Flight Instructors

Choosing a Flight Instructor

I always wanted to be a pilot. I didn't necessarily want to do it for a living; I just wanted to fly airplanes.

It wasn't until my early 30's that I went for my private pilot's license. First, I attended ground school where I studied all kinds of stuff, even things I never associated with flying (like math). It felt like graduate school (I guess it kind of is grad school) with subjects like navigation, meteorology, aviation weather, aviation law, etc. etc. There was some hard stuff in there! (like math)

Anyway, after 10 weeks of ground school, I graduated and was ready for flight lessons. My ground school instructor owned a flight school so instead of checking around, I hired one of his instructors. Mistake!

I never asked the guy a single question about his experience, goals, teaching techniques, number of flight hours logged, nada! I didn't find out until I'd strapped myself into the pilot's seat (already a nervous wreck) that my instructor had never instructed before. I was his first student! Yikes! He was more nervous than I was. And the more nervous he got, the thicker his accent got. Sometimes I couldn't understand a word he said. (That can be a problem when you want to avoid crashing the plane.) Then, because I couldn't follow his instructions, he'd start yelling, which of course made me more nervous, and, well, you get the idea.

My first flight experience was a nightmare. I was scared and overwhelmed. I also had no confidence in my flight instructor. I just knew I was going to crash and kill us and everyone on the ground.

I understand that every instructor has to start somewhere and that somebody has to be the guinea pig. I get that. But if you take the time to interview a prospective instructor, you can decide if that new or experienced instructor will suit your personal learning style.

It took more than 10 years for me to get the courage to try again. This time I asked the instructor lots of questions and expressed my concerns. I interviewed her boss, too. Lastly, she promised not to yell at me!

Before I knew it, I had my pilot's license. You can too, just don't make the same mistake I did. Choose the right flight instructor!