Alot of people are asking if they put out the cash and get their instructor rating will they get a job offer at the end of the course. What is a "job" in this business? As a new class IV you have to work under a FTU with some form of supervision so is this job really just the chance to have access to an airplane under the FTU if you can scare up a customer for yourself? You generally only get paid for hours billed and would be lucky if the split on the instructor rate is anywhere close to 50/50.
When considering where to get an instructor rating a better question is how quickly does the FTU move their instructor staff thru the ratings? What is considered reasonable time wise to up grade between the classes?
Moving Thru IV-III etc?
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I was a little confused if you are making statements or asking questions, but since there are the "?" marks at the end, I will assume they are questions, and put some info up.
It depends on the CFI in a lot of places... Chat with a couple of the current 4s and 3s to see what they did and if the CFI ensured they got the required solos/recs for upgrades...
When I was a 4, the CFI didn't do too much in this respect - of the first 4 students I soloed, 3 were my recommends also. I was full-time at a decently busy school and built up a student-base quite quickly but it still took me around 9 or 10 months over the winter. If you are lucky and acquire students that are nearly complete in their training (or if the CFI moves students around to ensure upgrades) you can do it much quicker... buddy of mine must have been no more than 4 or 5 months... and if you go somewhere that gets a Cadet contract you'll do it in a summer.
And yes, you'll be very lucky if you get 50% of what the school charges for instructor rates! Welcome to your first job in aviation....
It depends on the CFI in a lot of places... Chat with a couple of the current 4s and 3s to see what they did and if the CFI ensured they got the required solos/recs for upgrades...
When I was a 4, the CFI didn't do too much in this respect - of the first 4 students I soloed, 3 were my recommends also. I was full-time at a decently busy school and built up a student-base quite quickly but it still took me around 9 or 10 months over the winter. If you are lucky and acquire students that are nearly complete in their training (or if the CFI moves students around to ensure upgrades) you can do it much quicker... buddy of mine must have been no more than 4 or 5 months... and if you go somewhere that gets a Cadet contract you'll do it in a summer.
And yes, you'll be very lucky if you get 50% of what the school charges for instructor rates! Welcome to your first job in aviation....
Maybe I'm being naieve (sp?), but I believe that any FTU worth applying for (there's a decent number of instructor positions out there lately) will assist you and encourage you to upgrade your instructor rating to higher classes. Hell, where I work it's just expected that you'll do it, and all the rides are paid for.
Ya, the class 4 is a bit of a drag, but you've gotta start somewhere - and you really don't know anything about instructing until you get out there and start doing it...
If you're getting a 50% cut, you're probably a class 1 or 2. I've never heard of a class 4 making 50% of the instructor charge. Stick it out and the money and hours will come in (kind of) - and instructing can be a pretty damn satisfying way to get your start in aviation.
I'm not sure if the post was worded as a question either, or just a rant...but if it was a question, there's an answer.
Pugster.
Ya, the class 4 is a bit of a drag, but you've gotta start somewhere - and you really don't know anything about instructing until you get out there and start doing it...
If you're getting a 50% cut, you're probably a class 1 or 2. I've never heard of a class 4 making 50% of the instructor charge. Stick it out and the money and hours will come in (kind of) - and instructing can be a pretty damn satisfying way to get your start in aviation.
I'm not sure if the post was worded as a question either, or just a rant...but if it was a question, there's an answer.
Pugster.
From the couple years of instructing I've done, I've seen alot of class 4's come through and take anywhere from 6 months to 2 years to upgrade to the 3. It really does depend on what school you're working for and how busy they are. It is true that at most schools you will be expected to build your own clientale to get busy unless you are lucky enough to instruct in the cadet program.
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LostinRotation
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Actually I just started teaching last month and I'm looking at my class 3 by the end of the summer, as long as my students do well on their flight tests that is. On average though I would expect between 8 months to move up to a Class 3.
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Sometimes I think it's a shame when I get feelin' better when I'm feelin no pain.
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ready2move
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A little help from the top would have been great. I started as a 4 the same day as an other guy. Within 6 mounths between the 2 of us we had enough of everything to upgrade us both, but it took us each 10-12 months to get the 3. i had lots of Solos and was busy and he just kept getting hadded 5 hours till recomend studensts, because he wasn't as busy. I wasn't about to ask him for the students, exspecialy because there was a $75 bonous for a good recomend. In hind sight we should have just talked to eachother.
No longer ready2move, doin just fine right here.
Dude, that's warped. There shouldn't be a bonus for sending a student for a flight test and having them pass. Look for a school where the class 2's will hand down recommends - they don't "need" them for anything. I do sympathize, however...it took me 10 months to get my 3 when I did it too.ready2move wrote: exspecialy because there was a $75 bonous for a good recomend. In hind sight we should have just talked to eachother.
