Spring Graduation

[BuickCFI]

MEI groundschool seems kinda worthless to me. CFII groundschool was worthless. CFI ground school with Skramstad was very good.

[JaceTheAce]

ALL CFI groundschools are a waste of money.

All multi-engine ground schools are a waste of money.

But I guess for college credit and for the sake of an accredidation they have to fill up the cirriculum with some sort of classes related to the major.

[BuickCFI]

the initial CFI one was good just because i learned a few things (granted i could have learned them from my instructor)

[Snickersnwa]

Originally Posted by JaceTheAce

ALL CFI groundschools are a waste of money.

All multi-engine ground schools are a waste of money.

But I guess for college credit and for the sake of an accredidation they have to fill up the cirriculum with some sort of classes related to the major.

I disagree. CFI was a great experience all the way around (ground school was amazing). We were given the chance to *teach* private pilot applicant students pretty much every other week, and that helped out a ton come check ride time. Sure, you can practice teach anyone, but this felt different. Plus, the experience of the instructor teaching the ground school... couldn't have asked for more

CFII we didn’t learn anything *new* other than sharing ideas about how we’d teach this stuff to instrument students. Some people needed the refresher though...

MEI was a great time, and those that were taking MEI in my ground school (undergraduate section) would say the same I’d assume…

[JaceTheAce]

Originally Posted by Snickersnwa

I disagree. CFI was a great experience all the way around (ground school was amazing). We were given the chance to *teach* private pilot applicant students pretty much every other week, and that helped out a ton come check ride time. Sure, you can practice teach anyone, but this felt different. Plus, the experience of the instructor teaching the ground school... couldn't have asked for more

CFII we didn’t learn anything *new* other than sharing ideas about how we’d teach this stuff to instrument students. Some people needed the refresher though...

MEI was a great time, and those that were taking MEI in my ground school (undergraduate section) would say the same I’d assume…

I think the CFI ground school is beneficial, but I don't think it warrants the extra cost involved. That's what I was trying to imply. (IMHO)

[Snickersnwa]

Originally Posted by JaceTheAce

I think the CFI ground school is beneficial, but I don't think it warrants the extra cost involved. That's what I was trying to imply. (IMHO)

Gotcha

[JaceTheAce]

Originally Posted by Snickersnwa

Gotcha

And I'm sure the UND CFI program is so intensive to the point to where it really is beneficial (because of all that you're required to know...and repeat, over and over again in lesson plans, etc)... but I'm very cost sensitive when it comes to spending money on flight training.

Edit: Didn't I just basically say this already? I'm exhausted and ready for bed

[Snickersnwa]

Originally Posted by JaceTheAce

And I'm sure the UND CFI program is so intensive to the point to where it really is beneficial (because of all that you're required to know...and repeat, over and over again in lesson plans, etc)... but I'm very cost sensitive when it comes to spending money on flight training. Edit: Didn't I just say this already? I'm exhausted and ready for bed

There certainly is a cost for everything

[UAL747400]

Originally Posted by JaceTheAce

And I'm sure the UND CFI program is so intensive to the point to where it really is beneficial (because of all that you're required to know...and repeat, over and over again in lesson plans, etc)... but I'm very cost sensitive when it comes to spending money on flight training.

Edit: Didn't I just basically say this already? I'm exhausted and ready for bed

I felt the flight course was somewhat a waste of money. The first block should not be there at all. If you can't fly to commercial standards by now, you should probably give it up. It only took me one lesson to get used to the right seat and that was at max demostrated crosswind. The second block was great, but that first one I was just like "come on, on with the lesson plans and teaching already!"

I like to use that phrase "waste of money" a lot with CFI. You get some more flight time, so it's not a total waste I guess. However, 15 lessons to get to "CFI" standards, *cough* commercial standards, is a little rediculous if you ask me. That could be cut to 5 lessons with most people I bet. Then again, they have to cater to a variety of skill levels. I still stand by what I believe in that if you can't fly to commercial standards by now, what the heck are you doing?

[JaceTheAce]

Originally Posted by UAL747400

I felt the flight course was somewhat a waste of money. The first block should not be there at all. If you can't fly to commercial standards by now, you should probably give it up. It only took me one lesson to get used to the right seat and that was at max demostrated crosswind. The second block was great, but that first one I was just like "come on, on with the lesson plans and teaching already!"

I like to use that phrase "waste of money" a lot with CFI. You get some more flight time, so it's not a total waste I guess. However, 15 lessons to get to "CFI" standards, *cough* commercial standards, is a little rediculous if you ask me. That could be cut to 5 lessons with most people I bet. Then again, they have to cater to a variety of skill levels. I still stand by what I believe in that if you can't fly to commercial standards by now, what the heck are you doing?

THAT is what is a waste of money out of it. The ground school course may be good (for people who can't self study), but the first block of the actual flight course shouldn't be there.

But, come on... you're saying it's not a complete waste of flight time but any flight time that is unneeded for a rating or certificate that you have to pay for AND especially one that you pay an additional amount to have an instructor for it, is a waste of money. And I know I'll have someone here trying to defend their remorseful "purchase"...I just know it.

[UAL747400]

Originally Posted by JaceTheAce

THAT is what is a waste of money out of it. The ground school course may be good (for people who can't self study), but the first block of the actual flight course shouldn't be there.

