CFI Sept Class

[hoff327]

Looking for a little advice here.... I am currently a ASEL / AMEL Commercial pilot with the instrument rating looking into attending FSA for my CFI / II / MEI. The thing is though, I haven't flown or looked at a aviation book since late April . Been very busy back home. I am wondering your opinions on the program, and if it's right for me given the absence from the field. Would it be best to fly locally before coming? I am not worried about the knowledge, I was always good about studying hard. I am worried about not being proficent in the planes all of my single time is in a cessna too, I am aware that they use piper aircraft. Anyways that's about it, thanks for your time.

- Mike

[psalm91]

My background: came in with PPL currently waiting on checkride for CMEL, moving on to CFI after my ride. From what I have heard, and I have talked to both instructors that recently went through the CFI program, and quite a few that are currently going through CFI, is that it's tough. The standards are high in airmanship and knowledge - but given that you study hard, the knowledge portion should be of no consequence to you.

I would say the only challenging part about flying with FSA regardless of the rating, is learning how to do things THEIR way - you cannot be sloppy or marginal about anything. I'm 100 times the pilot I was when I came in with my private, and I can attribute much of that from the amount of precision that was demanded of my flying here at FSA. I wouldn't worry about it personally - just understand that procedurally, FSA wants things done in a very particular manner (checklists are a huge emphasis here of course), acclimate to that as quickly as possible and you'll be fine. From what I understand the CFI training is excellent. Hope that helps.

[hoff327]

That does help, thank you for your reply. Any idea of approximately how many hours per month the instructors down there @ FSA are getting? Also do you think that the transition to the piper aircraft will be difficult? Thanks.

-Mike

[psalm91]

I'm sure someone will field these questions better than I, but generally speaking the transition from high wing to low wing is not an issue - at least it wasn't for me. It's a little different, more blind spots in a low wing, landing is a little different, but not so much though that you are completely out of your element. Now, if you do not have much time in complex aircraft, that may be an issue. However, if you have some decent experience in single engine complex aircraft (especially with retracts) then you should be good. Either way, depending on your skills, a few hours should do the trick for acclimating to the Arrow.

As far as the hours go, I'll let someone who has more experience in that area give you the *fine* details, generally speaking however, I do know two things:

A. Instructors here put in a LOT of time (10-14 hrs a day is not uncommon at all)
B. Some instructors (depending on how much you fly) are fulfilling their contracts (800 hours) in a year.

[launchpad]

I can't answer the questions about how much instructors are working right now, but I did exactly the same thing you are thinking of doing. I would definitely at least go rent an airplane and get fresh with the private and commercial maneuvers. You don't need to get an excessive amount of practice, but being current will help you save money. The syllabus for the CFI program is based on the fact that your are a current and active commercial pilot (by that I mean fresh with the maneuvers). They concentrate quite heavily on developing your ability to teach vs. fly the maneuvers. In order to make sure you can do both at the same time, you have to be able to fly properly. If you cant get practice, or if you're still not up to speed when you get there, you can plan on spending a little bit of extra money on a couple extra lessons. Once you finish your first few lessons there, you'll also be able to rent an airplane on your own to go and practice if you'd like.....