How much to become a flying instructor?

[Straightandlevel80kt]

Hi guys and girls

Quick question: How much would it cost to get from low hours (52) PPL to flying instructor earning a salary?

Thanks!

[peterfoele]

Before you can be paid to become an instructor you have to have a CPL.
I would advise to run a search, as this topic has been dealt before

Happy landings
Peter

[Penworth]

S&L

I don't think its a question that can be answered very quickly! Look at section H of Lasors for all the requirements to be a flight instructor.

To be a paid FI you need a CPL, 200 hours total time and the CPL knowledge exams passed to start the FI course, and the FI course itself. Depending on where you do the training, you could be looking at £4-6k for the CPL, the same for the hour building and the same again for the FI course, costing roughly £15k in total, not including living expenses. On top of that you'll have the CPL exams to do, which will cost in the region of £2k by distance learning.

People always say to add on a percentage for over runs, exam fees etc, so say about £20-22k total. That's just a ball park figure - but you did say it was a quick question, so here's a quick answer!

Hope it helps :ok:

PW

[152wiseguy]

I agree with the above post but maybe add on a bit for the CAA fees which will amount to about £1800 or so once you have paid for flight tests, licence issue fees written exam fees etc.

[Mr Magoo]

Running before walking is the phrase that springs to mind here. Go out and use your PPL (which is a licence to learn.) Then, after a few hundred hours making mistakes, you might be able to give students a bit of flying education.

Regards

Magoo

[Straightandlevel80kt]

Thank you. £20-25K. Roughly what I figured, but it's the first time I've heard it from someone else.

Looks like I've got some hours building to do over the next few years!

[G-KEST]

How times and costs change. In the late 1950's my PPL cost 20 hours at £1.25 per hour in Tiger Moths plus a medical at £2.50 and an SPL plus PPL issue fee of £1.00 - Total of £28.50
Hour building to 100 hours P1 cost around £200.00
AFI course of 20 hours at £1.75 plus the GAPAN test fee of £5.00 totalled £40.00
Grand total abinitio to assistant flying instructor amounted to £268.50 or barely enough to buy a couple of hours in a spam can these days at one of the London area outfits.
Really enjoyed my 39 years of instructing and examining but I doubt if I would have started at all if prices had been at todays levels. Then I was earning around £8.00 per week so the cost was around 34 times my weekly income. With weekly wages now an average of say £250 the current cost might be around twice what it was back in 1960. Still a hell of an increase and one that really discourages those who wish to get a FI rating to help out at their local FTO at the weekends/evenings and holidays.
Trapper 69

[aces low]

Sorry to sound like an Eeyore Straightandlevel80kt, but like a lot of things in professional flying, the cost is always more than you expect. You should also consider the total costs of being a flying instructor (renewals, medicals, travelling etc) as well as the cost of training. In my experience, the cost of training was substantial but does not get anywhere near the loss of income I have suffered from being a full-time flying instructor.

I have certainly been very lucky as an instructor to get decent work, but it has not been well paid nor close to home. Over the last two years my income from full-time FI work (I am unrestricted and an IMC instructor) has been less than £4k per year after deducting travelling and accommodation expenses. The average rate I have been paid is about £15 per hour or £10 with a daily retainer of £20. the best has been £20 per hour in a remote school that took most of my income in travelling and accommodation.

If you want to instruct weekends at your local club then this post is not relevant. If however this is a career in the making, then budget for a couple of years of cr@ppy money before moving on to either professional flying instruction with one of the big schools or airlines or examining. Living away from home, missing the family and being paid sh1t money is hard...especially if the weather is pants and you're not flying. The 'glamour' of flight soon wears off when you can't pay your bills.

Still...must get my fix...so I'll carry on.

ps. Someone on this forum once described flying instruction as 'a hobby that has got out of hand'! If you enjoy flying then just buy your own plane and spend the money enjoying yourself...it will be cheaper in the long run. If you have a masochistic streak...then go for the FI career. Crazy and fun yes, remunerative ? NO.

[Stephen Stark]

Come to South Africa. Cheap cheap! Heard it is cheap in Brazil too. For the other 170 hours, expect to pay aproximately USD 27000.