Tiger, personally I enjoy instructing, flying light aircraft and 'hanging around' airfields, but it is hard to financially survive on it.
There's been debate for some time over whether instructors are valued enough. They have large responsibilies in ensuring people are taught correctly and are exposed to as many variables as they can be during their training. The student, once holding a licence, is going to be responsible for themselves, aeroplanes, passengers, and people living under their flight paths.
Instructing is seen by many as a step to gaining more experience in order to get an airline job. This is unfortunate, as instructing can be very self-rewarding. That attitude exists because training establishments do not pay good wages to instructors. If they did we might see more professional instructors and fewer people electing to just hour-build to get an airline job in order to survive off flying. The unfortunate side of this would be the associated increase in the costs of training to cover these expenses.
At the end of the day it is a rewarding job, one I enjoy very much, and I will endaevour to enjoy as much of it as I can before the day comes when I am forced, through financial pressure, to go air transport flying.
Kermie
