.

Wish I had done this decades ago, but hey...better to start now than never!
 
Walboy said:
Greetings everyone. I'm doing some soul searching here.

After my initial experience with the Aviation Instructor's Handbook, now I'm not so sure I'm cut out for teaching, especially the FAA way. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying the material isn't important. But, how does someone know if he is really suited to be a CFI? :dunno:
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I am a CPA for work, and teach accounting and auditing at a local college. Teaching can be a difficult thing, even if we know the subject well. You have to learn to adapt to the student's way they learn, and make the subject learning matter fun (ok auditing and accounting is not fun....but we have to try)
 
Walboy said:
But, how does someone know if he is really suited to be a CFI? :dunno:
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Do you enjoy both teaching and flying? Are you willing to work to become a good teacher if you aren't one already?

Answer those, and you'll have your answer.
 
An interesting statistic was posted here recently in the "how many uncertificated pilots are there?" Thread.

There is one CFI out there for every two student pilots.

The odds don't sound good. Sure, not all of the CFIs are teaching.

but still...
 
Sheppard air is great for getting a good score on the writtens. It is rote learning though, like many of them exam prep guides. I would knock out the written and then find a CFI that has taught a lot, and has signed off a few cfi candidates recently
 
As a high school teacher for 10 years, then a professor for another 25, I love teaching. After I retired, it seemed natural to become a CFI and teach in a whole new arena.

It worked out well for the first 3 years at a flight school with a built-in clientele. Now I'm in Florida with a million other CFIs looking for students. Pretty slow, but still worth the effort. Nothing is more rewarding than passing it on.

Go for it!
 
Do it. There is no better way to stay current on and learn a ton about any given subject than teaching it. My several hundred hours of instruction given are easily some of the most valuable hours in my logbook in terms of making me a more knowledgable/precise pilot.
 
Also, assuming you're current in your flying, I'd suggest you go to a two week school somewhere and get it done. For one, those schools likely sign off several initial CFI candidates per month, so they likely are in a better position to arrange your checkride/be sure you get the information you need to get in order to be successful on the notoriously difficult initial CFI ride. Also, I found that removing myself from the everyday stresses of life really helped me when it came to buckling down and studying the material that I needed to. In my opinion, it is hard to teach someone how to be a good CFI since not every person out there has a knack for teaching. Instead, there is a lot of on the job training and self-training that go's into being successful in this trade.
 
The flying is easy. You will likely not find flying from the right seat a challenge after a couple hours. Now talking and flying is where it gets trickier. All your thoughts and all the things that are automatic to you, you need to say out loud and make sense. "Gear. Flaps 10. 80 knots. Pitch up a little. Add an inch or two of power"

It's a hoot though. Instructing teaches you as much as you teach students. Even instructing just here & there like I do you really learn a lot. Being a CFI has helped me in my own training. I see you're in AZ. I did most of my training in Chandler and had good experiences. I'm very active flying-wise in AZ. Shoot me a PM if you have any questions.
 
I think I know exactly what you are talking about. I too looked at doing the CFI in college but honestly studying for the FOI was one of the reasons(among others as well) that I didn't end up doing it. I ended up putting the book down as well after 15 minutes. But if you wanted me to stand up and teach you about private pilot maneuvers, I could do that all day long because I find it fun. Learning about how to learn was extremely boring.

If I started studying for my CFI tomorrow...I'd buy the Shepard Air Instructor package for $100(FOI, CFI, CFII prep all in one) to knock the written tests out and then go back and read the Instructors Handbook when I'm not pressured to ace a written test or have a CFI teach you the things you need to know about learning styles. Then do the CFI and CFII immediately after. But thats just me.
 
Re: Update

Walboy said:
On to the FIA exam now. Thanks for the encouragement everyone.
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Good work. The FOI was the hard one.

I absolutely love my side job as a CFI. I wish I could do it full time, but life factors are in the way.

Get a syllabus and lesson plans knocked out early, so that you just have to tweak them when you start your CFI work.
 
