CFIs Needed

[WAFlyBoy]

Originally Posted by WestIndian425

You fly out of Arlington? Which company? I remember a cross country to there in the Seminole (ATP). Nice airport, and I love those tall antennas just a few miles away.

I'm with Skymates now, on the field just south of Harrison Aviation. Yeah, those towers could be lethal if you aren't aware of them.... 1,600 AGL for the tallest one I think.

When I was doing my time building, we stopped at MEI for fuel a couple of times enroute to Orlando and we'd just about always cross paths with an ATP seminole. Must be a popular stop between JAX and GKY.

[WestIndian425]

Originally Posted by WAFlyBoy

I'm with Skymates now, on the field just south of Harrison Aviation. Yeah, those towers could be lethal if you aren't aware of them.... 1,600 AGL for the tallest one I think.

When I was doing my time building, we stopped at MEI for fuel a couple of times enroute to Orlando and we'd just about always cross paths with an ATP seminole. Must be a popular stop between JAX and GKY.

Oh, yeah! MEI is a usual stop. I did the ILS into there with the DME arc. That was fun.

Neil

[DoWhat?]

So how goes the knew job? Thinking about throwing my resume' in sometime next month. Was it worth the move?

[WestIndian425]

Originally Posted by DoWhat?

So how goes the knew job? Thinking about throwing my resume' in sometime next month. Was it worth the move?

Loving it so far! Very laid back yet professional atmosphere (it is possible ).

Neil.

[flyguy]

Originally Posted by WestIndian425

Loving it so far! Very laid back yet professional atmosphere (it is possible ).

Neil.

Give it time.

[subpilot]

you guys and your airplanes...geez.

All kidding aside. Someone needs to tell the FSDO about Chandler and Castle CTAF being way too congested. These two airports are probably the busiest training airports in the valley and they share the same freq. I have done entire patterns not being able to get a moment of silence to announce my position before.

[flyguy]

Originally Posted by subpilot

you guys and your airplanes...geez.

All kidding aside. Someone needs to tell the FSDO about Chandler and Castle CTAF being way too congested. These two airports are probably the busiest training airports in the valley and they share the same freq. I have done entire patterns not being able to get a moment of silence to announce my position before.

Getting safely into the pattern isn't much of a picnic either. We need a tower in the worst way.

[aloft]

So how many students, instructors and aircraft are on-site at Atwater now?

[ERJ-135]

No such language called Chinese. The language is mandarin.

[frascaflyer]

Try asking the students if they speak mandarin or cantonese and you get a blank stare. They're dialects... the students speak chinese.

[flyguy]

Originally Posted by aloft

So how many students, instructors and aircraft are on-site at Atwater now?

94 students, 31 instructors, 21 airplanes, 2 sims, and a partrige in a pear tree.

[WestIndian425]

Originally Posted by subpilot

you guys and your airplanes...geez.

All kidding aside. Someone needs to tell the FSDO about Chandler and Castle CTAF being way too congested. These two airports are probably the busiest training airports in the valley and they share the same freq. I have done entire patterns not being able to get a moment of silence to announce my position before.

I certainly agree there. I hear we're getting a tower really soon. The estimates on total landings for this year alone will far exceed 100,000. That's more than enough to get an operating tower.

Neil

[aloft]

Originally Posted by flyguy

94 students, 31 instructors, 21 airplanes, 2 sims, and a partrige in a pear tree.

What's the airplane breakdown? And who invited that partridge? Where's my shotgun....

[flyguy]

Originally Posted by aloft

What's the airplane breakdown? And who invited that partridge? Where's my shotgun....

I think its 10 152s, 9 Alaruses, 1 172, and 1 Duchess. The 172 and the Duchess are used for instructors working on CFII and MEI. The plan now is they will be doing private in the 152, instrument in the Alarus, and commercial in the Seminole and King Air. The plan of Twin Stars has fallen through, as it will take way too long to acquire the number that we would need.

[TaterSalad]

Originally Posted by flyguy

I think its 10 152s, 9 Alaruses, 1 172, and 1 Duchess. The 172 and the Duchess are used for instructors working on CFII and MEI. The plan now is they will be doing private in the 152, instrument in the Alarus, and commercial in the Seminole and King Air. The plan of Twin Stars has fallen through, as it will take way too long to acquire the number that we would need.

What's the general feeling around there about instrument training in the Alarus? We have 2 at my school, and we're slowly phasing them out as primary or instrument trainers. I really can't imagine teaching someone instruments in an Alarus, as they're so ridiculously unstable! Truth be told, other than the instrumentation and how much fun they can be as an experienced pilot (read: engine out steep approaches and can you say almost sideways forward slips), I hate the damn things!

[flyguy]

Originally Posted by TaterSalad

What's the general feeling around there about instrument training in the Alarus? We have 2 at my school, and we're slowly phasing them out as primary or instrument trainers. I really can't imagine teaching someone instruments in an Alarus, as they're so ridiculously unstable! Truth be told, other than the instrumentation and how much fun they can be as an experienced pilot (read: engine out steep approaches and can you say almost sideways forward slips), I hate the damn things!

