tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8168071956874646550.post1988515727534204269..comments2015-04-11T04:34:47.702-05:00Comments on Aviation 101: part 141 vs part 61 and choosing a CFICherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18148707418860918335noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8168071956874646550.post-64160244951426153892007-05-18T20:36:00.000-05:002007-05-18T20:36:00.000-05:00Dear anonymous, I haven't posted for a while, just...Dear anonymous, I haven't posted for a while, just getting my feet under me, but, aviation always has my heart. So I will respond here while trying to keep it from becoming a full on diatribe. Sounds like you are on the fence, almost finished, but frustrated. My biggest concern here is this, because you are nearly finished with your instrument rating, have you done a check flight with any other instructors? While I think it's important to have the same instructor throughout the rating, getting that check flight is also very important. It gives everyone an opportunity to see where they are at, including you knowing if your instructor is giving you the skills you need to passs that check ride! If you are in a 141 school surely you have done a check flight with a chief pilot. It's unfortunate that you and your instructor aren't well matched, especially this late in the game-- if you only have a few more days as you say- and have had a check flight with a different CFII or a chief pilot, and you KNOW you are going to have the skills you need to pass that checkride, then stick it out. Thats my advice. If it's more complicated than that, then I would advise analyzing the situation more thoroughly. At that point the question becomes one about the management and other CFII's available. It could very well set you back time wise to finish up with a different instructor. I really need more info in order to give you better advice. Hearing that he has had 6 students split on him really is a bad sign. I'd have to say the problem is truly him in that case. <BR/>As for rounding up time, no, the time should be exact and seperated out in your billing between ground time and flight time, usually ground time is less per hour-- if it was all flight time and you were charged for a full hr on flight when it was only 40 minutes- well, I wouldn't pay for 10 gallons of fuel for my car when I was only getting 7. <BR/>Again this comes back to management,, and do they care? If so why is this guy still on the payroll? Let me clarify, I know students who love to have a CFI who has a great sense of humor, and have had them love to elbow eachother, but that's a consenting situation. I would never put a smart ass CFI with a student who was very serious. I am really big on CFI matching. But this guy sounds like he makes more enemies than friends with his brand of "sense of humor." How much do you really know about his record? How many passes and fails etc?? Tough decision- but at this point I sure would be thinking it out thoroughly before making a decision and I certainly wouldn't have a confrontation at this juncture unless you know he has given you less than acceptable training. I would on the other hand point out to management that he overcharges you, have them look at the logs- it's all there! I'm about to go on overdrive here and start talking about why the CFI is charging you according to his watch and not the school charging you according to the logs as well as why you are out sitting on the tarmac for twenty minutes waiting for him! Unless of course he is not affiliated with a school, then thats another subject entirely, again I need more info. If I can help you with anything else let me know-- and all my other readers- please, chime in!Cherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18148707418860918335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8168071956874646550.post-37639590460810690702007-05-18T19:56:00.000-05:002007-05-18T19:56:00.000-05:00I need some advise. I have a CFII that is not so ...I need some advise. I have a CFII that is not so hot. He has had 6 students leave him and he might be on the way to add a 7th. He is not very positive in fact he is mostly negative. He is very quick to make fun and in result will say don't take it so hard. He will call his student's (trying to joke) a sissy if they don’t want to fly in high winds. I am at the end of my rope. We had a ground lesson just today where I watched the clock close. He charged me an hours worth when we only did 40 min. Is that normal to round up? I use the Jeppsen foggles to do my IFR training. He felt that I was trying to cheat and see to much so he put a sectional on the dash of the plane to try and reduce my visibility even more. I still flew the approach as I normally would and he said that it wasn’t as good in his defense. We never have confronted or have had an argument but I am frustrated. We will have a 2 hour block to fly and I will get there on time and pre flight the plane to sit and wait for 20 min after having done the preflight for him to walk outside. I am so close to being done, should I can him and just finish the last week with someone else? Or should I just grit my teeth for a few more days?