Top 5 questions to ask a new CFI

Clip4 said:
A luxury I have never had. All the CFIs where I have instructed had no availability to accomplish that.
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You mean a luxury your students never had... it is after all not about us and what is easy or luxurious for us. It’s about doing what’s best for the people trusting us to mentor them as aviators.
 
Tarheelpilot said:
You mean a luxury your students never had... it is after all not about us and what is easy or luxurious for us. It’s about doing what’s best for the people trusting us to mentor them as aviators.
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No, you mean at a school where CFIs had few students and shared them. If you are at a busy school with CFIs in short supply that doesn’t happen.
 
Clip4 said:
No, you mean at a school where CFIs had few students and shared them. If you are at a busy school with CFIs in short supply that doesn’t happen.
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Nah. I was at a busy school with fully booked instructors. Like I said. If it’s important to you then it happens. It’s not a function of busy or slow.
 
Tarheelpilot said:
Nah. I was at a busy school with fully booked instructors. Like I said. If it’s important to you then it happens. It’s not a function of busy or slow.
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if you are a good CFI your students moving between instructors has little benefit. On the other hand if you are a poor instructor, by all means get everyone in the school to help you out.
 
1. I understand we are part 61 here, but do you have a generalized syllabus that you work to? Can I see it?
2. If I am having trouble with one aspect, would you enlist the help of another instructor?
3. If you consider yourself "old school and hard core" and you ever make a disparaging remark, we are done. No further discussion needs to be said.
4. How many students under your instruction now have PPL certificates, and how many students have you had in total?
5. Have you interviewed with any air carrier yet, and are you working toward a job with the airlines?
 
Do you give participation trophies?

iu
 
Tarheelpilot said:
Just because you don’t understand the benefit does not mean it doesn’t exist. Fly safe.
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Oh there is some benefit, but at what expen$e to the student? You as the primary CFI know better than any other CFI the short comings of your student than a CFI who never flew with him. There is the chance the other CFI improves a area the student is struggling with, but you should have the skills and knowledge to do that effectively without sending the student to another CFI.
 
Clip4 said:
Oh there is some benefit, but at what expen$e to the student? You as the primary CFI know better than any other CFI the short comings of your student than a CFI who never flew with him. There is the chance the other CFI improves a area the student is struggling with, but you should have the skills and knowledge to do that effectively without sending the student to another CFI.
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Sure ok. Just have to disagree.

From my perspective I see this conversation in three possible outcomes:
1: we are talking past each other because of this really crappy communication environment and it’s all a misunderstanding. (I hope this to be the case)

2: the scope of your instructor experience is narrow and what you say is true within the scope of your experience.

3: you are extremely narcissistic. Your comment up thread about taking a dump on a student if they flew with another cfi trends towards this being the case but it may have been a joke. If not a joke than you should evaluate your attitude.

You can not posses the skills to be the only instructor every student needs. No one is that good ever. If you really think you are that’s just epic.
 
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Tarheelpilot said:
Sure ok. Just have to disagree.

From my perspective I see this conversation in three possible outcomes:
1: we are talking past each other because of this really crappy communication environment and it’s all a misunderstanding. (I hope this to be the case)

2: the scope of your instructor experience is narrow and what you say is true within the scope of your experience.

3: you are extremely narcissistic. Your comment up thread about taking a dump on a student if they flew with another cfi trends towards this being the case but it may have been a joke. If not a joke than you should evaluate your attitude.

You can not posses the skills to be the only instructor every student needs. No one is that good ever. If you really think you are that’s just epic.
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Can I try other instructors to see if I like them better? Yes, my response was sarcasm.

Every student wants the best CFI. As a CFI, I would like to have the best students. So if the student is free to try another CFI to see if they like them better, why am I restricted not to try other students and just pick the ones I like and drop the rest? Flight schools don’t work like that for either the student or the CFIs.
 
Clip4 said:
Can I try other instructors to see if I like them better? Yes, my response was sarcasm.

Every student wants the best CFI. As a CFI, I would like to have the best students. So if the student is free to try another CFI to see if they like them better, why am I restricted not to try other students and just pick the ones I like and drop the rest? Flight schools don’t work like that for either the student or the CFIs.
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You are not the customer.
 
Clip4 said:
When you ever become a CFI, you can let the students interview you.
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It is customary to be interviewed by a prospective employer.
 
I guess a good question to ask would be, "How stubborn are you?" :D

I'd ask:
Do you like flying? Are you going to be excited to do my lesson just because it's another chance to go fly? What are your most and least favorite parts about instructing?
How flexible is your schedule? If another student cancels, would you be willing to contact me and ask if I'd like the spot?
How full is your schedule/is this a full-time gig? Are our schedules compatible?
What's the craziest/scariest thing that's ever happened to you while flying? How did you fix it?
Things I'd look for:
Do our personalities mesh at least a little bit?
Do I feel like I can trust this person?
Can I engage with this person and follow what they're talking about? Do they explain things well?
Does this person seem like they know what they're talking about?
Are they open to admitting what they don't know off the top of their heads and willing to find or help me find the accurate information?

I guess for me, past student history isn't that much of an interest. Both my first and my current instructor are brand new instructors and it's actually been pretty cool. I'm probably going to be my instructor's first student to take a checkride. I have to admit, though, it was more of here's the only available instructor, do you want to schedule with them? rather than a conscious choice. I've gotten lucky, though, and got the new ones who are more on top of everything because of how new they are and the type that goes to more experienced instructors for help when we run into issues.

Hope that helps!
 
SkyChaser said:
I guess for me, past student history isn't that much of an interest. Both my first and my current instructor are brand new instructors and it's actually been pretty cool.
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Thank you for saying this...as a brand new instructor, these types of discussions are pretty depressing. Experience is the best teacher, but we all have to start somewhere so I appreciate someone willing to take a chance on little more than copious amounts of enthusiasm.
 
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