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Golden Nuggets for a new CFI

Henny

Henny

FRIEND
Ely, MN
Finally got around to adding my single-engine CFI onto my CFII (long story on how I got the Double-I without the single engine.) Looking for some words of wisdom from you grizzled veterans of instruction out there as I get started in the instruction business.

One thing the DPE told me which made me chuckle was, "Despite the requests you'll get once you let your friends know you are a CFI, don't ever give instruction for free."

Standing by for words of wisdom from the CFI's out there, as well as from anybody who's had a positive/negative experience with a CFI.

Thanks in advance.

Henny
 
Henny,

Instructing is my favorite part about aviation. I enjoy it so much I am tempted to not charge for it, but agree with your friend. I am actually sitting at the KMKC airport this morning meeting a student (who is a friend) to fly a Cessna Skycatcher. The Skycatcher is the best thing that has happened to flight training in the last 30 years in my opinion. It's roomy, its light sport, it is very well mannered. Sure I like instructing in a super cub way more, or any other taildragger, but this is still lots of fun.

The guy that gave me my CFI, who was a very colorful man with a psychology Phd and an aviation degree of some sort, always said "You learn to fly on the ground, and you demonstrate it in the air". Don't short people on ground time. Oh, and you need to charge for that too. I tell people if their instructor only charges for air time they are not going to get the best instruction out there - I'm sure there are exceptions to this.

There's tons more to say, but my student just showed up!

Most importantly FLYING IS SUPPOSED TO BE FUN!

sj
 
I agree with SJ: If you don't understand it on the ground, you won't understand it in the air. The cockpit is a horrible classroom. I had one instructor who tried to teach NDB approaches in the air without ever explaining it on the ground. Needless to say, I don't miss NDBs at all (or him). Another instructor tried to teach VOR stuff in the air without explaining it on the ground. I don't miss VORs (or him), either.

My worst instructor wasn't interested in teaching at all, just building time to get to the airlines. I quickly fired him, and found someone who truly loved to teach aviation.

Mostly, I never mind paying for instruction that teaches me something.

Congratulations, and I hope you have many happy, successful students!

Anne.
 
Sometimes you end up learning more than you teach. After awhile you learn how to recognize all the different learning styles you thought you'd never use when you studied them during your FOI training. Eventually you'll be able to see what position your student is going to be in 30 seconds before he/she gets there. henry's DPE was correct, your CFI probably cost you several thousand dollars, yet there will be folks who believe your friendship merits free instruction. Worse yet, beware of the real "friends"; the one who asks you to "Give him a BFR over lunch". Those aren't friends that ask you to compromise your professional integrity. Mostly, be the CFI that pilots WANT to seek out for BFRs and currency because you are enjoyable to fly with and they feel as if they have been given real value for their money. I've never had a student complain about how much I charge an hour, but I do know several who complained about what they got for an hour's charge! (not from me:eek:) Mike-
 
Re charging, I found that occasional free was better than discounting for friends. Free is obviously a gift, but a "friend's discount" is quickly just expected. So I adopted the practice of "either free or full price". That was not in aviation, but it was a service business.
 
I agree with Gordon, I've given a lot of free instruction over the years and a lot of it turned out to be better pay than if I had charged. Just put floats on my cub and a 'no charge' student from several years ago insisted he provide a parking place on his lake "forever" which is way closer to my house than I had previously arranged for. The parking place came complete with the code to access the fully stocked refrigerator in his man cave for when the flying is done.
 
As a physician, I agree totally that it is better to do "free" than to discount. Expectations are entirely different.

Another approach is to say "I'll tell you what. I just want you to pay me for what it's worth." This was the approach used by Dr. DeBakey, the famous heart surgeon. He simply set those terms for his services and when that Texas oil tycoon survived his surgery a mega contribution to his clinic was forthcoming:)
 
Presently I am working on my plane... slowly, (so no snide remarks from Nimpo the moose molester or BigE the oky), so am in a position I need a ride at times.

I am totally fine with trading flights for my CFI skills. Each of us wins.

