DarkSarcasm Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 Hi all, I've signed up to do an RA FI rating starting in the second week of Dec. I'm keen to do it but I'm also a bit nervous about it. I've no idea if I'd be a good teacher or absolutely terrible at it. Not to mention, I don't really feel like I've been flying long enough to teach others how to fly. I mean, I've only been flying for about 2.5 years, is that enough experience? It seems like to teach you should have 10 years or more. I guess I'm just looking for reassurance from the FIs out there - did you feel like this before doing your rating? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fly_tornado Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 How many hours have you got up now? Have done any long distance flying since you qualified? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkSarcasm Posted November 10, 2011 Author Share Posted November 10, 2011 How many hours have you got up now? Have done any long distance flying since you qualified? I have about 120 or so TT (GA and RA). I've done a few navs since I got my PPL but nothing seriously long distance (my finances are still trying to catch up from the training navs). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turboplanner Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 How many hours have you got up now? Have done any long distance flying since you qualified? I don't think I'd trust her for London Sydney yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fly_tornado Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 So do you feel like you can handle someone trying to kill you on your weekends? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimG Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 Go for it Darky, you will find it very rewarding...! I completed my FI rating last month and I'm a low time pilot of approx 220 hrs TT My CFI has been kind to me and given me 10 hrs of training students already and it has been extremely satisfying. One of the students I've taken from never flown before up to take offs and good medium turns and she is really enjoying it , so it is all great so far. All this from the back seat of a Drifter........it just can't be more fun than that..! cheers JimG 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turboplanner Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 Don't put ideas into her head Jim. I can just imaging sitting in the front seat and making a mistake and getting a mouthful, and making the same mistake again and seeing the screen turn red with dimming eyesight and hearing the sound of the 357 Magnum. Now I know why the shooting training. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fly_tornado Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 Jim you are flying with Kev in Gatton? He is a Good flight instructor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loro Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 "I guess I'm just looking for reassurance from the FIs out there - did you feel like this before doing your rating?" No - if you think you need more experience you are probably correct. Good luck in any case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimG Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 Jim you are flying with Kev in Gatton?He is a Good flight instructor. Yeah F T , I've done most of my training with Kev. Good Bloke for sure and never leaves you wondering what he really thinks..! JimG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XP503 Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 I think you need more flying experience before you should consider an FI rating. Sorry but that's my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Litespeed Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 Been a school teacher by trade, the process of imparting knowledge to a student actually hones your own skills. The mere act of cognition for flight skills and then imparting that to a student is a very useful experience. Basically to teach means to learn yourself. But, and here is the big but- you must have a level of competence and confidence in your abilities, before you can make the leap to teaching. Some are natural pilots, some are natural teachers and the lucky ones are rare and natural at both. At this early stage, esp with limited touring hrs- unless your the lucky one, then No. I know that is not what you may wish to hear but honesty leads to safety. Another way to think of it would be from the new pilots shoes, how many hours would you want as a minimum for your instructor. The whole trust thing comes into play for the training game- esp when death is always a few mistakes away. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RKW Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 Your passion for flying shines through on these forums. The fact that you are unsure of your teaching ability is an indication for me that you have given this much thought. Your desire to give something back to our wonderful sport is most admirable and I'm certain that you will do well at it. It is amazing what you learn when you teach. Share the passion and go for it. Regards, Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turboplanner Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 Well you said you couldn't land also and you did, so good luck with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfGnome Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 I reckon that the question is not "Should I do the FI training?", but "Should I teach after competing the training?". Doing the training can only improve your skills, so it can never be a bad thing. As for the other question, well that's up to your instructor. If s/he throws everything at you and you handle it well, then why not? On the other hand, if you struggle with the strange situations, then even if you hold off the teaching for a while (or forever), you've still learned something more there too. In summary, go for it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turboplanner Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 And if you screw up, we'll all be able to have a laugh, so there are no losers out of this! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cficare Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 hi Darky, it not a "should I" question.. more a "do I want and will I enjoy" being an Instructor? As you know, in GA many pilots choose to instruct for various reasons...."hour building" (not much dedication there..and it usually shows!)