What does it take to instruct?

[Fuji Abound]

So here is a question .. .. .. (provoked by the current thread about unpaid instructors)

(and before anyone comments the world is not about to change, I know it is not about to change, and I am not planning to change it!)

so hypothetically .. .. ..

take an avergae PPL with say 500 hours to his credit (500 hours becasue by then I think you have got some reasonable experience, seen a few things, and can cope with a bit :D ), a few different types and maybe a night rating or IMC perhaps even an FAA IR, maybe done quite a few hours right seat, what does it really take to turn him into an instructor?

Now I mean an instructor who can get paid, but cant do air charter or any other commercial work. I also mean by the shortest route to enable him to teach safely and effectively - forget all the theoretical work (unless you believe it is really needed and needs to go beyond the PPL syllabus or is needed to demonstrate his instructional skills).

What does it take? - Suggestions on a post card or below please?

[Say again s l o w l y]

Do you mean, what would it take now, or what would everyone think is an acceptable level of training to allow someone to be a PPL/FI?

If the latter, then I think the greater level of groundschool knowledge is needed. Most PPL's haven't really got the foggiest about a lot of the technical stuff and are just able to scrape the exams in the first place! To be a good teacher, you need significantly more knowledge than the level you are trying to impart, otherwise you'll end up making a hash of it.

The flying side however is a lot easier to deal with. If someone has 500+ hours from a reasonable period of time (not 50 years at 10 hours a year....) then hopefully they should have the required skills to be able to handle most things a student can throw at them.

But, and it's a big one. Most high hour PPL's I've flown with have some pretty atrocious bad habits that would certainly be unacceptable for students. So a great period of "unlearning" maybe required. A far more difficult thing than learning in the first place.

It isn't impossible to fix this and not all have them in the first place, but it is something to be wary of.

[BlueRobin]

To be paid? In the UK? You'll need to undergo at least the CPL theory (or ATPL though overkill will do). This will probably take oooh six months distnace-learning? £1600ish. Less perhaps if you can find somewhere who will do so full-time. £60 per exam.

At least four weeks (allowing for weather) for the practical CPL flying, where you should unearn all those bad habits. Anywhere between £5000-7000 for a SE-CPL. Then another 4 weeks and £5000 for a FI(R) perhaps. A small selection of schools (I said small) may turn you away without an IR.

Beyond that, you can either go the microlight route where it seems the pay is better and the entry requirements are less onerous, or emigrate.

[IO540]

6 months for the JAA CPL ground school if you don't have much of a job/life.

And if you don't have much of a job/life then you are likely to be looking for something that pays.

Which takes us back to the present situation...

[Fuji Abound]

SAS

You have got it.

To clarrify - I know what the current system is - not asking about that at all.

What I was asking is if you were starting with a clean sheet of paper what should it take. In other words how relevant are the present CPL exams, or what theoretical knowledge is actually required by an instructor to teach and how would you ensure they had this level of knowledge.

Same question regarding their flying skills?

In other words please think outside the box because I am just wondering whether the way we do it is the right way. (once again I would reiterate I know it is not going to change, and I am assuming for those who want to do "normal commercial operations" they would be required to go the traditional route).

[tacpot]

I'm not sure I agree with SAS's assertion that "To be a good teacher, you need significantly more knowledge than the level you are trying to impart..."

I would say you need to know the level you are trying to teach REALLY WELL, with enough knowledge to answer any subsidiary questions the student is likely to ask.

When your student might be a PPL who will never fly a twin, let alone an airliner, do you need to know about the errors of amachmeter?

tp

[Say again s l o w l y]

There is stuff in all training that we could point out as being irrelevant. Flying is no exception.

A good and intelligent student will always push a teacher. I certainly don't limit my students to what is in the syllabus, if there is a bit of information that I think is relevant, then I will do my best to pass it along.
Much of what I teach did not come from the PPL studies I have done, but from the far greater depth that was needed when I did my ATPL's. My understanding of subjects was far more after completing them than before and my students have benefitted from it.

One thing everyone is over-looking, is the fact that to be an FI you need the CPL groundschool, not the ATPL that all wannabe commercial pilots go through. It is of lower level in some respects as it doesn't cover every subject that the ATPL's do.

[S-Works]

I certainly think SAS has a very valid point. The sheer volume of information in the ATPL, CPL/IR groundschool is quite astonishing. It took me 2 years to assimilate enough of it to pass the exams. A lot of information is utterly irrelevant to the PPL but a lot of stuff even I have to admit has come in very handy at the most obscure of moments. I have found the same from 20 years of training diving instructors and examiners.

I am doing my Instructor course (CRI) shortly and am busy revising again to ensure I have an indepth knowledge of the stuff aspplicable to be a good instructor.

I think a good instructor who is one who has a rounded knowledge of aviation. You will often come accross the inquisative mind who wants to know more than just the PPL sylabus.

[unfazed]

A few of the non-technical skills required: Feel free to add more as required.

Disciplined

Diplomatic / tactful

Assertive

Sensitive (to the student )

Patient

Good personal time management skills

Decisive

Calm under pressure

[pulse1]

In my view, one of the fundamental requirements of any instructor is to be able to communicate CLEARLY, both in annunciation and meaning, especially in the air.

I used to get fed up with instructors, and still do sometimes on the biennual, who did not make it clear what they wanted you to do e.g. demonstrating a stall - what exactly do they want you to do?

My only instructing experience was as an ATC gliding instructor and, when you think we used to teach ab initio cadets to solo in 30 - 35 x 3 minute flights, you had to be a very good communicator. Generally, the ATC instructors were made to be very good at it by the Central Gliding School instructors.

Another fundamental is consistency. Sometimes it seems too much to expect any one instructor to be consistent. Expecting consistency between two, even from the same school, is usually too much.

Two of my neighbours are learning to fly at the moment, one fixed and one rotary, and I have been horrified by the poor quality and consistency of their instruction and the waste of money this has led to.

[dinoorin]

Knowledge - YES
Experience - Maybe (lots of experience doing it badly - no use. Lots of experience doing it well - fairly rare unless closely supervised most of the time.
Communication - Most Def'.

The hardest thing is to be able to fly and talk about what you are doing to the extent that the stude can learn from your example / words.
In the PPL world I have flown with some very good guys and some very good pilots but poor instructors.
Military wise - same again. However due to the standards required the poor instructors are much fewer and far between.

My two penneth - get some experience and the gain more instructing - not only will you Learn from your student but also when you realise that you actually don't fly as accurately as you think - 'Instructor - see bloggs the reference stays stationary as we fly straight and level - Bloggs, urrrrrm but sir its moving left - instructor, Bugger!'