I think they fly quite nicely. They do take a little getting used to. My only complaint is they feel a little nose heavy on takeoff and landing. They feel plenty stable enough, I think more stable than a 152. What year are the ones at your school? Maybe some improvements have been made.

[TaterSalad]

Originally Posted by flyguy

I think they fly quite nicely. They do take a little getting used to. My only complaint is they feel a little nose heavy on takeoff and landing. They feel plenty stable enough, I think more stable than a 152. What year are the ones at your school? Maybe some improvements have been made.

I think we have an '02 and '03 model. As far as the stability, take it up on a good bumpy day, and let go of the controls. It'll be all over the sky, and does not want to come back to level on it's own. Not to mention, have you ever noticed how the nose swings all over the place when it's turbulent, on it's own? If you haven't trained many primary students in it yet, vs another trainer I assume you'll see it eventually. If it's anything like our experience, it'll take your students, on average, 10 hrs longer to solo in the Alarus than in a 172. Sure, as a pilot with some hours, it's easy for us to fly. But put someone in there brand new, that's having to make continuous small corrections, just to keep it upright, and it'll delay the learning process.

As for the nose heaviness..........I've definitely noticed it on takeoff. There's nothing like that first takeoff with a new student, where it suddenly comes "unglued" and up you go at a 15 degree pitch! If you've noticed, it seems to be worse with 2 in the plane than just 1. I think the CG is at the very forward limits with 2 in there, and that's keeping the nose down. It also feels as if the wing could almost be at a slight negative angle of attack on the ground? Landings took me a little while, but I've gotten used to them now, and can grease em on most of the time. Banged the tail skid a couple times at first though, lol!

[flyguy]

Our Alaruses are brand new. So far we've been training private in both Alarus and 152, and they have all been soloing at about the same time. I have noticed a bit of lateral instability if you let go of the controls, but its controls are very effective making it easy to recover if it starts to get away from you. So far we've had very few problems. Maybe the design has been improved. None of the flight instructors are worried about instrument training in the Alarus. We are much more worried about IFR communications given their lack of English.

[WestIndian425]

Wow!! This thread has been going on for quite some time now.

So how's everyone who's here enjoying it so far?

Neil

[subpilot]

Originally Posted by flyguy

We are much more worried about IFR communications given their lack of English.

Oh my god... very good point.

It is one thing learning to say "turning right base for runway 31" but it is something altogether different having to amend clearances and such not while in IMC.

[aloft]

Especially when such clearances may consist of nonsensical names of fixes.

"Mr. CFI, what center mean by 'TINRE' and 'HODNI'?"

[NORCAL pilot]

Is it preferable to get there ASAP with CFII and do MEI there, or would they prefer if we already had an MEI ticket? Also, I remember talk of a July class, is that still the plan? Was there another in September? How far in advance of a start date do they like to start interviewing? I'm eager to get out there and apply!

[Nick]

Originally Posted by NORCAL pilot

Is it preferable to get there ASAP with CFII and do MEI there, or would they prefer if we already had an MEI ticket? Also, I remember talk of a July class, is that still the plan? Was there another in September? How far in advance of a start date do they like to start interviewing? I'm eager to get out there and apply!

Seven news CFIs per month in May, June, July, August, September, and October is what I was told. The latter months could be less than seven if current CFIs stay as their first students finish up around then.

As for the II and MEI, there are instructors here who don't have the MEI yet. That's all I know though. That and that there are ground instructors who'll have their CFI soon. I haven't been here long.

[zmiller4]

So Castle is really busy now? That was where I used to send students as an "easy" cross-country--easy to find, huge runway, not that much traffic.

IFR training with foreign students can be brutal. I lucked out of most of it, but a co-worker of mine had quite a few. His trick (learned from our vastly more experienced chief instructor) was to put a tiny mic in his headset and record the entire flight, then make the students study every flight to learn terminology.

"Mr. CFI, what center mean by 'TINRE' and 'HODNI'?"

I don't know if they're still out of Napa, but Japan Air Lines used to do instrument training into Stockton, Livermore, and Tracy. There's an IAF for approaches into Tracy called MANCO, which in Japanese slang is a very...um...crude term for a body part. We used to hear them reading back "proceed direct MANCO" all the time.

[WestIndian425]

Originally Posted by Nick

Seven news CFIs per month in May, June, July, August, September, and October is what I was told. The latter months could be less than seven if current CFIs stay as their first students finish up around then.

As for the II and MEI, there are instructors here who don't have the MEI yet. That's all I know though. That and that there are ground instructors who'll have their CFI soon. I haven't been here long.

Looks like Nick beat me to it. We just had a meeting yesterday and the Assistant Chief mentioned to us that he is desparate to find instructors for the upcoming months. There are even plans to go visit some of the major flight schools (ERAU, Flight Safety, PAFA, UND, etc.) to recruit instructors. We're expecting 25 students per month beginning in May or June.