...or...maybe..."I might like to share my enjoyment of aviating" In the later case, many find that being an instructor is richly rewarding personally (i'm one)...whilst others find, after a time, that they move on to other things.... I offer no advice other than...go with your heart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkSarcasm Posted November 10, 2011 Author Share Posted November 10, 2011 Thanks all. I'd like to instruct for two reasons - to improve my own skills and to share my enjoyment of flying with others. I am nervous about the actual idea of instructing because the last thing I'd want to do is to be a bad instructor. I've been burnt by not so good instructors before and I'd be horrified to think I was doing the same to my students. I want to do the very best possible for the students. I reckon that the question is not "Should I do the FI training?", but "Should I teach after competing the training?". I agree. I've decided that I will do the training and, after I complete it, then consider whether I feel ready to teach. I will definitely be relying on the asessment and advice of the FI who will be teaching the rating (who I've known for a year or so) as to whether he thinks I'm competetent to teach or whether I should gain more experience first. However, if nothing else, I think doing the rating will improve my own flying and if I don't feel ready to teach when I get the rating, I can gain more experience and then take up teaching. The main reason I am doubting myself and my ability to teach is that I want to do the best for the students and would be terrified if I was the bad instructor that messed up their training. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fly_tornado Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 Have you got your drifter endorsement yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkSarcasm Posted November 10, 2011 Author Share Posted November 10, 2011 Have you got your drifter endorsement yet? Me? Nope Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fly_tornado Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 what are you waiting for, its summer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest davidh10 Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 ... I've no idea if I'd be a good teacher or absolutely terrible at it. Not to mention, I don't really feel like I've been flying long enough to teach others how to fly... Again, probably not what you wanted to hear, but I think you have answered your own question:- You don't know if you would be a good teacher. If you have had so little experience teaching others (in other fields), like coaching others in your legal studies... did you leap at the opportunities or shy away from them. Did others seek you out as having the talent to pass on knowledge? You don't feel you have the necessary experience. Then you are probably right. If you are not confident and sure footed, how will you gain a student's confidence. You really need to be comfortable in a wide range of attitudes and conditions to be able to allow students to make mistakes and attempt to correct them without exceeding your comfort zone. Let me give an example... recently a 3-axis pilot doing a conversion to weight shift reverted to 3-axis control sense and put the aircraft into a spiral dive, then froze and was unable to follow instructions to recover. That necessitated the instructor to recover the aircraft. How would you feel in similar situations... One of the oxymorons of RAA aircraft is that you are not allowed to fly in various unusual attitudes that inevitably occur at the hands of students from time to time, so how do gain confidence in recovery from attitudes you aren't allowed to deliberately achieve? Examine your motivations for wanting to do it. Is it really to help others or just endo collecting? Perhaps there is some thought that it will finance more flying, which would be the wrong motivation. Are you prepared for the situation where a pilot you taught is subsequently severely injured or dies in an accident. It is an ever present possibility regardless of whether there is any causal link. With all the stuff you have been doing, are you spreading yourself too thin. You are looking for our approval. If you really have the stuff, you didn't need our approval. All rhetorical questions. I don't need the answers or the conclusion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nong Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 So you want to improve your skills (at your students expense, presumably) and share the joy. Oh, dear...... If you had said something such as "I want to teach students what can kill them and how to avoid death by aircraft crash" then maybe you could be taken seriously. Why not put your heart, soul and youthful energy into your day job. Flying sounds like an ideal hobby for you. Good luck ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueshed Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 Hey Darky Go for it Girl, as you have already stated, you will do the course then consider if you wish to teach! Would it be possible to start with teaching Navigation to those who already hold a certificate? May be a way to build into the the whole teaching regime, find your style and become confident at it! I only came to RAA and gained my instructor rating after many thousands of hours flying GA, however came from a gliding back ground where I had gained an assistant instructor rating at a relatively early stage in my flying career. Still only have 120 hours gliding including instructing! You will never know, if you never Go! You Can Do It, You Can Do It, You Can Do It! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bandit12 Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 I would say go for it. If your instructor is good, they will not sign you off until you are ready. It is something new and so will be a little nerve wracking. There are plenty of us that were pretty nervous when the instructor first climbed out of the aircraft and sent us solo, wondering whether we were ready. I expect that your skills will be somewhat honed by the end of the course, then it is just a matter of keeping them at that higher level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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