Re: Update

Walboy said:
**UPDATE**

Even after complaining about the Aviation Instructor's Handbook in my OP, I managed to get through it and learn a little bit. I then promptly bought the Sheppard Air FOI test prep software. I took the test today and scored a 100%.

Lessons learned:
1) Don't be so quick to grouse about boring material
2) I know the meaning of rote learning
3) Sheppard Air delivers as advertised.

On to the FIA exam now. Thanks for the encouragement everyone.
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Well now I feel dumb. I got an 80 on the FOI. I'll probably take the FIA sometime next week.
 
GCA319 said:
Do it. There is no better way to stay current on and learn a ton about any given subject than teaching it. My several hundred hours of instruction given are easily some of the most valuable hours in my logbook in terms of making me a more knowledgable/precise pilot.
Click to expand...

Right. You don't realize how little you know until you begin instructing. And it is a continuing process.

Bob Gardner
 
Walboy said:
**UPDATE**

I passed the FIA exam with a very good score. It seems as if the more I study, the less I seem to know.

I had an opportunity to discuss CFI training at the flight school I'm considering. Let me state right from the beginning that the flight school is well established, thriving, and staffed with full time professional flight instructors. They also have a fairly large fleet of airplanes, so coming up with an airworthy complex airplane for a checkride will not be an issue. The school did not attempt to make a hard sales pitch. The person I spoke with expressed with confidence that upon completion of their course I would be fully prepared to be a competent CFI in most entry level aircraft.

I was given a copy of the (very detailed) CFI syllabus and immediately noted that course would involve many more hours than advertised on the school's website. A back of the envelope calculation shows that the total cost (including the spin training/endorsement) would be just shy of $10k. Rental for the checkride and fee to DPE since I think FSDO farms out initial rides now is not included and could add another $1k or so. There is no point in outlining my sunk costs, they are what they are. It is clear to me that I'm likely to never recoup my investment as a part time CFI, especially since I plan to be well insured. I do believe that I will be thoroughly prepared if I complete the school's course.

Factoring in travel, hotels, meals, weather delays etc. pretty much rules out any cost advantage of going to a school located out of state. I'm guessing the cost would be a wash or perhaps even more expensive and likely to end up with lower quality training.

So it seems like for me it is a question of whether or not at the end of the journey, the time commitment and financial investment is worth it. I'm not sure how to evaluate that, so any comments from the experienced CFIs would be appreciated. FWIW, spending the money on training will not cause a financial strain, but like all pilots I like to get the best value for my dollar.

So, is $10k reasonable for CFI training?
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10k seems a bit steep, but if you just want to get the training knocked out it might be worth it to you.

I did my CFI training through my flying club. I did the CFI-IA initially, and later added a MEI at an accelerated school (TraverseAir) mainly so I could do my CFI-ASE in a fixed gear single. I figured if I was going to have to rent a complex, it might as well be a twin (I already had my CP-AMEL).

Looking back, much of the preparation I did on my own. I worked one on one with other club instructors to do ground sessions with their students (I also had a ground instructor ticket, although that's not really necessary) to hone my teaching skills. I learned the regs, I studied weather, aerodynamics, navigation, etc. I made my own lesson plans. I made my own "handouts". The flying part was easy because I practiced regularity. For every lesson with my instructor, I made two flights on my own to reinforce what we did, and talked through every maneuver even if I was alone. I was fortunate to have a few mentors along the way who helped me too.

That said, it wasn't a fast process for me, but it got the job done without breaking the bank.
 
Walboy said:
**UPDATE**

I passed the FIA exam with a very good score. It seems as if the more I study, the less I seem to know.

I had an opportunity to discuss CFI training at the flight school I'm considering. Let me state right from the beginning that the flight school is well established, thriving, and staffed with full time professional flight instructors. They also have a fairly large fleet of airplanes, so coming up with an airworthy complex airplane for a checkride will not be an issue. The school did not attempt to make a hard sales pitch. The person I spoke with expressed with confidence that upon completion of their course I would be fully prepared to be a competent CFI in most entry level aircraft.

