Scudrunners

If only people realized that they are actually saving money by working with someone with experience, even though the hourly rate may be higher, they won't be wasting time while the newbie instructor works on his instructional "techniques".

And that rudderless is the bottom line.

[quote author=Chuck Ellsworth link=topic=170.msg445#msg445 date=1433295767]
Experience that can be verified with a track record of successful teaching.

As you progress in the teaching field…..
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" Flight instruction is the highest calling a pilot can aspire to. "[/color]
[/quote]I think you guys are absolutely right, [b][i]good[/i][/b] instructors are worth their weight in gold. When I think back to the mid 90's, there were only one or two that I came across in S. Ontario that weren't just building time. They seemed to know the book stuff but had no clue about real flying skills. My private instructor, was great, book smart and a pretty decent stick. My commercial instructor was a nice young lady but had no idea what the rudder pedals were for. I already had a float rating from a 185 and I remember thinking that I just couldn't fathom her surviving her first flight in that thing if she ever had the opportunity. She was already ATPL with quite a bit of multi time. Now at big red as a skipper I think.

When I went for my multi a few years later, same thing. Nice young dude in a shirt and tie and liked to go on about "flying the Baron at Seneca" (his voice actually changed when he said this, like he was saying "when I boned Kate Hudson").  Again, he flew the small twin like it was made of glass and he was the princess. I actually asked for a change of instructor and to be honest, the next guy was equally as discomforting to me, just seemed very green and unsure of the actual handling of the aircraft. The preflight briefings made me feel like I was preparing to test-fly the next X-plane mind you with very colorful dry boards articulated in a very well executed manner. I got through it but remember shaking my head at the time thinking god help the next generation of pilots.

I am grateful for my private instructor taking me into grass strips and short fields early on. The summer I spent between private and commercial, slaving for the guy up north with the 185 and Beaver was invaluable. I traded 5 months of labour for a float rating from a 5000 hr bush rat, food, housing, beer and some lifelong friends. Would do it all again.

[quote]good instructors are worth their weight in gold[/quote]

Yes, but the problem is that you don't know
if you have a good one until afterwards.

Most people choosing a flight instructor put
the same effort they put into hiring a lawyer,
a doctor, a plumber, an electrician, a carpenter
or a mechanic.

You know - absolutely no time or effort. 

They don't check the contractor's qualifications
(a class 4 is the same as a class 1), experience
(they never ask to talk to previous customers),
knowledge or skill.  All of these are unimportant
when they are hiring a contractor.

Mike Holmes, who makes a living cleaning up
after other contractors, famously says that 90%
of contractors are either crooks or incompetent,
and I certainly believe his advice applies to both
flight instructors and AME's.

On "the other board" I got in terrible trouble for
expressing this opinion - you aren't allowed to
express an opinion there unless everyone agrees
with it - that to the best of my knowledge that
there are precisely TWO AME's in all of eastern
Ontario that are both competent and ethical.

There are some AME's that are competent
but in my experience there are few that are
ethical.

There are some AME's that are ethical but
few of them are competent - for example,
very few AME's are skilled at diagnosis,
which is how Mike Busch makes a living.

Can't you just see the Venn diagram, crying
to be drawn?  :D

[img][/img]

Lest anyone think that I am picking on AME's,
I believe that Mike Holmes' advice certainly
applies to flight instructors.  90% are either
crooks or incompetent (as a result of inexperience).

But the incompetence amongst flight instructors
isn't always just from inexperience.  I keep
having to clean up after class 1's that have
botched a class 4 instructor rating that they
did - and they blame the candidate for the
failure!!  Can you believe that excrement?!
I guess it doesn't really matter, because
they've already moved onto Air Canada
or some other place where skill and morals
don't matter.

Flight test candidates don't know this, but
modulo spectacular brain farts, they are
merely moving parts between the flight
instructor and the examiner.

When an examiner gets a candidate
recommended by a skilled flight instructor,
he knows the product is going to be good.

And when an examiner gets a candidate
from a crappy instructor, well ...