How to find a good Flying Instructor?

[Ambitious]

Hello Everyone,

I am looking at starting my flight training in Bankstown, Sydney in a not too distant future and I was just wondering if anyone has some tips on how to find a good flying instructor?

I had a look at some previous posts in this forum and it seems to me that a lot of students came across some Instructors who were not all that interested in instructing. Is there any way of finding before commencing my taring if someone is a good/not-so-good instructor?

Thank you for your help.
Cheers

[matt_hooks]

The best way is to talk to previous students. Hang round the flying clubs and see who seems to be busiest, all the usual stuff. As important as being a "good" instructor is whether you work well together. No matter how good an instructor is, if you don't get on then it's not going to work, so get to know a few of them, chat to them, have coffee with them and see who you like.

[Ambitious]

What I meant is I am aware that a lot of flying instructors these days are just young blokes/girls who recently got their instructor ratings and now teaching just to get their hours up. Having said that, a lot of them don’t really have quite enough experience to teach someone to fly… Aviation is just one of those funny industries, where pilots become instructors as a first job, as opposed to last. I am a strong believer that best flying instructors are retired testing pilots, ex Capitans etc… So my question is: how do you find such flying instructors without actually offending anyone by joining a flying school and explicitly telling the young instructors that you don’t want them to teach you?

[SkyCamMK]

Consider that you may not be able to tell whether an instructor is good or not whatever people tell you because you may have a view about your own competence. If it is PPL that you are referring to then find the most experienced person you can, that will assess you and may then even recommend an instructor for you. The best instructors may no longer teach PPL though obviously so do. Consider what kind of flying you hope to do and find someone to talk to who actually has done or is doing it. Otherwise join a club and fly with many different pilots and learn from them all. You will learn from any instructor but if your teacher can provide training in your preferred learning style you will progress quickly. Good luck!

[wire12]

yeah that's right

[SamAustralia]

The best way to find out is to fly with few of them... I had about 4, one is rude and sucks and I almost wanted to open the window and jump or was about to tell him off.. second person is great.. third is good as well,,till I end up with (because the other two instructors ) were busy, I end up with an old instructor at the start I thought ohh hes old and wont be able to teach me well( well, with all respect) he was the best...

I found that you do learn different thing from different instructors.. ever1 of them will notice some mistakes that u do and will correct it... so best way have few.. never stay with one..

Sam

[russellmounce]

I moved about a bit during my PPL, and ended up going through 4 flying schools. The best way I found for telling the experience of an instructor was they seemed to give all the half hour test flights, birthday flights and red letter days to the newest guys, as the more experienced instructors had done it all too many times and the customers weren't going to come back anyway.

The best instructor in the school is usually the one who's in the air all the time with ppl students. Unfortunately this means you dont bump into him much in the waiting room.

[Gingerbread Man]

Find an instructor who will only say 'good' rarely. If you feel all proud and smiley when they say it, i'd say that's an indication of a good starting point imho. I prefer to be slagged off when I fly, but to feel like i've really earned compliments.

Obviously there is more to it that that though.

Cheers

Ginger ;)

[Irish_Stu]

Only way to find out is to fly with them I reckon. Try to get one that you are comfortable with but who pushes you a bit. I've flown with instructors who I felt have gone too easy on me and haven't pointed out mistakes that I know I've made. On the other hand I know students who have dreaded going flying because of the hard time they were given by their instructor.
At the start I flew with five or six different instructors at my flying club, but now try and use just one or two that I feel most comfortable with.

[Ambitious]

Thanks for all the responces!!!

It seems to be a common advice tha I need to try a few different instructors to find someone good... However, in my reither limited experience, instructors do seem to get quite offended when you change them for someone else. :ooh: Any thoughts on how to try a few instructors and not offend any of them? Cheers :rolleyes:

[russellmounce]

I'd just be honest. At the end of the day, it's your money and you don't just want to throw it away flying with an instructor who you don't learn anything from.

when you book your lessons, try to find if other instructors are free and book a slot with them. Once you find an instructor you get on with, stick with it and see how it goes.

I find that different instructors use different methods to teach, such as using the "clock" method to calculate the cross wind component when others use the sine tables method, or a chart, and different techniques for the forced landing.

Try not to change too much once you've settled on an instructor, otherwise you just get a headache from being taught to do the same thing 3 or 4 different ways.

[9Haviator]

An old firend of mine once said that 'An Instructor can either make you or destroy you'.

Than again it all depends on the students competance and the ability to obey and learn fast. Also common sense comes into play but than again common sense its not so common now a days...:{....

I must say that my PPL training was one of the best times in my life. Instructor and I became really close friends, and I always use to listen to what he says. I cut for solo after 9 hrs, ok I have been flying on flight simulator for the past 5 years and yes that HELPS alot!

My point is that as long as you click with your instructor and he knows he can trust you, you shouldn't have any problems!

Well that is my 2 cents...

Caw.

[russellmounce]

I had an instructor just like that for my ppl. The ground briefings were short, and it just meant I got very little out of the flight as we spent so much time going over silly things like what a VRP looks like, or the basic circuit layout which could easily of been done on the ground.:ugh:

If I were you, I'd definately look for a change of instructor.

[Harmattan96]

What I meant is I am aware that a lot of flying instructors these days are just young blokes/girls who recently got their instructor ratings and now teaching just to get their hours up. Having said that, a lot of them don’t really have quite enough experience to teach someone to fly… Aviation is just one of those funny industries, where pilots become instructors as a first job, as opposed to last. I am a strong believer that best flying instructors are retired testing pilots, ex Capitans etc… So my question is: how do you find such flying instructors without actually offending anyone by joining a flying school and explicitly telling the young instructors that you don’t want them to teach you?

I would dissagree with that statement.
A young flight instructor, has just finished a teaching syllabus and might be just as much up to par, if not even more, compared to your crusty Captain.
A retired testing Captain or other, might not be in touch with the basic skills necessary to operate a GA aircraft, and the skill set for VFR navigation, and light aircraft aerodynamic.
Let me also emphasize that a 20 yr pilot flying intercontinental, with FMS, autopilot, and other bells and shinnies, might be much less competent as an Aviator than a systems manager.
I would say that a good flight instructor is, unfortunately, one that has probably more than a 1000hrs of dual given, living very little to the brand new guys who could be very good, but less experienced in dealing with students...and especially their mistakes.
If your old crusty Captain, is one that continously kept in touch with GA, he will be your best bet; but the one that flew airliners for eons, and decided it would be great to retire into flight training is probably more dangerous and less efficient compared to the young bushy tailed lad with an ink wet instructor certificate.
Food for thought: there is a staggering amount of ex-airline captains that kill themselves in piper arrows and other high performance single pistons, all in the name of "I have 20000hrs flying heavies, I can fly this bug smasher" attitude.