Originally Posted by
flensr
I spent 9 years teaching USAF primary UPT in the T-37 and T-6 so this would be my bread and butter, but mostly it would be a way to find someone else to pay me to turn a plane upside down. I enjoyed instructing so this would be something I really like doing both for my own benefit and for the potentially life-saving skills it can impart to students.
!
Hi flensr
Good for you for being interested in helping raise pilot standards. I'd make a few observations which may be of some value.
Your T-37 and T-6 instructing will absolutely ensure that you have the pure piloting skills required to deliver UPRT. When you dig into the regulatory and real-world requirements you'll see that there is a LOT more besides, and not least the need to translate the experience of small aerobatic aircraft to the commercial world of swept wing airliners with underslung engines.
I completely agree with the earlier comment that side-by-side seating is in fact ESSENTIAL for the delivery of effective UPRT; the training environment needs to mirror the commercial cockpit as much as possible, including the critical CRM issues. The Extra 300, huge fun that it is to fly (and we operate the aeroplane as well, although not in the UPRT role), is absolutely not the right platform.
Putting together a full course from scratch will likely take you a LONG time; at Ultimate High, with many experienced ex-mil guys like yourself, current airline training captains, regulatory experts and training specialists it took three years to perfect. Whatever route you take, use a ready developed course that has already been approved by your regulator. We have both EASA and FAA compliant courses; the differences are small but significant.
Finally, and just my personal view, my experience is that Flying Schools that are set up largely as 'hobby businesses' rather that professional flight school that are run as profit making businesses tend to have very short and often painful shelf lives. There are a number of good pilots out there that have established successful businesses, but far more that have struggled to make ends meet.
If you'd like to chat offline then I'm happy so to do. Good luck!