Voted looooong time ago but thread has come back to life.
Been a FI for 3.5 years now,time to move on I'd say.
But as nobody has pointed out yet flight instruction is one of the few things about flying that carries on all the way to the top.
When you get hired for your next job who's training you on the sim and in the plane?........a FI.
First jet-job.....training captain...is instructing you, according to the regs he doesn't have to be a FI( for company training) but I bet it helps.
People I know are now instructors on the 747-400 after flying the line for a couple of years.
Guess flight instruction never really stops.
I started out as a strictly "timebuilder" but have changed my mind now,once I'm proficient in whatever I'm flying next, I'd like to continue instructing on it and take it all the way to the top.
How many chief pilots of the majors have a long instructing career behind them?
I think flight instruction is one of the great ways to practice CRM, face it you have no influence over who's sitting next to you and you have to make it all work in the next 30 hrs or so.
A lot underestimate the "people-skills" required to make this job manageble.
Anyway, comments welcome...
