From unemployed airline pilot to GA flying instructor.

[Lookleft]

Of course airline pilots will make good instructors. Most of the F/O's I have flown with who came out of GA had been instructors so now they can go back with a lot more experience with skills such as: planning, cockpit discipline, improved SA both inside and outside, adherance to SOPs. etx. After all most of the instructing was to airline aspirants so who better to teach them. From what I understand reading these pages from posters who like to big note themselves, there is no GA so who will the airline pilots be throwing their weight around to?

[machtuk]

I recall '89 when the GA actor was flooded with jet jockeys at all levels, gunna be somewhat the same now, it is what it is, survival of the fittest, then & now!

[Squawk7700]

I found someone on Airtasker recently to help remove my oversize Yucca from the back yard.

Turns out he is a Virgin 777 FO.

Desperate times!

Good on him for not being too proud to turn to something else in the interim.

[megle2]

Macktuk, exactly.

[Skippy69]

Hi everyone, its interesting to see the bloke who did some tree work and was praised for it... I myself before flying was in the lopping/ climbing industry- In all honesty, I could not think of anything worse then going back to it- Am I an arrogant to proud millennial because of it?? I've flown with FO's who had parents pay for flying or guys and gals who went and got loans to pay for training with no real other transferrable skills- maybe a KFC check out person?

I was a newbie to the jet world and was loving life but then that is all turned upside down- s**t happens..

Im not eager to go back and bust my balls labouring to make a dollar and am interested in what our specific skill sets can be transferred to? I'm struggling for ideas- no instructing either- I am definently not patient enough- nor do I think there will be too many people keen for aviation- lets be fair- it stinks right now.

[PPRuNeUser0184]

I did about a 1000hrs instructing before moving on to other GA operations. Eventually I got an airline job and have spent the last 17 years in RPT. I’ve often looked back at how I instructed as a junior G3 and even though I did my best, my experience was extremely limited. I’ve often thought that I would be a far greater instructor now and my students would benefit from my GA and airline experience. I certainly wouldn’t sweat the small stuff like I used to back in the day. But don’t worry Sunfish, I won’t be renewing my G2 and throwing my weight around the GA airfields any time soon.

Personally I think students would benefit from experienced pilots passing on their knowledge.

[jonkster]

I concur KZ K, I believe people with all sorts of industry experience have much to offer as instructors. Instruction is more than teaching skills, a good instructor is a mentor. (And that mentoring is not just limited to students but also to instructors who are looking to build their careers). Having people with wide experience in the training sector is something to encourage. My 2c anyway.

[DeltaT]

Agreed from YOUR point of view all that experience to pass on, lessons learnt etc etc.
From the EMPLOYER point of view you will leave at the drop of a hat, and why wouldn't you.
Which one decides if you get the job?

[PPRuNeUser0184]

Originally Posted by DeltaT

Agreed from YOUR point of view all that experience to pass on, lessons learnt etc etc.
From the EMPLOYER point of view you will leave at the drop of a hat, and why wouldn't you.
Which one decides if you get the job?

Of course that’s the case. Don’t really see what your point is. Nobody is owed or entitled to a job. The employer will pick who they want.

[roundsounds]

Originally Posted by Styx75

You'll need to sit the CASA PIRC (PMI) exam before finishing your flight instructor course. Or possess a CertIV in training and assessment.

The FIR course is subject to the syllabus of the school you choose. Generally you'll be looking at 200hours classroom and 30hours dual including a flight test with an FIR ATO. None of it's very hard, just time consuming. Different quailities of flight instructor are produced from different schools from my observations.

I'd wager most training schools won't be having the large intakes of instructors like they used to. Prior to covid my school would take just about any grade of FIR with any experience. Now we're not taking any onboard. Flight instructors won't be leaving schools as they have no RPT jobs to go to, and experienced instructors will be returning from stood down RPT jobs.

All the same, if you like aviating, it's a good rating to earn.
​​​​

maybe GA schools will be busy training ex airline pilots for their Grade 3!

[PaulH1]

I looked into this and despite having been a TRE/TRI for many years, I would get no credit when taking a PPL instructor course. The cost of the course is around 10K taking transport and accommodation into account and when the flying schools are only paying around £25 per hour it would take a long time to even break even. The lockdown will be over first!

[deja vu]

Originally Posted by spektrum

Sunfish, would you rather be taught by an ex-airline pilot or a 200 hour CPL with a fresh instructor rating? Because the latter is extremely prevalent.

C'mon Sunny, give us a trademark pearler for your 8000th.

Is it even possible in Australia to have a CPL with an instructor rating at 200 hours? If so, things have changed since my time. Certainly a former airline career does not guarantee a particularly good instructor, maybe some good war stories.

[Bodie1]

Is it even possible in Australia to have a CPL with an instructor rating at 200 hours?

Yes, it is.

[deja vu]

Originally Posted by Bodie1

Yes, it is.

Thanks, any chance you could break down the hours required.
It was once 180 hours minimum for a CPL of which 100 hours had to be in command and then 50 hours of "CA45" which was dual training specifically for an instructor rating which could not be counted toward the CPL hours.

[Styx75]

CPL 150 hours on integrated course, of which 75hours as PIC; or
CPL 200 hours non integrated, of which 100hours as PIC

Around 30 hours dual training for FIR, depending on the syllabus requirements of the school you choose. The requirement for 20 hours mutual has been dropped, so we can even have 180hour instructors now.

CASA recommend that FIR training not be commenced until the student has their CPL. I don't know of any schools that do FIR during CPL, but if there was we could technically have 150hr FI's.

[Bodie1]

I would not liked to have had me as an instructor when I got my rating, fresh off the CPL. Lucky for the studes I got a few jobs and didn't instruct until I had about 1200 TT. The thought of a 180 TT instructor is a bit ridiculous.

[Stickshift3000]

Outside of the 'CASA system', if you have a PPL you can get a FIR and instruct on RAAus machines towards a RPC, all without a CPL.

[andrewr]

Originally Posted by Stickshift3000

Outside of the 'CASA system', if you have a PPL you can get a FIR and instruct on RAAus machines towards a RPC, all without a CPL.

Technically that's true, although I haven't encountered it. It seems more common for experienced commercial pilots to go and instruct in RAA - I guess they don't want to deal with the CASA system, or don't want to work under instructors still working their way towards airline jobs.
Having learnt in both RAA and GA systems, the RAA instructors tended to have more real world commercial flying experience.

[geeup]

I’ve never seen a successful transition from airline pilot back to GA in my limited so called career.

However we have never seen times like this and well 20 bucks is 20 bucks.

Good luck to the operators and pilots that try.

[ANCIENT]

geeup you must live a very sheltered life. For some of us the gloss wore off the airline life and we moved back to more interesting flying.