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Michael wrote:
> "Sydney D. Hoeltzli" > > FWIW I have known several guys I considered excellent CFIs who > > were 300-500 hr pilots when I met them. <...> > My primary instructor had less than 500 hours (but not 300). > I dont think he was any good at teaching, but he knew how to fly, > knew what good flying looked like, and prepared me well for a style of > flying that many consider quite agressive. <...> Some might call it "aggressive". Some might use another word. But thats beside the point. > Im dont believe that level of experience can be attained in 300 > hours these days. <....> It can still be done at 500, but at this > point were quibbling over details. It sounds as if weve established, and now agree, that the issue really isnt *hours*. The issue is breadth and depth of flight experience. > What is absolutely certain is that the typical graduate of the Part > 141 program who leaves at 300 hours (or even less) with his CFI, CFII, > and MEI isnt going to have that kind of experience, and another 1200 > hours sitting in the right seat of a 150 saying "More right rudder" > wont help. Concur. > The real problem is that most CFIs WANT to do a good job. Ive yet > to meet one who doesnt give a damn. But what do you tell a hundred > hour private pilot who wants to be a CFI so he can go to the airlines? > There are a dozen academies there that, for $25-$35K, will take him > to the CFI/CFII/MEI in 200 hours and 3-9 months. How do you tell him > that they wont even come close to teaching him what he needs to know? > How do you tell him that he needs way more time in aviation, > experience, seasoning, and knowledge before he can pass anything > useful on to his students? I see a different "real problem". What I see as the core issue here is alluded to in both your stories (which I edited). The real problem I see is that the flight experience desired by, and required of, a future airline pilot, is to a large extent different than the flight experience which is necessary or useful to a private pilot who desires to make practical use of flying. The latter needs to know how to cope with different runway lengths and surfaces at different density altitudes; how to plan and fly long trips through a variety of weather systems; how to fly safely at the edges of the performance envelope because going into short strips at high DA thats just where theyll be. If theyre renting, they need to know how to quickly determine the performance characteristics of a new plane and become competent with them. The former will be operating from paved runways of ample length usually with ILS. Smoothness counts. A stabilized approach is of paramount importance. The destination has been chosen and many of the flight planning and weather decisions made (even lower on the food chain, although this point might be debated by some charter pilots). And nominally, the three most important criteria are a clean record, total time, and multi hours not necessarily in that order. Now in truth, other things being equal, breadth of aviation experience is very favorably looked upon by those hiring professional pilots. They know (because many of them have it, and have seen it in those they train) that glider experience, acro experience, and experience flying different planes, produce a pilot who is aware of aerodynamic subtleties and may be easier to train and faster to react in an emergency. So a pilot who has this experience will be snapped up quickly -- once he reaches the requisite totals of hours. But for the most part, this experience wont help him reach the requisite totals more quickly and cheaply. Getting a CFI ASAP is the fastest way to build time on someone elses dime. Having the majority of pilot trainees be people who simply want to fly for personal pleasure and business, while the majority of CFIs are people who have little experience with the practical needs of this sort of flying (whatever their number of hours), I see as a real problem. Cheers, Sydney |
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