Originally Posted by
Pilot DAR
What TSRA said... as always.
As an instructor, particularly for not so young students, a little age and life experience is beneficial. "Established" (particularly male) students are uneasy learning from very youthful instructors.
Gaining experience is a hard path, but each pilot must take it. I don't tend to align well with very low experience instructors doing anything other than the most basic ab initio training. Any more advanced training requires some background in why it is to be done (flown) that way. You have to gain that experience - it takes time, and is expensive. As a Class 4, you are being supervised, that's intentional, to assure that you train within your skill set, as you expand it. We hear of too many accidents which instructor and student aboard, which should not have happened - low experience instructor.
The other thing to consider is your confidence to send a student solo. There's a lot more to that than it seems. I have sweated a number of times, worrying that I had not trained them enough, for what that could next have to deal with. The one time I got that wrong, I hadn't sent him solo yet, so I was onboard for the accident - hard lesson learned!
Out system in Canada as to how, and by whom, flying instruction is given, is really well thought out. Follow the path that everyone else has followed - it's the best you'll find. Do not fly for free, if you do, some one is not taking you seriously. Be serious about flying, and work for people who take you seriously.
It's really thought out, but even my instructor examiner, who is American and know the FAA system, agree the Class 4 needs a overhaul to recommend, not require, a supervision, because he said he does 10 renewals for every initial, and that speaks load on the failed system in Canada. In the US, for example, CFI are the equivalent of class 3, they can do anything the moment they pass their checkride, with the exception of instrument training, multi engine training and new CFI training a. (two require another checkride, the later 2 years of experience)
And many of the US instructors I had were less than one year instructor, and they were good. Being new doesn't mean you are flawed, and the Canadian system have people getting their instructor rating and than sitting on their bum for the next 6-10 months, without getting actual experience, whereas in the US, most instructors get to find a job rather quickly, and build up that experience.
I myself witnessed an accident in Oshawa for a solo student who literally was approved by a class 1 few minutes earlier, and still she crashed that Cessna anyway, so that rubber stamps can be extremely useless sometimes.
So the Canadian system is nowhere near perfect, and even Transport Canada examiners are supporting that, but changing the system is admitting the government did wrong, and no government like to admit it, so like it or not, good or bad - it's here to stay.
Edit: I just got another CFI basically telling me almost no one will hire a class 4 instructor. So yes, I think the Canadian system is
extremely stupid and flawed. If that is the case, TC was ought to require any flight school that want to offer the instructor rating to hire the instructor until they reach class 3, to avoid this situation where, unlike other profession, you can't work without supervision that no one will hire. Another option, as brought up the examiner, is to put on class 2 the opposite requirement from class 4 - have, at least, 100 supervision (i.e. 100 recommendations for flight tests and 100 solo approval) before being allowed to advance to class 1, that way flight schools are forced to hire class 4 if they wish to promote their class 2.
It will be very similar to my other profession as paramedic - if you want to be a supervisor over new candidate, you must actively me supervising them, you can't just collect the higher paycheck without actively, everyday doing that job, but in this case, the emphasis will be only on supervisions, as it's the main issue.
Point being - by time I find a job as class 4, if ever, my US peers will already have their ATPL and will be flying FO in the regionals, if not captains. Absolutely no sense in this system.