One big thing I find is that pilots worth flying with and training will not expect you to just sign off. Recently I got a ride with a friend and we were going to do his biannual. Well, I got my ride and he did not get signed off. Of course the next flight he was tuned up and I did sign him off, and he was safer for it. He was also happy.

So it can work both ways. Soon I am going fishing with a friend that is due... his plane my spot.

A couple of cautions: just because someone has done something "lots of times" does not mean that they were safe doing it. DON'T let them take you to a marginal strip to show you how good they are, go to a big strip and demonstrate how safe they are, then progress...

Instruct or test or review for what they do every day, and also review what they might need: If giving a Biannual to a guide that flies short strips, he will need perfect control at slow speed and on the ground. Extra caution on stalls and mca- but be sure to review the basic chart and navigation stuff also; Dr. and bonanza? Unusual attitudes, instrument and such, but also short and soft field is important.
 
I have given some free BFRs and other instruction to very close friends...
usually they feel guilty and leave cash in my truck or other things. I have a set of headphones, a hand-held radio, a bunch of 22 ammo and an intercom system from friends...

The trick to doing anything free, is to do it when you need to fly the plane anyway... Like after an oil change, after the 100 hour or when you need to move it from point A to B.

Also when you are charging.... be consistent.... I gave a good deal to a couple 135 pilots who were piece-meal doing their float ratings. Somebody had a big mouth and pretty soon I was being questioned why So-&-So was getting a discount and they were not...

At least be ready with an answer when that question comes up..

" I charged them less because they don't try to kill me nearly as often as you do."
 
Jack358 said:
I agree with Gordon, I've given a lot of free instruction over the years and a lot of it turned out to be better pay than if I had charged. Just put floats on my cub and a 'no charge' student from several years ago insisted he provide a parking place on his lake "forever" which is way closer to my house than I had previously arranged for. The parking place came complete with the code to access the fully stocked refrigerator in his man cave for when the flying is done.
Click to expand...

Jack, that's not "free" in my book, that is AWESOME pay!

I agree on free, but do it only when it is not expected ... or it is my wife... :)

sj
 
Congratulations Henny. So are you going to teach your wife now?

There must be some story on getting a double I first. I've never heard of that before.
 
Ditto on the CFI insurance. Get in touch with SAFE the Society of Aviation and Flight Educators Greg outfit and a great insurance program.

NEVER move your "flying" hand more than an inch or so from the primary control.....as in the stick or yoke. There are people out there who WILL try to hurt you......and some of them should know better.

As to fees, find out what your local xerox repairman charges per hour. Ever hear of anyone being killed by a copy machine? Her they charge $100 just to show up.

Finally, you need to feel like you gave that person their money's worth. If you did that and it'll be apparent, the. Your time was well spent.

I felt guilty charging $50 an hour but before long I had a list of people who wanted ANNUAL tune ups and were happy to pay the fees

MTV
 
When Carol Jarvis, the owner of Salmon Air Taxi in Salmon, Idaho, hired me in 1979, I was his full time pilot, which meant instructing in the off season. He told me he only had two rules to instructing: " teach them dutch rolls from the first lesson, and do at least a spin entry and recovery before you solo them." I found these to be great guidelines and recommend them.
 
Fear restricts perception. Without perception, there is no learning. Your student must be comfortable with what is to be experienced, that starts on the ground, but it is your job in the air to make them comfortable and confident.

It is your job to set your student up for success in every endeavor. Success breeds confidence, confidence squashes fear.

When least expected, your student will try to kill you.

If a student tries to sit up high in his seat, be it with cushions or excessive vertical adjustment it indicates fear. High seat height will lead to miserable pattern work, discouragement and ultimately failure. Nip it in the bud.

No student should solo without being able to recognize and recover from incipient spins. Once they understand the worst that can happen and that they can easily recover from it, their confidence multiplies.
 
