from somebody flying charter in the north of our fine country, who has no instructing experience whatsoever, here is my two cents worth.
the organisation that I work for currently have on the books approx 25 pirates...of which 4 are from instructor background.
They are worlds apart.
First, anyone who bad mouths instructors needs to take a good hard look at themselves and ask "who was it that taught me to fly?"
Unless you are gods gift to aviation (as some of you think you are
), somebody out there at one point in time taught you how to fly an aeroplane, you didn't teach yourself.
Secondly, instructors from my perspective have a better understanding of the rules and regs, capabilities of the aircraft (you cannot teach anybody else to fly an aeroplane and the complexities associated with rules and regs unless you have a thorough understanding of them yourself),
on the charter side of the coin, instructors have very little experience trying to fit 5 pax plus 100kg luggage into a 210 or 206 whilst also requiring inter or tempo fuel. Only one pax, the student and fuel required for the flight.
time restrictions on charter, instructors fly when the student is ready to fly. student does the planning, refuelling etc. Somewhat different to a charter flight that comes up that should have taken off 10 minutes ago and you still need to plan, refuel.
A little bit of respect on either side of the fence is required, appreciate each aspect of aviation for what it brings to the industry. People in glass houses should not be throwing stones...or bricks.
Thats my rant.
dd