I was given a copy of the (very detailed) CFI syllabus and immediately noted that course would involve many more hours than advertised on the school's website. A back of the envelope calculation shows that the total cost (including the spin training/endorsement) would be just shy of $10k. Rental for the checkride and fee to DPE since I think FSDO farms out initial rides now is not included and could add another $1k or so. There is no point in outlining my sunk costs, they are what they are. It is clear to me that I'm likely to never recoup my investment as a part time CFI, especially since I plan to be well insured. I do believe that I will be thoroughly prepared if I complete the school's course.

Factoring in travel, hotels, meals, weather delays etc. pretty much rules out any cost advantage of going to a school located out of state. I'm guessing the cost would be a wash or perhaps even more expensive and likely to end up with lower quality training.

So it seems like for me it is a question of whether or not at the end of the journey, the time commitment and financial investment is worth it. I'm not sure how to evaluate that, so any comments from the experienced CFIs would be appreciated. FWIW, spending the money on training will not cause a financial strain, but like all pilots I like to get the best value for my dollar.

So, is $10k reasonable for CFI training?
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What is the breakdown of ground time vs. flight time? Does the $10k include a double-I?
 
My CFI INital was about 20 hours of flying, and 40 hours of ground with a CFI.. And a stupid amount of self study. Part 61 of course...

No where close to 10k. Granted I had recently done by commercial in the same plane, so it wasn't much effort learning the systems or flying the plane..

I would guess I had maybe 4k in my CFI and CFII all in, DPE's, books and everything. No multi in that.
 
Sounds like a Part 141 operation and syllabus. See if they'll teach you under Part 61. At the previous school (Part 141) I taught at, we did this all the time, no problems. I would typically use the same syllabus but under Part 61 I had the freedom to skip ahead or shuffle things around as necessary as long as the student was meeting the standards. We means we could do it in much less time than 141.

If you're current as a pilot, I wouldn't think the CFI training would take you the 23 - 32 hours you've been quoted. Unlike for the Private, CFI training can definitely be done in the minimum time, although in this case there is NO minimum time for Part 61, only Part 141.

Also, definitely get some clarification on what they're advertising.
 
i'm doing the CFI/CFII now at one of the major schools (aka 'puppy mills")
PM me for more, but they advertise 10h for the CFI, CFII & checkrides. I've met several graduates of this program over the last week and each one was within that number & passed first time or had one brief resit. Everyone passed the Oral, which is typically the tough part. the failures in flight i think were down to stress & exhaustion after a grueling Oral. The FSDO is now booking a 2 day checkride for new applicants, in recognition of this, which strikes me as very fair indeed.
Happy so far, a huge bredth of knowledge required, though comparitivly little depth. Course cost at $3.5k...
neilki
 
FWIW, when I did an accelerated CFI initial program about 3 years ago, I paid $4.5k for about 10 hours of flying and countless hours in the classroom and got it done in two weeks and passed on the first go. I later added the II for >$1K with an instructor I was working with at the time (but then again, I was instrument current going into it, so it only took me 1 prep flight to get signed off).
 
I am really late to the game in this post, as the original issue was resolved... but I just wanted to give a tip that if anyone else is experiencing the same issues with the FAA instructor handbook being terrible to read, try the Jeppesen version. Same material, but written a little bit more in English. I found it to be much better, YMMV
 