I'm no CFI and never will be even though I've given over 200 one on one young eagle flights. I'm the dummy on the other end. I had almost 600 hrs and owned 2 airplane's before I passed my written. I had every CFI within 100 miles giving me a 90 day sign off and I was the check out guy ( student instructor ) on the Stearman club at Cooperstown. I'm a book dummy, great with my hands but missing a few floors on the observation deck level. One book helped me believe that I could pass the written, all the red books put me to sleep almost as fast as the King videos. Rod machado's Privite Pilot Handbook, it's written in what I call stupidese, it is written and illustrated for dummies just like me. I have bought over 10 copies and given them out to struggling fledgling just like me. The book works.

Glenn
 
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spinner2 said:
Congratulations Henny. So are you going to teach your wife now?
Click to expand...

Thanks Spinner. Although she's not my wife just quite yet, we have talked about me teaching her how to fly, but I've often wondered if a guy can successfully train his girlfriend/wife without it messing up the relationship? But that's probably a topic for a whole other thread...

SPINNER2 said:
There must be some story on getting a double I first. I've never heard of that before.
Click to expand...

The quick and dirty is that being a military instructor allows you to take a competency test and then the FAA gives you the appropriate civilian instructor rating. In my case I passed the test and then the FAA said "We can't give you an MEI because your multi-engine Navy jet is centerline thrust and there are no civilian equivalents, and we can't give you a single engine CFI because you've never been an instructor in a military single engine airplane, but we can give you a CFII." So I had to do the single-engine add-on check ride in a complex airplane. All good as it got me out of the initial CFI check ride pain and eliminated a couple of the PTS items for the add-on. And I certainly realize that passing a written test doesn't mean you are ready to jump in a 152 or a Cub and start teaching students, so I'm glad I went through the process of flying and preparing for the check ride as I learned (and re-learned) a whole lot. But like anything, it's just another license to learn.
 
GeeBee said:
If a student tries to sit up high in his seat, be it with cushions or excessive vertical adjustment it indicates fear. High seat height will lead to miserable pattern work, discouragement and ultimately failure. Nip it in the bud.
Click to expand...

GeeBee, what's your reasoning behind height = fear? As a 5'5" pilot, I don't sit as high as a 6' pilot. To see over the nose (at least in a Cherokee, which I originally flew), I had to sit on a cushion. My landings sucked until my instructor recommended I sit on a cushion. My landings improved immediately.

Anne.
 
Wow, I'm going to run down to Bed, Bath and Beyond and buy several pillows to put under my butt...my landings definitely need improvement :)

Randy
 
Randy, that trick only worked in the Cherokee. Nothing helps me in the Supercub.

Anne.
 
If a student tries to sit up high in his seat, be it with cushions or excessive vertical adjustment it indicates fear. High seat height will lead to miserable pattern work, discouragement and ultimately failure. Nip it in the bud.
Click to expand...

That one's a moose nugget. If I see a pilot assuming a gangsta posture in the front seat? I'm getting out.
 
If a student tries to sit up high in his seat said:
I am short, I have flown airplanes where you can not see out but there is nothing wrong from my point of view from trying to improve your overall visibility. In the world of off airport flying I do things in order to see out better, one thing I do is wheel land, I give up a few miles per hour (land faster) but I can see what I need to avoid. Over the years I have let a lot of people set in my airplane Bushwacker (experimental Maule), most the time I get people that I see sitting to low in there own airplanes to see what it is like to actually get yourself higher in the seat. Most of them go out and buy something to sit on. I would not be one to agree with the above statement, I like seeing where I am going. I am not an instructor but if I was I would be looking at body language, you don't have to feel like you are down in a hole when you are sitting in the front seat.
Click to expand...
 
cubdriver2 said:
Fly from the backseat for awhile and you'll dicover that you don't need to see over the nose.

Glenn
Click to expand...

I often stick people in the back of the supercub when they are having trouble landing. It works great. I actually land better from the back :oops:

sj
 
The pillow trick doesn't help me in the SC because I've learned to look out the side of the plane. But I also sit more upright in the cub than in a Cherokee, I don't fly the Cherokee any more, and the pillow is there for back-seat guests (although some have preferred just to close their eyes while I'm landing, rather than try and sit up higher to see what's going on).

But I still don't understand GeeBee's claim of height = fear.

Anne.
 
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