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8168071956874646550.post-69690173843026540462007-04-17T16:47:00.000-05:002007-04-17T16:47:00.000-05:00metalflyboy ,, well put. Thank you for your commen...metalflyboy ,, well put. Thank you for your comment. I 100% agree, if your CFI is not getting the job done in a way that is helping you-- key word here "helping/helpful" then FIRE them! Yes metalflyboy is right! You DO pay them and that DOES make you the employer! The problem is in so many schools that they forget that they are providing a service, and customer service is part of that picture! It is NEVER appropriate for a CFI to treat you badly or insult you. You can tell when you first set foot inside the doors in nearly every circumstance, how they are going to treat you, and if they aren't excited about your dream to fly, act like you are not important, or they don't lay out all the information and options, then shame on them! This is not a one time visit- it's a relationship you build with them and trust enters into this equation. These are the types of things that really irritate me. I can assure you that a CFI who works in this unfriendly environment is not happy there either; Certainly not the ones that are good instructors, who know what's important, and that is the students dreams and goals. I worked very hard to ensure a happy & celebratory environment for both students and CFI's. It was worth every effort I made and I loved every one of those people. <BR/>flyboy is also very right on "legal doesn't equal safe." Your flight instructor should be teaching you about situational awareness and good decision making! Ok- new blog entry tomorrow-- !! Fly safe!Cherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18148707418860918335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8168071956874646550.post-74350558929159413172007-04-16T21:44:00.000-05:002007-04-16T21:44:00.000-05:00Amen to those comments. NEVER let a CFI dictate h...Amen to those comments. NEVER let a CFI dictate how you're going to spend YOUR money! Your life, and that of your family and/or friends (or your passengers when you fly for an airline), is the bottom line and should be the guiding force behind your decision-making. Fortunately, unlike metalflyboy, I had many good instructors. I knew up front they were heading for the airlines but while they were instructing, they put everything they had into it. When you can take the best characteristics and abilities from your instructors, it will make you a better pilot and instructor.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8168071956874646550.post-63038332761413118612007-04-16T20:58:00.000-05:002007-04-16T20:58:00.000-05:00Finding a good Flight Instructor can be a full tim...Finding a good Flight Instructor can be a full time job. In this industry it seems that the most inexperienced pilots are the ones that have the responsibility for teaching the new ones. The cards are stacked against you as a new student from the very start. Many Flight Instructors are using new students as a steping stone to build flight time. That does not mean that they are bad instructors. As I see it there are 3 types of Instructors. Number one are the Instructors that are just using you to build there flight time. This is the worst type. They could care less about you and all they are looking out for is there selves. You will learn very little if anything from this type of Instructor. The second type is the Instructor that is building his or her time but is truly interested in being a good teacher. This is what you should be looking for in an Instructor. Although they may not be the most experienced pilots in the world they care about you and your goals. The third type are the very experienced Instructors that are not interested in time building but are teaching because they love to teach. They have no interest in the airlines and usually are very experienced.<BR/><BR/>The life time Instructors are very hard to find. They make up about one percent of the Instructor pool if even that.<BR/><BR/>As a student you need to stand up for your rights. Remember that you are the employer and your Instructor is the Employee. Thats right! When it comes down to it you are paying your Flight Instructor to teach you a skill and if they are not doing a good job then you need to fire them. I did this to a Flight Instructor back in 1983. After an agonizing flight where my instructor pounded on the flight pannel and screamed the whole flight telling me that I would never learn we landed and shut the plane down. I told him that he was fired. I will never forget the look on his face. He said you can't fire me. I explained to him that I was paying him to teach me how to fly and he wasn't doing a very good job. Thats right! If you find that your Instructor is not doing a good job then fire them. After all you are paying a lot of money to learn how to fly and if you keep a bad instructor then I guarentee you will pay a lot more in the end.