Thanks for that shortstripper. As an "ignorant fool" who does have an FI rating, this whole debate covers the great divide between PPL's and instructors.
If you have ever read any of my posts, then you will see that I don't think that just because somebody has a PPL it makes them incompetent and conversely having a CPL is no guarantee of ability. BUT I know far more dangerous PPL's than I do CPL's and there are very few PPL's I would feel comfortable letting loose as an instructor.
Instructing is not a job to be taken lightly, a bunch of "amateurs" would be catastrophic to the industry in my opinion.
G-KEST has stated that these are measures that may help reduce the cost of flying, I will say again (slowly) for the 20th time that this is utter bunk. FI's should get MORE money not less. How else are you able to keep decent instructors? To reduce costs, let's attack the things that actually are expensive such as fuel.
Flying is great fun for most PPL's, they only go when they want to and where they want to. As an instructor, the sheer joy of flying changes fairly rapidly into a job. Sometimes it's wonderful, others sheer drudgery mixed with the occasional serving of terror. See how much enthusiasm you have on cold, wet, windy day when students don't turn up, you're drinking coffee and not getting paid. If you love flying and teaching so much, there is a route for you.
I will always maintain that a good instructor MUST be at least 10 steps ahead of the student. A PPL teaching another PPL doesn't cut it in my book.
I always try to do the best for my students and on many occasions I have had to dip into my post-PPL knowledge to either get the point across, or something unexpected has happened that I was in no way trained for during my PPL.
Most PPL's to be honest are actually a danger to themselves and others, again anyone who can be bothered to read this BB is unlikely to be such an individual. The number of times I have been lied to, verbally abused or even threatened by PPL's because they didn't like me questioning them, especially over currency, is far from funny or even uncommon.
Should these individuals be allowed to teach the next generation of pilots? What procedures would there be in place to stop it happening? Maybe I am too cynical.
What is wrong with instructing at the moment? Nobody has yet spelled out that there is a problem that needs fixing. Why go back 20 years (rose tinted specs?) and make major changes without identifying what the issues are today and trying to fix them in a constuctive manner.
Just because somebody has a CPL and an FI ticket doesn't make them any less of an enthusiast than any PPL. Infact the reverse is true. They love it so much that they are willing to remortgage their houses and work for peanuts. If that isn't enthusiasm then what is? Get a CPL and an FI rating, then you have earned the right to bitch about instructors.
Last edited by Say again s l o w l y; 14th Feb 2004 at 01:45.