nomercy
6th Oct 2005, 11:16
This post is intened to help people who are thinking of doing the F.I course. I am a very experienced instructor who has worked in the industry for some time.
COST - The cousre will set you back around 6K including test + expenses and of you will incur loss of earnings for 4 - 5 weeks if you are working.
EARNINGS - A lot of schools pay a retainer + hourly rate, £20 a day plus £10 - £15 per hour flown is typical . This obviously varies with school and location, but if you do not fly because of bad weather you will only get the retainer for that day and schools generally expect you to do cleaning or admin to justify the payment. Bear in mind that if you have travel expenses it leaves very little profit for you.
As you advance (to teach IMC or NIGHT ) most schools will improve your pay slightly, and some will pay an annual salary from day one- a school near to me pays £12K.
THE JOB
Benefits - You will be gaining experience as captain of a (light) aircraft which some airlines do still find desirable. You will be earning money from flying and enjoying yourself most of the time. Instructing can be very hard work with some serious responsibility and it can be very pleasing to see someone you have worked hard with get their wings. You will also learn a fair amount more about flying in general and learn a lot more about people.
To succeed at instructing you need to be well organised , very patient and have the ability to get on with all kinds of people. The quality of the school and the people who work there does have a bearing on matters, obviously it is more appealing to work at a nice clean and well run school with good people.
The downside- You will work fairly long hours usually including both weekend days. Considering that you are now a professional pilot and a teacher/ lecturer, the wages do not show respect for your qualification. It can be very difficult to survive financially in particular if you have a mortgage/ family/ loan. I personally found it a nightmare.
Anyone can walk through the flying school door with a wad of cash and demand a PPL. Some of these people find the course extremely difficult and some never make it. It is very hard work teaching such people and it can be very taxing - you need bucket loads of patience . I have slaved away with some for months and gone well beyond the call of duty and they have not shown any appreciation at the end, which is rather annoying.
I personally enjoyed my time as a full time instructor but found it impossible financially. If you are using it for experience/ hour building it may be a good short term option if you are prepared to fork out more money for the course and be committed to the job for that period of time. I think the instructing industry in general needs a good boot up the @rse. If they hope to attract people to the job in the future it will need a far more attractive and viable package - I never made 20K !
Nomercy.
COST - The cousre will set you back around 6K including test + expenses and of you will incur loss of earnings for 4 - 5 weeks if you are working.
EARNINGS - A lot of schools pay a retainer + hourly rate, £20 a day plus £10 - £15 per hour flown is typical . This obviously varies with school and location, but if you do not fly because of bad weather you will only get the retainer for that day and schools generally expect you to do cleaning or admin to justify the payment. Bear in mind that if you have travel expenses it leaves very little profit for you.
As you advance (to teach IMC or NIGHT ) most schools will improve your pay slightly, and some will pay an annual salary from day one- a school near to me pays £12K.
THE JOB
Benefits - You will be gaining experience as captain of a (light) aircraft which some airlines do still find desirable. You will be earning money from flying and enjoying yourself most of the time. Instructing can be very hard work with some serious responsibility and it can be very pleasing to see someone you have worked hard with get their wings. You will also learn a fair amount more about flying in general and learn a lot more about people.
To succeed at instructing you need to be well organised , very patient and have the ability to get on with all kinds of people. The quality of the school and the people who work there does have a bearing on matters, obviously it is more appealing to work at a nice clean and well run school with good people.
The downside- You will work fairly long hours usually including both weekend days. Considering that you are now a professional pilot and a teacher/ lecturer, the wages do not show respect for your qualification. It can be very difficult to survive financially in particular if you have a mortgage/ family/ loan. I personally found it a nightmare.
Anyone can walk through the flying school door with a wad of cash and demand a PPL. Some of these people find the course extremely difficult and some never make it. It is very hard work teaching such people and it can be very taxing - you need bucket loads of patience . I have slaved away with some for months and gone well beyond the call of duty and they have not shown any appreciation at the end, which is rather annoying.
I personally enjoyed my time as a full time instructor but found it impossible financially. If you are using it for experience/ hour building it may be a good short term option if you are prepared to fork out more money for the course and be committed to the job for that period of time. I think the instructing industry in general needs a good boot up the @rse. If they hope to attract people to the job in the future it will need a far more attractive and viable package - I never made 20K !
Nomercy.