Price

[TheWife]

Does anyone know if the CFI-MEI traning package quote of $5995 includes the price for all books and examiners fees etc?

[TheWife]

PS, is there any "home work" or chunks of study that could be done at home before coming out there, to make it a shorter time frame? Or, is there enough time left in the day that one could have a P/T temporary job or would that distract too much from the training?

[Doug Taylor]

Speaking of questions, where IS the pilot-in-question?

[jtrain609]

Michelle,


I'm in that program right now. I believe the books are included and most people that I've run into have come in under the price. That's not to say you shouldn't plan on it, but Steve came in under and I probably will too. It's lots of ground, not too much flying.

The real work is in making lesson plans. I'd say if Corbin were to go at it hardcore 100%, he wouldn't have time to do much else. Now me, I've got a little bit of time so I'm banking on a solid month to get the initial, then a week and a half to add on the CFII and CFI ratings. Those two are easy once you get the initial out of the way with the FSDO.

You still got my number? Give me a call if you have any questions. If you need it shoot me a PM.

[TheWife]

[ QUOTE ]
where IS the pilot-in-question?

[/ QUOTE ] He's here and there lol.

John I'm not sure what else to ask, but we aren't sold yet so there must be something else I need to know. Just haven't figured out what yet. Kind of waiting to see if UVSC would even hire his as an instructor if he did the training some where else too.

[kellwolf]

Price doesn't include examiner fees, but you only need two since the FSDO ride is free. They can range anywhere from $250-350 depending on the examiner. I got my CFI-A add-on and the MEI in the minimum 3 hours each (okay 3.1 for the CFI, but that last power off 180 was worth it). Like John said, if Corbin does a lot of the work writing lesson plans and reading the material on his own, you'll save a LOT of money.

[KLB]

Thinking about it, there aren't any books that really need to be bought. Does he have is private pilot manual, instrument manual, and other books from his previous training? And the multi-engine material comes along with the course for FREE! All I really had to buy was the pratical test standards for the CFII, which was like seven bucks or less.He may need to buy the Fundementals of Instructions book and it is pretty cheap. I just used all of the other books I had from my previous training. Expect to spend between $500 to $700 in checkride fees.

[TheWife]

[ QUOTE ]
if Corbin does a lot of the work writing lesson plans and reading the material on his own, you'll save a LOT of money

[/ QUOTE ] Like before he gets there? Or while he's there? What part will it save money on, would it mean he'd have less ground school?

Thanks for answering all my other questions....I'm just still having a hard time swallowing two months w/o him. But I know it has to be done. I just think UVSC will take even longer and cost more. But we do still need to make sure they'll hire him.

[jtrain609]

He's going to have to bust butt once here's here writing lesson plans. The better prepared he is, the quicker the process will go. That is, the better he comes in every day ready to knock out lesson plans the better. He will save time in ground school because instead of learning information he's teaching it.

The biggest problem as far as time spent here is the FAA. They take a while to schedule the checkride. Like I'm done with lesson plans, but I'm just hanging out until the FAA can get around and get me a date. Once they do, we'll knock this rating out real fast. But you're going to find this at any FSDO, it all works the same.

As far as Corbin getting hired, I wouldn't count on that no matter where he goes. Skymates is pretty good about keeping people on, but if they don't need anymore instructors then they don't need any. I'm facing the same thing when me and Emily move to Utah. If I can find a job then great, but if no one needs any then I'm going to have to find a job elseware.

It sucks being away from home for this long. I was pretty much gone during the winter too, doing an indoor drumline. I saw Emily about 3 days a month, then I went and did this. Overall the process sucks hard, and neither of us like it; but I'm coming back to Michigan in the fall as a flight instructor and I'll finally be able to get moving with this flying gig. If you want real fast, look into ATP. They can get you done in 2 weeks if you come in with all the writtens done.

[TheWife]

Yeah in our situation faster might be the way to go. I dunno. Man, I didn't this would take sooo much thinking, I'm no good at thinking!LOL. UVSC is always in need of instructors, we have no doubt that he is very likely to get hired if he does it through them, but if he does it else where they will give preference to other UVSC students, BUT it seems like they still need enough that that won't matter. Is ATP a safe place? Good maintenance?