But, come on... you're saying it's not a complete waste of flight time but any flight time that is unneeded for a rating or certificate that you have to pay for AND especially one that you pay an additional amount to have an instructor for it, is a waste of money. And I know I'll have someone here trying to defend their remorseful "purchase"...I just know it.

I just wanted to make sure everyone knew where I was coming from and that I wasn't just throwing around "waste of money" for the hell of it. I agree with everything you've said about CFI at UND.

[ZUKO]

One of the things I am looking forward to about the possibility of leaving UND is getting rid of this stupid Dell laptop. Who ever started this aero notebook program could be considered thieves. I mean seriously... We all need to have the exact same dell laptop just to run aims and some system program that would likely run on pretty much any windows operating system.

They should make the entire thing optional.

[JaceTheAce]

Originally Posted by ZUKO

One of the things I am looking forward to about the possibility of leaving UND is getting rid of this stupid Dell laptop. Who ever started this aero notebook program could be considered thieves. I mean seriously... We all need to have the exact same dell laptop just to run aims and some system program that would likely run on pretty much any windows operating system.

They should make the entire thing optional.

Yes. Or at least require a laptop with specific secifications (in which all current new laptops would satisfy).

It's a complete ripoff. But Skramstad is so naively impressed with this "new" technology from not growing up with it here in ND that he overuses it. Now it is a huge distraction. "Have you seen those laptops now that do word processing?! Now we can get rid of typewriters, donchyaknow. Let's get all students to use them by making it sound like it's something they need! Heck, little Sven Olafsen didn't have a computer at the farm, he won't know that we're conning him into thinking he needs a laptop because he'll be so impressed with this amazing new technology he's never seen before. We'll get them to think the high laptop cost is due to the amazing software such as Notepad, Calculator, Internet Explorer, and Word. YAH!!!"

[UAL747400]

Originally Posted by JaceTheAce

Yes. Or at least require a laptop with specific secifications (in which all current new laptops would satisfy).

It's a complete ripoff. But Skramstad is so naively impressed with this "new" technology from not growing up with it here in ND that he overuses it. Now it is a huge distraction. "Have you seen those laptops now that do word processing?! Now we can get rid of typewriters, donchyaknow. Let's get all students to use them by making it sound like it's something they need! Heck, little Sven Olafsen didn't have a computer at the farm, he won't know that we're conning him into thinking he needs a laptop because he'll be so impressed with this amazing new technology he's never seen before. We'll get them to think the high laptop cost is due to the amazing software such as Notepad, Calculator, Internet Explorer, and Word. YAH!!!"

Sven Olafsen? haha!! How the hell did you come up with that name?

[JaceTheAce]

Originally Posted by UAL747400

Sven Olafsen? haha!! How the hell did you come up with that name?

One of the several Norwegian/North Dakotan names in my memory bank for use of making fun of the locals

Just look for surnames in the Grand Forks phone book!

[Snickersnwa]

Originally Posted by JaceTheAce

THAT is what is a waste of money out of it. The ground school course may be good (for people who can't self study), but the first block of the actual flight course shouldn't be there.

But, come on... you're saying it's not a complete waste of flight time but any flight time that is unneeded for a rating or certificate that you have to pay for AND especially one that you pay an additional amount to have an instructor for it, is a waste of money. And I know I'll have someone here trying to defend their remorseful "purchase"...I just know it.

You very well may be able to self study for the CFI, but I wouldn’t change what I got out of the CFI ground school. I spend a lot of time in the books (I’m sure that people that know me will agree ).

So, to say it is only good for those that don’t self study… I don’t agree with. The experience of the professor teaching the ground school was priceless. “Book smarts” will only take you so far. We ended up getting a whole lot of stories about being an instructor, how to handle things, ways to teach things, general knowledge/experience, etc, from someone who is very qualified to teach it.

That, in combination with many other things done in that ground school, was helpful for when I started instructing. Some things you just have to experience for yourself though, but CFI ground school was a good start.

[JaceTheAce]

Originally Posted by Snickersnwa

You very well may be able to self study for the CFI, but I wouldn’t change what I got out of the CFI ground school. I spend a lot of time in the books (I’m sure that people that know me will agree ).

So, to say it is only good for those that don’t self study… I don’t agree with. The experience of the professor teaching the ground school was priceless. “Book smarts” will only take you so far. We ended up getting a whole lot of stories about being an instructor, how to handle things, ways to teach things, general knowledge/experience, etc, from someone who is very qualified to teach it.

That, in combination with many other things done in that ground school, was helpful for when I started instructing. Some things you just have to experience for yourself though, but CFI ground school was a good start.

That's it. You have me SOLD on taking CFI from UND! :sarc asm:

[Snickersnwa]

Originally Posted by JaceTheAce

That's it. You have me SOLD on taking CFI from UND! :sarc asm:

I’m not trying to “sell” you on taking CFI here… just don’t want people to think that it’s a waste, because I don’t believe it is.

[UAL747400]

Originally Posted by Snickersnwa

I’m not trying to “sell” you on taking CFI here… just don’t want people to think that it’s a waste, because I don’t believe it is.

Ground school no, the flight lab yes. Now I know there are some good CFI's here that could teach CFI pretty well. A lot just don't have that experiance. CFI is one of those ratings where you have to learn by doing anyway. My instructor said it himself, "this is just a start, you'll learn how to be a CFI with experiance. We're just laying the foundation". So 33 lessons of this, yeah that's kinda overkill.