Training for ppl under multiple instructors??

R

rtbayne01072

Filing Flight Plan
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Aug 16, 2014
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South Carolina
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flyboy72
So here is my situation, I've been slowly (as time and money allows) been taking lessons toward my PPL at an FBO close to home. However now I've been back at college this semester I've been having to drive home on weekends to continue my flight lessons which is about 100 miles. I'm enjoying every minute of flying, but its a hassle to drive an hour and half home to take lessons.

I've looked into trying to find an FBO closer to college were I can continue lesson but have had no luck with finding one that's not more expensive then my FBO from home. So in the mean time I've just been making trip home on the weekends and have about 9 hours built up in my log. (Yes I realize that isn't much but because of school i can only go a couple times a month).

It wasn't until recently that I was referred to an FBO in the area of my College that's rates are about the same per hour as my flight school back home. So I'm very tempted to give this FBO closer to my school a try, but here is my debate. I will only be in college one more semester, so I'm also hesitant to switch because I pretty sure I will be moving back home after I graduate.

So I guess my main question is, If i started taking lesson with this instructor closer to college, how would it affect my overall progress?

Would it put me behind?

Do instructors frown up taking lesson under other instructors then coming back to them? :dunno: (this is what I would do for next semester, then go back to my original instructor after I graduate)


Thoughts anyone??
 
Just where do you stand in your training? Unless you're doing all your training in the same plane at the same school and that school has a standardized training folder system so instructors know exactly where you stand and what's next, changing schools/instructors/planes generally costs you in time and money, and the farther along you are the more that affects the remainder of your training.
 
Ron Levy said:
Just where do you stand in your training? Unless you're doing all your training in the same plane at the same school and that school has a standardized training folder system so instructors know exactly where you stand and what's next, changing schools/instructors/planes generally costs you in time and money, and the farther along you are the more that affects the remainder of your training.
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About 9 hours in for my Private licence. Just recently got my medical certificate, and my current instructor says i should be ready to solo soon. To my knowledge my current instructor just writes down what we do in his and my log books, so my current FBO doesn't have folder system like that.

I think my biggest motivation for wanting to change is to save money/time in gas getting there, and i can train in a 172 for the same price as a currently train in a 152.
 
At one point over the summer while I was busy working and asked my CFI I could work with another CFI while on an extended assignment. He was quick to suggest the things I should focus on but had no issue with it. A CFI is a CFI and should generally be teaching the same things as any other CFI. To be honest, unless you're an unusual case or have certain specific things you struggle with, changing CFI's back and forth should be of little concern I believe.
 
rtbayne01072 said:
About 9 hours in for my Private licence. Just recently got my medical certificate, and my current instructor says i should be ready to solo soon. To my knowledge my current instructor just writes down what we do in his and my log books, so my current FBO doesn't have folder system like that.

I think my biggest motivation for wanting to change is to save money/time in gas getting there, and i can train in a 172 for the same price as a currently train in a 152.
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Pick one and stick with it -- you'll do better in the long run that way. Given the described circumstances, I'd say just stick with the one near school and get it done before the school year ends.
 
I changed at 25 hours. Had to redo about 5 hours; the CFI had me repeat every single thing I'd done up till then, but went to the next one as soon as I demonstrated it correctly (according to his way of doing things)
 
jcepiano said:
At one point over the summer while I was busy working and asked my CFI I could work with another CFI while on an extended assignment. He was quick to suggest the things I should focus on but had no issue with it. A CFI is a CFI and should generally be teaching the same things as any other CFI. To be honest, unless you're an unusual case or have certain specific things you struggle with, changing CFI's back and forth should be of little concern I believe.
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That pretty much sums it up. It's not like we have to send letters or pay for "long distance" calls anymore.

I've worked with private pilot students who did the back-and-forth thing before. I would talk to the other instructors. They would talk to me.

We worked as a team and kept the students on track and stayed up to date on how everything was progressing from both sides. No issues - the student was the most important thing.

The students learned different techniques from each of us, however the basics were the same. Usually it is only CFI's with an over-inflated ego that have a problem with such a scenario.

JMHO,

Mike
 
How much more expensive is the FBO by your school? Is it more expensive than the cost to travel home, and your time to travel back and forth has value also.

As for the instructor part, yes you can have more than one. I would be up front about it, and maybe even have them in tough with each other to compare notes on lessons.
 
I don't think changing instructors would be too bad. Regardless of part 61 vs. 141, the transition to/from instructors shouldn't be bad unless the instructors refuse to work together. In that case, I'd recommend switching anyway as the instructor clearly has a ego problem...