<BR/><BR/>Through the years I had a lot of bad Instructors. When I found myself Instructing, I was determined to not make the same mistakes that all my bad Instructors did. Yes, I was Instructing in order to build time for the airlines like the other 99% of the Instructors are doing. As an Instructor I wanted to be the best that I could be. I cared about all my students and loved teaching. I was more concerned with teaching safety than any thing else. Any Instructor can teach someone how to fly eventually. It takes a special kind of Instructor to teach a person how to fly safely. My favorite saying was safe and legal are two different things. It is perfectly legal to take a single engine airplane across a mountain range at night but is it safe? You can operate in class G airspace in the day time with one mile visibility but is it safe? You can land in VFR conditions with only a half an hour of fuel in your tanks. For a Cessna 172 that is about 3 to 4 gallons. Let me tell you if I knew that I had only 4 gallons of fuel in my tank after landing I would freak out. Pilot decision making is the most important part of teaching.<BR/><BR/>141 versus 61.<BR/>If you have all of your financing worked out and can spend all of your time flying then part 61 is the way to go. Yes the hour requirement for part 141 is less but I would challenge anyone to actually finish in the minimum time. I guarentee it won't happen. I blew through my Commercial, CFI, and Multi engine ratings quicker than any of the 141 students in my school could even get thier Private. In fact I ended up Instructing some of them before they finished their Privates. Make no mistake about it, if you have your financing in order part 61 is the fast track.<BR/><BR/>To some all of this up, interview your prospective Flight Instructors as if they are going to be your employee. Ask for refrences from current students as well as former students. As for Flight Schools, don't get involved with the ones that want you pay them thousands of dollars up front. Don't be afraid to shop around.Metalflyboyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10850855333816997532noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8168071956874646550.post-68344792065787869712007-04-16T07:30:00.000-05:002007-04-16T07:30:00.000-05:00Which brings us back to the low time CFI as the on...Which brings us back to the low time CFI as the only option-- so again- ge to know who they are and talk to management and see if they know squat about who they are sending you up with! Listen up schools! CARE about your students and CFI's! and hire CFI's who do too! It's time to take an active interest in who you are employing. Know them! skills, experience, teaching style, goals, reliability and personality. Are you sending a brand new student up with someone waiting to hear back from an airline? or actively applying for an airline position? When a CFI leaves are you taking the care needed to make sure they are getting the right CFI to pick up where the last left off? This is going to be a blog subject this week!Cherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18148707418860918335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8168071956874646550.post-62329922251355099262007-04-15T20:51:00.000-05:002007-04-15T20:51:00.000-05:00T-bucket makes a great comment to get to know the ...T-bucket makes a great comment to get to know the CFI you're going to fly with. Unfortunately, many CFIs will not be around long enough to get to know. As Cher has alluded to, the airlines are picking up pilots with lower and lower flight times. As many instructors are looking to go to the airlines as a career, versus instruct as a career (a whole separate subject for Cher to address), it is extremely difficult for a student to establish any kind of relationship with a CFI. Many of them end up with 3, 4 or 5 different CFIs before they go for a check-ride (or even solo). Makes it hard to find consistency, let alone a personality match!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8168071956874646550.post-80409857874855396682007-04-15T20:48:00.000-05:002007-04-15T20:48:00.000-05:00Unfortunately, Tbucket makes the assumption that t...Unfortunately, Tbucket makes the assumption that the CFI will be around long enough to get to know. As Cher has alluded to, the airlines are picking up pilots with lower and lower flight times. As many instructors are looking to go to the airlines as a career, versus instruct as a career (a whole separate subject for Cher to address), it is extremely difficult for a student to establish any kind of relationship with a CFI. Many of them end up with 3, 4 or 5 different CFIs before they solo or even go for a check-ride. Makes it hard to find consistency, let alone a personality match!