[MikeD]

[ QUOTE ]
...I'm just still having a hard time swallowing two months w/o him. But I know it has to be done. .

[/ QUOTE ]

Michelle, look at it this way. Army rotations to Iraq and Afghanistan are between 12 and 18 months consecutive away from home right now, where they're in daily danger.

That should put your worries into some better, more realistic, perspective. Sure you'll miss him, but in the "big picture".........

2 months away in a nice little flight training program is nothing....less than nothing.

[TheWife]

I can't imagine the sacrifice military and families make, but as I've said before, that is one of the reasons I wouldn't have married someone in the military. It's important to me to have my family together.

[MikeD]

[ QUOTE ]
It's important to me to have my family together.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thats fair, and I understand. But the above should put your situation into better perspective overall. Plus, he'd be going in order to further the family's well-being. So all in all, the sacrifice on your end, as small as it would be, would be worth it end-game.

[kellwolf]

One thing to add to KLB's post, the FSDO likes to see the FAA books rather than Jeppesen if you have to reference something during the oral. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, they're a picky group over there. That being said, all of the FAA books you need for the CFI ratings cost less than one Jepp manual. Probably need the PTS books for CFII, CFI and MEI (and PPL, Comm and IR if he doesn't already have them). Those are $5.95 each, so it's not too bad. The Seminole POH and the multi-engine course book that goes with it are free if you get a ME rating there. Once you get used to writing the lesson plans, they come pretty easily. I got on a roll and was knocking out 5-6 a day at one point. The internet went down and we had no cable, so I wound up finishing all the lesson plans for PPL and Comm in a weekend. If Corbin can write the lesson plans during time away from the school, get comfortable with the info in them (HIGHLY suggest putting references in the lesson plan pointing to a page number or figure to help in explaining whatever concept it is) and be comfortable teaching the material, he'll save a LOT of $$$.

As far as being away from home, I can totally sympathize there. Being gone for two months was tough, and I'm looking at leaving again for a longer period of time in a couple of weeks. Nessa and I have talked about this and one thing we both always say is "Well, at least you're in the same country and not getting shot at."

[TheWife]

I know, I didn't say I refused for him to leave, just that it's hard to think about.

[TheWife]

Thanks, I'll tell him that! Anything to save time and money at this point is wonderful!

[TheShortOne]

It's been EXTREMELY hard having John gone for so long. He'll have spent about two and a half months in TX by time he comes home. I've gotten to see him twice so far. It really sucks a lot and we miss eachother a ton. That being said though, I keep reminding myself that this is ONLY 2.5 months and we've got another 80+ years to be together, so in the grand scheme of things, it's not that bad. Think of it as a temporary suck for a long term benifit.

I know it'll be completely different for you having two kids at home but I found it helpful to reconnect with some old friends and go out more with them rather than moping around the house (which I did for a while) It's definatly made me evaluate our relationship and in the long run I think we'll definatly be stronger for having gone through this.

[Flatline]

C'mon gals, hold up those little paws, roll 'em into fists and fight off the big bad loneliness monsters. You can do it.

[TheWife]

Eh, I'm not so worried about me. I just don't want to hear two months of "when is daddy coming home, I like daddy better than you..."

[ComplexHiAv8r]

No, unfortantly it might be the other. That being like my sister when my dad came home one time, think she was about 3-4. She DIDN'T know who he was...

[kellwolf]

That's what I'm afraid of, actually. That's why if I get "I'd like to do a long cross country, Mr CFI" we're going to Memphis.

[TheWife]

Well my 3 1/2 year old knows daddy all too well, there will not be any forgetting him. He thinks dad is cool and mom is boring. At least it might give me the motivation to never get divorced, cause that's what I'd hear then too lol.

[Kristie]

awww..that's just a stage kids go thru! you'll be the cool mom again in no time!

he could always talk to daddy on an nightly basis while he's gone too! that way, he at least hears his voice.

[TheWife]

I was thinking about some sort of webcam thing so we could do bed time together, but I'm not sure how those work.

[Kristie]

they're really easy to set up now a days!! and an excellent idea!