Introduction
Becoming an instructor can be seen by many as a stepping stone to gaining airline employment, by building hours while getting paid. However, being an instructor can be a career in itself and also a way to build your experience and expand your skills and knowledge. As the saying goes, the best way to learn is by teaching.
Requirements
Before you can start your instructor rating training, you need either a CPL or at least 200 hours flight time (150 hours must be as pilot in command if you hold a PPL as well as having passed CPL theory exams).
You also need to pass a pre-course flight test to check you are up to standard to begin the course. This will gauge how well you can fly to the PPL standards, meaning being able to keep altitude and headings and performing manoeuvres within the limitations and also general good airmanship.
In my opinion, the most important requirement, is the right attitude. Personally, I have encountered a few instructors who don't really want to be instructing at all, but are instead using it to either boost their income or gain hours without much regard for the student. This can lead to the student receiving less focus from an instructor than they should otherwise have. Make sure that you will be able to focus on each student and bring the best out of them, even if instructing isn't the end goal for you.
Training
The course includes 30 hours of flight training time during which you will learn and demonstrate how to teach in a structured way, recognize mistakes and correct your students. Your course instructor will act as a student pilot and will make mistakes and fly like a student would, and sometimes try to replicate the worst student possible so that you will be ready for your own students. You will also need to complete a ground training theoretical course of around 100 hours, although some organisations have longer courses. The full course lasts around 4 to 5 weeks but as always, it is weather and aircraft dependant. Once you have finished and passed the final assessment skills test, you will become a flight instructor restricted. You will be under the supervision of an instructor supervisor and won't be allowed to authorise a student on a solo flight until you have 100 hours of instructor experience and once your students have been authorised for solo flights 25 times. Once you have this, your supervisor can sign you off as an unrestricted flight instructor.
The Job
A flight instructor job can mean many things from self-employed, freelance, part-time, full time and in-between. It really depends on your arrangement you make with your employer. Almost all flight instructors are paid by the hour.
Unless you fly for a large school, your income will not usually be stable. In the summer and in good weather you may fly all your slots in a week and bring home a good amount, but in poor weather you might not fly for a week or more, meaning you won't be paid for flying in that time, although you might be able to get something if you teach ground classes.
You will usually have a wide variety of students at any time with some being beginners, some halfway through and some almost ready for the skills test. Not every student will have flown with you for their whole training and some students will not want or be able to complete the course for a number of reasons. You might find that you don't mould well with your student or that your student prefers a different teaching style to what you deliver, and that is OK, as every student is different. Perhaps the hardest part of being an instructor is making the decision to send a student for their first solo. I can still remember my own instructor sending me for my first solo and seeing him nervously standing on the apron with his radio in hand. But as you gain experience, you will be able to have more confidence and recognise the progress and what stage your students are at.
Conclusion
Instructing may not be for everyone, it is not just a quick way to gain flight hours, and you should always have your student's interest in mind. But if it is right for you, then you can help bring new pilots into the world of aviation and at the same time build experience and flight hours to progress your career if that is want you want. Or you might find that instructing is the right job for you and stick to it.
About The Author
Humzah Sharif - "I am a qualified commercial pilot that finished my training just as the Covid-19 Pandemic hit Europe. I started my training at 18 alongside my university studies and have done my training around Europe, mostly in the UK and Poland, while navigating the issue of Brexit. Since then, I have been working on maintaining my ratings and skills while I try to find an opportunity to achieve my goal of finding employment as a pilot.
Currently, I am working at Flightpath Training as a Marketing and Communications Assistant, which has given me a chance to stay connected to the industry while it recovers."
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