View Full Version : What's it really like being a FI??
TRIMTRABB
11th Sep 2000, 16:42
It looks like the way things are going it's still necesary to build hours as a FI. But what is it really like? I always imagine it's ok until the time comes to let he or she land the beast. Is it as scary as some make out? Do some just not take to instructing as they fear for their lives??
It is a privilege to be a FI!
But the price of safety is eternal vigilence. Obviously it is a bit nerve racking when you first start out but you can soon learn enough to relax and enjoy it! Flight instructing has the best safety record of any type of GA flying. Of course FIs love to talk about how terrifying it is -but it is just talk. Go forth with confidence (just be very, very careful!!)
Plus it is amazing how your skills improve just from observing and having to put concepts into words.
Never forget what it was like for you when you were learning. I miss instructing now and look forward to maybe one day becoming a training captain.
Qhunter
11th Sep 2000, 22:47
I second everything Oleo says. You learn a bit more every day.
Trying to survive whilst taking home £600 a month is the tricky bit though.
[This message has been edited by Qhunter (edited 11 September 2000).]
If it means that I would have to endure students like I was, then I haven't the nerve for it!
Is a roller coaster the instructors flight sim?
chicken6
13th Sep 2000, 14:08
I'll start by seconding everything Oleo says.
I second that.
And then there's "I third that". Trying to pull out the words to say "OPPOSITE RUDDER NO AILERON" without scaring the student even further is an intense personal challenge and you never know when it's going to be needed. In that respect, you can see an obvious improvement in the mental speed of instructors. But there's another side to it as well, you start becoming a mind reader. I can tell by the way someone taxis (lookout, small corrections all the time) how they are going to cope with a C152 dropping a wing when they are in a turn. The situational awareness for the aeroplane, yourself and your student means you figure out reasonably quickly (I'm talking a few months here) what behavioural signs go together.
Taking that into the airline context, if you have been an instructor (even just doing it for the hours) and now you're a F/O, you apparently have a better understanding of the behaviour of your Captain and how to say "You're about to stuff up" thereby preventing an incident before you *need* to remember how to recover from one.
Despite the length of that last sentence, you also learn what's important to say and when to say it quickly.
In short, it's excellent as a personal challenge, a meeting ground for new people, and all in all a life-changing experience. Wouldn't miss it.
Safe flying
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Confident, cocky, lazy, dead.