Instructing Part Time with Relevant Career Experience

[sjj83]

Hello Flight Instructors,

I am from Ontario, Canada. I'm 29 years old and currently working as a teacher. I've always wanted to fly since I was a kid and lately, I've been growing increasingly unhappy and realized that I was not doing anything in life that I was truly passionate about since I was a kid.

Reading up on the internet about a career in aviation and the sacrifices that must be made, I'm starting to think given the amount of money I make as a teacher and the time off, maybe flight instructing is a way for me to live my dream and have a decent lifestyle. Maybe, just maybe, down the road as I get older, I'll consider taking a regional job. But for now, to "half live the dream".

Given my educational experience, will that increase my chances of getting hired
as a flight instructor? I understand how people learn and accustomed to various teaching styles and methodologies.

With two months off in the summer and various holidays throughout the year, will I be more employable as an instructor?

Is it possible to work part time throughout the year, and full time once summer starts, which I understand is "high season" for flying.

Could I supplement instructing part time with other gigs, such as sky diving flights?

Is it possible to be a part time pilot, for example medevac flying?

Looking forward to hearing responses.

Cheers mates.

[Duchess_Driver]

Can't specifically comment on Canada, but in the UK it is entirely possible to instruct part time at weekends, and with your holiday dates known well in advance it should be easy to sort out some vacation work for yourself.

Skydiving and tug pilots are usually options as well, and it depends upon your 'employing' school as to their attitude towards working elsewhere. Medivac work is usually a little less predictable and done with larger aeroplanes which tend to require a 'few years' experience before being elligable.

Your previous experience as a teacher may be of use, but it would depend upon the teaching experience you have. As you are aware, flight instruction is usually a one-to-one tuition scenario of motor skills with some knowledge based learning to complement it. I would guess, it wouldn't do you any harm.

Pop along to your local flying schools and have a chat with theirHead of Training or Chief Pilot to gauge their responses!

HTH

DD

[Genghis the Engineer]

Most instructing work is at weekends, because most people who want to fly for fun, tend to have time off at weekends and not during the week. Similarly the summer tends to show better weather, and people are more inclined to take time off, so the same applies.

I do some part time instruction at the weekends, and I've certainly in Canada met people who do something similar.

However, I think that you need to bear in mind that the first and most important thing is to become a good pilot. Once you've done that, you can think about becoming an instructor. That will take a few years and at Canadian prices, probably budget around CA$30-40,000 over 3 years to get that far.

My recommendation is that you go and learn to fly first. It'll take some money and dedication - but you'll learn if you really have the passion for flying that you think you do. From there, start to think of how to build up the experience that'll make you, eventually, a good weekend instructor.

Regarding transferrable skills; they do transfer, but I'd say (I have been a university lecturer, and took that background to my training as a flying instructor), you'll find the specific skills as a flying instructor whilst complementary, quite different to those of a classroom teacher. In the cockpit, it's much more about demonstration and continuous feedback, and clearly 1:1, not 1:30.

Some (not all) flying clubs may also welcome somebody who enjoys classroom teaching, for the various groundschool subjects but clearly you need a good grounding in them yourselves first. In most countries that means having passed both the private and commercial exams to be able to teach to private level - I'm pretty certain that Canada is no exception to that.

G