VFE, you have seen the light! Airline flying is as boring a job as can be envisaged. You spend your life being ar*ed around by crewing and Ops, then get mucked about by the little Hitlers in security uniforms and then get mucked around by Ops and Crewing again........

Woop de Doo. Then the company you work for goes bust, so your pension goes by the wayside and you end up dagging your family across the country to start at the bottom of another seniority list. Yippee!

Flying instruction may pay badly but it's better than that! The only thing that has ever attracted me to airline work is the money. Not exactly the basis of a long career is it?

Being an FI is so much more rewarding in every sense except financial apart from the ego driven sense of "gotta fly big aircraft".

Hmmm, Pitts or Boeing. What would you rather fly?

If it's Boeing, please leave the FI forum!

Easy to say if that is what you experienced as an airline pilot but there are parrallells with instructing too; such as: unsociable hours (ie; every weekend!), the weather disrupting our schedules, flying schools constantly going bust, selling up or downsizing fleets... But despite that we still love it.

Talking purely about the job in general and not the instruction side itself particularly - what I like most about my current employment status is that there are no little Hitlers controlling my working day! I pitch up, A-check the aeroplanes amongst the glorious english countryside, teach my students how to fly properly (my favourite part), occassionally have to indulge in some boring paperwork (but not very often!) and then I am home at the end of each day within 5 minutes. The people I work with are decent people who enjoy the job for the same reasons as myself - there's almost an unspoken rule that we'll enjoy each working day because we all understand the passion! As you say, the airlines aren't that understanding.

Pitts or Boeing? Gotta be Pitts!! :)

VFE.

FI shortage
 

FI shortage...
... well one more on his way. Got my restriction removed today ;-)

The current weather won't help the instructor shortage. There must be a few who have given it up and found other jobs just to make some money?

Since you are all saying there is a FI shortage, which I do not doubt, can anyone of you tell me where the best place is to do the course and then get a job afterwards?? I have been to a few schools but not all good.

Cheers!! :ok:

chip
 

A school in the netherlands ot the UK?

Well I would rather go to a school in the UK James Kirk. :O Sorry my mistake for not pointing that out.

CHIP,
did my FIC in Spain last year.Got a job instructing in Southwest England (big,big,big privately owned Airfield) ;)
We need Flight Instructors!FI(R)s not a problem.
If u are intersted,drop me a PM,
greets Andi
happy landings.

There are a number of places UK PPL schools call on to see if they have any instructors available. Some examples, one is On-Track another is Chris Caine at The Flight Centre

It is indeed true that we have an instructor shortage. I am an FIC instructor and I cannot train enough instructors to satisfy my airfield! I usually average 40 hours a month flying because of the amount of ground school on the course but this month (despite the awful weather) I have done 70 hours. I am tired! I need instructors who want to stay in the career and qualify as FIC instructors - every time I identify someone suitable he goes and joins an airline. It is reasonably well paid compared to PPL instructing and you get paid for ground school so consider staying in the job and progressing - this is where the career instructors should be.

progressing ? where to ?
from flying patterns up to head of training hardly flying and fighting the feds about paperwork ?

Congrats Spunk to your full FI:ok:

LiR, sounds an interesting test (8 hours) for the FIC. How well paid incidentally? :)

Good Grief
Apologies if I am thick, but I do not understand your post
Blue Robin
Send me a PM and I will respond

Scrap CPL
 

The CAA will consult the 'industry' on the need for expensive and difficult exams in professional flying

http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/137/Instru...0Shortages.pdf

Am I just stoopid or what. If we need a JAR CPL FI(A) (and all the cost and stuff that goes with it) to teach then how does the economic climate, airline recruitment and all else change this? Someone, somewhere, sometime decided that this was a requirement. If this is now (potentially) no longer the case is this decision maker going to fall on his sword and forfeit his final salary government pension to reimburse me for all of my "uneccesary" training as someone who only ever wanted to teach? Shortage or not. What we should or should not need to know can't change that much in such a short space of time. The majority of the fleet I teach on hasn't changed in 30 years, how can the training, education and skill level of those teaching need to change so much when the equipment hasn't? Maybe a C152 was easy to fly before JAR then got harder since JAR hence we needed to know more but it is set to get easier again, that must be it.................or maybe I am just stoopid?

I am being asked all the time when I will have any candidates ready for employment and most of my FI graduates have been offered jobs before they are half way through the course - sometimes right at the beginning. I cannot train enough people to satisfy the demand for instructors more or less everywhere in the southeast.

Hi guys,

anyone tried Sabena flight academy ?? as a FI ? got an interview, something like that ?

thank you very much

VNA

FI Vacancy - Cranfield
 

Need at least one now! Possibly also a part timer too for Sundays.

Cranfield Based but not at Cabair could make £25k+ OTE

FI or FI(R) acceptable prefer IMC qual but seems a rare breed now

Career FI is not that common in my experience but needed.

I am 55 this year and ready to go part time casual.

Advert in Flight and Pilot from next week...

Come on down?

I'd be slightly tempted with Cranfield. Someone order good weather so I can get a better average than 3-4 hours flying per week and finish my course :(

AIUI FTE-sponsored students start at On-Track soon (see their website)

work permits
 

Hello,

I've been reading this thread and was wondering what the posibilities would be for me to get a work permit to work in the UK. I have been instructing in Kenya for about 6 years.i have over 3000hrs and have instructed on C-150, C-152, C-172, C-206, C-208(CARAVAN), C-210rg, PA-28. Any advice would be appreciated. i could be contacted on [email protected],

Thank you