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8168071956874646550.post-1078209180854102492007-04-15T20:04:00.000-05:002007-04-15T20:04:00.000-05:00thank you oh mighty T-bucket! thats the truth all ...thank you oh mighty T-bucket! thats the truth all wrapped up!Cherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18148707418860918335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8168071956874646550.post-29117152854266005652007-04-15T19:55:00.000-05:002007-04-15T19:55:00.000-05:00The answer to that question, (like most things in ...The answer to that question, (like most things in aviation instruction), varies wildly with the individual instructor... There are some guys out there who will have no problem teaching a private student at 275 hours. There are others that still have a pretty small comfort zone at 800 hours... Another good reason to spend some time and get to know the CFI you're flying with!T-Buckethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06999442663090175165noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8168071956874646550.post-5336161447789684742007-04-15T08:53:00.000-05:002007-04-15T08:53:00.000-05:00Interesting thought about the instructor who teach...Interesting thought about the instructor who teaches the instructor. This issue definitely goes beyond one or two "generations" of CFIs. Throw in how little real-world experience one needs and it really gets interesting. For example, an instrument rating used to require 125 hours of total time; now it requires no minimum total. A private license used to require a long solo cross-country of 250 NM straight line; now, it is 150 NM total distance. If a CFI hasn't ventured about beyond their own comfort zone, how can they be expected to teach a new student to want to explore beyond that "$100 hamburger"?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8168071956874646550.post-24402336177735431902007-04-14T23:34:00.000-05:002007-04-14T23:34:00.000-05:00excellent point! and yet,, beyond the private we h...excellent point! and yet,, beyond the private we have instrument which is one of the most difficult, and technically important of the ratings, so, for safety sake- do you really want to be trained by a less experienced CFII and take the crap shoot? (by the way- if the CFI doesn't have a CFII, then who would you suggest they train?) Will you bust the checkride? Then beyond that, commercial for which a majority of the flying is time building solo, other than the complex portion. So really- either way, (sigh) it's a good point- so again, catch 22, (this could go on forever!)as pointed out in the earlier blog comments- how does a pilot go about getting experienced without going bankrupt if not by instructing? Once a pilot has gotten that 275 hrs, their CFI, CFII, they are pretty familiar with the learning process, and have recieved their training and certification to teach from the right seat--so the private training is really the base of all the training they have to give, I feel like I am going in cirlces! (around a point!) Probably looks like that too! it just doesn't seem to have a good answer- (then we can talk about the hiring minimums right now and REALLY get freaky!) So then am I suggesting that a CFI is worthless if there is not at least a CFII to back it up until they are more experienced?? I don't know the answer! It really boils down to skills, and the skill level of the teacher who taught your teacher who taught the teacher- who......... I'm getting dizzy! Thanks for the comment, all are appreciated and it really does point out that it's a complicated subject, and subjective,, circles again-- ahh, I'll think about it again tomorrow! Goodnight all! fly safe, and hope your instructors, instructors, instructor,,, had great skills, and lots of teaching savvy! (Anyone out there have a better answer? Please? Apparently not even the FAA has one-- well, no surprise there,, they are slower than an ultralight on everything! AHG! government) Maybe in the morning I'll make more sense!Cherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18148707418860918335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8168071956874646550.post-25500616261524804412007-04-14T20:31:00.000-05:002007-04-14T20:31:00.000-05:00I'd like to address your comment about brand new C...I'd like to address your comment about brand new CFIs gaining experience by instructing private students. For the sake of argument, I'll use a 275-hr. CFI with no prior instructing experience for my example (250 hrs. to obtain a commercial license plus a generous 25 hrs. to obtain their CFI).<BR/><BR/>Rather than using this 275-hr. CFI to learn HOW to teach by teaching someone who has never set foot in an airplane, wouldn't it be wiser (and safer) to put them with someone who already has their license and some knowledge about flying? The new CFI needs to get comfortable in their skin as a CFI. If you take away some of the multi-tasking a CFI must do with a new student (i.e., talk on the radio, look for traffic, teach the student a skill, watch the student, etc.) and put them with a student who is already capable of talking on the radio, looking for traffic, "flying" the airplane, that new CFI can focus on teaching and learning how to get across concepts correctly and accurately.<BR/><BR/>Putting a brand new student with a brand new CFI as a guinea pig seems to almost do that new student an injustice.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com