Here's another idea: I'd suggest putting flying on hold and focus on finishing up school. While it sounds like you are having fun flying, the commuting sounds like it's a bit of a drain on you, and only flying twice a month will pretty much ensure slow progress and waste money. If/when you have time away from schoolwork, you can still study various flying material to stay with it.
 
Yeah, it'll cost you some extra hours for the instructor to get a feel for your abilities before he puts his name to any endorsements.

Figure 5hrs +/- extra in the end of the day.
 
Ron Levy said:
Pick one and stick with it -- you'll do better in the long run that way. Given the described circumstances, I'd say just stick with the one near school and get it done before the school year ends.
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This was how I approached my training...when my CFI took a new job I went with him even though it meant an hours drive and transitioning from a piper to a 172. I felt I would learn better through continuity


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
I have found value in multiple instructors.
It may slow things down a little and cost some money.
For me the goal of training was to learn to be a safe pilot rather than to try to do things for the minimum cost or in the minimum hours.
In my experience CFIs are not all the same and I learned a different perspective from each of them.
I have also found value in recurrent training since I earned my certificate.
I learn from every instructor and every flight.
I found that manipulating the controls was a very small part of what I learned about aviation..
 
In my opinion its sucks having to change instructors if it cannot be avoided. I went through 4 instructors because each on of them went on to bigger and better things. The FBO was a swinging door for CFI's. Finally the School owner and also the Chief Instructor became my CFI and took me through Check Ride. He told me "he is not going anywhere and wasn't fair to me having to change instructors"

As suggested finish school and get back to flying after graduation.
 
rtbayne01072 said:
So here is my situation, I've been slowly (as time and money allows) been taking lessons toward my PPL at an FBO close to home. However now I've been back at college this semester I've been having to drive home on weekends to continue my flight lessons which is about 100 miles. I'm enjoying every minute of flying, but its a hassle to drive an hour and half home to take lessons.

I've looked into trying to find an FBO closer to college were I can continue lesson but have had no luck with finding one that's not more expensive then my FBO from home. So in the mean time I've just been making trip home on the weekends and have about 9 hours built up in my log. (Yes I realize that isn't much but because of school i can only go a couple times a month).

It wasn't until recently that I was referred to an FBO in the area of my College that's rates are about the same per hour as my flight school back home. So I'm very tempted to give this FBO closer to my school a try, but here is my debate. I will only be in college one more semester, so I'm also hesitant to switch because I pretty sure I will be moving back home after I graduate.

So I guess my main question is, If i started taking lesson with this instructor closer to college, how would it affect my overall progress?

Would it put me behind?

Do instructors frown up taking lesson under other instructors then coming back to them? :dunno: (this is what I would do for next semester, then go back to my original instructor after I graduate)


Thoughts anyone??
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They shouldn't...having another pair of eyes evaluating a student once in awhile is a good idea. At Part 141 schools the syllabus calls for stage checks with the Chief Instructor or equivalent at the completion of each stage.

Another plus is pure communications...maybe instructor B uses different words to define a maneuver or concept that was never completely understood when taught by instructor A.

But I don't think you should switch schools for just one semester.

Bob Gardner
 
I would try to stay consistent. I had 3 different PPL instructors for various reasons, and the subsequent instructor always wanted me to repeat things to see where I stood. I can understand, but it sucked for me.
 
Lots of people are saying "it will cost," but it sure as heck isn't likely to cost as much as the far-to-infrequent lessons. A few hours a month is barely adequate for maintaining proficiency, let alone learning something new. If that's the tradeoff, switch to a local instructor.
 
flyboy, looks like you are not asking about playing musical instructors but making a permanent switch (at least for the balance of the school year).

It really varies a lot and depends on you, the first instructor, the second instructor, and even the airports. That's way too many variables for a definitive answer. On the one hand you've already read some comments of how problematic in can be. OTOH, I went on vacation shortly before my first solo and returned to find my CFI had a blow-out with management and left. "I'll never solo now!" was my first thought. I soloed on my second flight after a total of 1.4 hours with the new instructor. That had very little to do with my natural piloting abilities (people would scatter when the herd I was coming in for a landing!) than the discussions my two CFIs had about my progress after my first CFI announced his departure.

I think what you do is make your decision based on other things that are important to you. It sounds to me like the hassle of driving home to take lessons once a week (maybe, weather permitting) is more likely to have a negative effect on your training than a CFI change.
 
MAKG1 said:
Lots of people are saying "it will cost," but it sure as heck isn't likely to cost as much as the far-to-infrequent lessons. A few hours a month is barely adequate for maintaining proficiency, let alone learning something new. If that's the tradeoff, switch to a local instructor.
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:yes::yes::yes:
 
Same plane, same instructor, same DE (one the instructor knows) is the fastest, smoothest route to a PPL. Doesn't mean you cant switch, it just takes longer, tends to be harder etc.
 
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