I'm one of a number of CFIs I know who do less teaching these days and part of the reason is liability. At my age, I've finally accumulated a very modest estate but am way too old to build up my nest age again if I ever lost it. I teach, but pick my students pretty carefully and do almost no primary any more.
Like many, I got my CFI as a way to fly more affordably. I didn't do it so much to build hours, thought that ended up being useful as I went on to fly charter for a time. When I started, I probably had 400-500 hours. I then flew 400 hours or more a year for a while as CFI.
In my case, I was not a trained teacher, but had done a lot of instructing during my military career. Like you, I found the FOI dull and boring and poorly written. Looking back, the FOI has many excellent points and I had to "relearn" or learn to appreciate the value.
With many young CFIs I'm familiar with, it's a "see one, do one, teach one" thing. The CFI teaches what he was taught. Often, it's a very narrow and not well developed lesson where the student learns to fly by rote. The CFIs and students may fly a given range of procedures very well but don't really understand the big picture or why things happen. You can get a CFI-I who doesn't have 50 hours of actual and none of that in really busy airspace. That gets them by for the most part but doesn't do anything for handling the unusual situations.
As a green "see one, do one, teach one" CFI, one doesn't know what one doesn't know. After flying charter for even a year, one becomes much more aware of how narrow a green CFI's perspective can be. Granted, the charter or experienced business pilot may also develop a narrow view of flying, but it's more based in reality. That CFI probably needs to bone up on the regs and book work part.
The income part is challenging. You can't really count on a steady income. Your time is subject to short term demands. Students cancel or even "no show".
My retrospective on all of this is that to be a better CFI, one needs experience in real world flying. It is very difficult, but if one can, wrangle right seat flights in local charter or business operations. Next, take another look at the FOI and try to pull out the important parts and consciously use them in instruction. Also, put yourself in a position to be comfortable with any liability. Sadly, I think the more one is qualified to be a good CFI the less incentive there is.
 
jnmeade said:
I'm one of a number of CFIs I know who do less teaching these days and part of the reason is liability. At my age, I've finally accumulated a very modest estate but am way too old to build up my nest age again if I ever lost it. I teach, but pick my students pretty carefully and do almost no primary any more.
Like many, I got my CFI as a way to fly more affordably. I didn't do it so much to build hours, thought that ended up being useful as I went on to fly charter for a time. When I started, I probably had 400-500 hours. I then flew 400 hours or more a year for a while as CFI.
In my case, I was not a trained teacher, but had done a lot of instructing during my military career. Like you, I found the FOI dull and boring and poorly written. Looking back, the FOI has many excellent points and I had to "relearn" or learn to appreciate the value.
With many young CFIs I'm familiar with, it's a "see one, do one, teach one" thing. The CFI teaches what he was taught. Often, it's a very narrow and not well developed lesson where the student learns to fly by rote. The CFIs and students may fly a given range of procedures very well but don't really understand the big picture or why things happen. You can get a CFI-I who doesn't have 50 hours of actual and none of that in really busy airspace. That gets them by for the most part but doesn't do anything for handling the unusual situations.
As a green "see one, do one, teach one" CFI, one doesn't know what one doesn't know. After flying charter for even a year, one becomes much more aware of how narrow a green CFI's perspective can be. Granted, the charter or experienced business pilot may also develop a narrow view of flying, but it's more based in reality. That CFI probably needs to bone up on the regs and book work part.
The income part is challenging. You can't really count on a steady income. Your time is subject to short term demands. Students cancel or even "no show".
My retrospective on all of this is that to be a better CFI, one needs experience in real world flying. It is very difficult, but if one can, wrangle right seat flights in local charter or business operations. Next, take another look at the FOI and try to pull out the important parts and consciously use them in instruction. Also, put yourself in a position to be comfortable with any liability. Sadly, I think the more one is qualified to be a good CFI the less incentive there is.
Click to expand...
An enthusiastic amen!
 
ja_user said:
My CFI INital was about 20 hours of flying, and 40 hours of ground with a CFI.. And a stupid amount of self study. Part 61 of course...

No where close to 10k. Granted I had recently done by commercial in the same plane, so it wasn't much effort learning the systems or flying the plane..

I would guess I had maybe 4k in my CFI and CFII all in, DPE's, books and everything. No multi in that.
Click to expand...

Agreed...my CFI was less than 20 hours right after my commercial.
 
Doing the 141 program that doesn't require scheduling the checkride through the FSDO has a value all its own.
 
You might consider a slower path and take the ground instructor exam. That will lock in your FOI and also give you an opportunity to teach ground. This could generate a little bit of income and solidify a portion of the knowledge you'd need for the CFI. if you're in no hurry and concerned about costs, something to think about...
 
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