Originally Posted by
Nurse2Pilot
So if the weather may clear up in the afternoon, the instructors are still supposed to be there all day? Maybe they (flight school) can ask that if the instructors are paid a retainer fee but not if the instructor is paid by flight hour, surely?
Depends on your relationship with your school. Its a 2 way street. Of course they can't compel you to be there if you are not on a retainer. However, if they only see you when you are guaranteed to fly, you are unlikely to have much of a rapport and you may find the work going to more committed instructors. Similarly, weather windows sometimes open for a couple of hours only. Would you be able to drop what you are doing, have time to get in, ensure the aircraft is prepped, brief and then fly the exercise if that unforecast window appears? If not, you could be losing the school money and you won't be instructing there long. Sadly, instructing isn't going to pay all your bills but does demand a huge committment. You have to ask yourself how committed you are likely to be. If the answer is anything less than fully, then getting to the airlines via instructing probably isn't for you.
Finally, just remember that not everybody can be an instructor. You need to be able to do more than just get a PPL. I would wait until you have seen how you are taking to the flying before worrying too much about life as an instructor.