7 CRITICAL Traits I Look for (or AVOID) in a Flight Instructor 

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From a CFI, I really appreciate this video as a reminder of what I can do better. Thanks!

I loved being a CFI. I had my CFII and in 18 months I gave 1600 hrs dual, mostly Instrument and commercial students. I came back to instructing during furloughs and I think i gave everyone their money's worth. I'm retired Captain now (American/USAir) 1988-2018 and my thoughts are still with general aviation, the real flying.

As for CFIs that pull surprises, I had one of those as well. It was in the 80s and I'd bought a 1/3 share of a Cherokee 180. My partners had a CFI who could check me out in it. In one of our flights, we were practicing slow flight and approach to landing stalls. While practically laying on my back, out of the corner of my eye, I saw him reach down between the seats. A couple seconds later, the engine QUIT. Not went to idle, not simulated an engine out, it freaking QUIT. Propeller windmilling, I lowered the nose, started the engine out procedures, then remembered what I'd seen. I looked down and the fuel petcock was in the Closed position. I turned to him, called him something I don't want to type right now, and turned the fuel back on. The engine immediately caught and we flew on. A couple months later, he was the lead item on the Six O'Clock local TV news. The FAA had busted him for falsifying his logbooks, padding his hours. His ticket was yanked and he's never been heard from again...

I remember my 1st CFI had us going to a different airport for my first time, I went downwind then turned base then final the whole time never said a word, we obviously weren't going to make runway and i had frozen watching it happen, she nudged my right shoulder and said sooo which tree are you planning to land on, that snapped me back into reality and i added power and made normal landing. she had me taxi to ramp and shut down, she looked at me and said you fly the airplane never let airplane fly you, I will never forget that statement. she was a wonderful instructor, she would let me get just far enough in trouble but without being unsafe. I'll date myself, it was in a Cessna 150 the rate with instructor was $35 an hour wet.

I’ve only had one instructor at a time. My first flight instructor never said “good job” or anything he would only point out when I did something wrong. I almost quit flying because every lesson felt like a chore and I stopped having fun After I switched, I stayed with my current instructor and got my PPL! He is practically every good trait you described! He got me back to having fun with flying and is the reason I was able to finish my license instead of quitting! Now I’m considering getting my instrument rating and commercial with him!

A flight instructor has to play multiple roles. They must be an educator, a role model, and have an open personality. A good flight instructor will have fined tuned each of these roles in order to be successful in their trade and effective to their students. In the Navy, I had military instructors who had many hours of experience, both in and out of combat. My favorite instructor was also my mentor. He was a jet jock turned primary flight instructor and he loved his work. He also made me feel comfortable when I flew and when I screwed up, he disciplined me in such a way that I did not feel threatened, but felt an obligation to him to improve my skills. Every brief and debrief was thorough and educational. He took the time to explain things to me so that I could take what I've learned and improve my flying. And, during off hours, we'd fly together often, renting aircraft from our Navy Flying Club. On the same token, I had a bad experience with another jet jocky turned instructor who was my check airman. This guy thought he was God's gift to Naval Aviation and the Marine Corp and would do things during our check flights that I was not expecting, nor was it part of the flight syllabus. There were times where I nearly puked after a flight with this man. He also didn't take the time to teach. The debriefings were brief and he offered no words of encouragement. I learned nothing from him except how to be a class one a-hole in the cockpit. Luckily, he transferred out early in my training. Today, I look for an instructor that has the same qualities as my Navy mentor. I don't focus on age as much as I do as teaching ability. Before I fly with a new instructor, I will ask for an initial briefing. I use it mainly to get to know that person, their experience, their goals and their qualifications. That one meeting provides me with a good idea as to what kind of instructor I'm going to be dealing with. Are they an effective communicator... do they know their stuff... are they patient... are they passionate about what they do or are they just doing the job to build hours. Are they friendly. My current instructor is a former Navy F-4 pilot and a Vietnam era veteran. He's the chief pilot of a local flying school here in Colorado. Being former Navy, we hit if off pretty well. He also happens to be the man I bought my Tiger from. He just flew with me to do my bi-annual check flight in November. He was very thorough and put me through the ringer. But, he was also very fair and provided me with excellent training and feedback after all was said and done. The flight was over two days long. I wanted it that way, because I wanted the best training experience possible, not just go through the motions. One more tidbit... my son just passed his CFI check ride in November. He's been flying with me since he was about 6 months old, but he didn't show an interest to become a pilot until his senior year of high school. In 2016, after we purchased the Tiger, he began his training to get his PPC, instrument, commercial and now his CFI. He's now 23 years old, college graduate with a degree in aviation technology. He used me as his "student" to hone his teaching skills during his CFI training. I am proud to say that he has turned out to be a fine instructor. His greatest asset is his ability to teach and pass on his knowledge, as well as his patience. I'm looking forward to watching him advance in his aviation career. Fly safe and fly often.

I got lucky and had this young kid (I was 48 and he was 21) for an instructor who was such a fantastic pilot and such a stickler at being precise that it burned into my brain. If we were, for example, supposed to be at 3000' and I was at 3100' he would say, "if you can fly at 3100' you can fly at 3000'. If we landed off the center line he would say, "if we can land here, why can't we land over there" pointing to the center. I aced my check ride and owe much of that to my desire to try to be as precise as he was. I fly my crosswind finals crabbed until the flare because of him. At the end of the day I think some CFI's are just mediocre pilots, and some are fantastic pilots. Some are mediocre teachers, some are fantastic teachers. If you get one that is fantastic at both, then you scored.

Great tips. I especially detest control grabby instructors and will dump them ASAP. Any instructor who is so nervous that he/she can’t keeps their paws off the controls, is too much of a worry wart to be doing flight training. My latest instructor is awesome. He learned from a seasoned flight instructor who taught jungle pilots. And his modus operandi was this: don’t touch the controls unless the student is going to bend the airplane. The pilot will never gain confidence nor learn how to correct mistakes with a nervous Nelly of a teacher.

I'm on a binge watching these videos because I have my CFI check-ride coming up soon. Honestly, I just want to be a good instructor so I'm trying to adopt as many positive traits as I can.

Excellent video! I would also have to say that CFI’s that rush are also a big red flag. No matter what the topic is or how much the student already knows about it, it’s important for the instructor to go slow and make sure that the student not only understands the material but can apply it in a real situation. From my experience so far, that’s one of the qualities that has really distinguished between good and great flight instructors (as well as all your ideas).

After your last upload I left a comment about how my CFI unexpectedly told to climb to 5,000 ft and then put me into a spin. We did four more and when we had landed I asked why he hadn't given me prior notice of the lesson. He explained that in times past he had told students that their next lesson would be spins and stalls and as a result some of them didn't turn up. Also, he added that having accomplished circuits, he needed to find out if could cope with spins and stalls otherwise I would be wasting my money. About a month later my CFI moved on and we got a new one. He was a deeply unpleasant man and on my first lesson with him he'd obviously become impatient with my boring flying and took over. He did a serious of aerobatics to embarrass me. Most of it was observed from club members on the ground and they asked me what the hell I had been up to. I turned the tables on the CFI by telling them that I found the CFI to be boring and had decided to show him some real flying. I never took another lesson with that CFI and went on to getting my PPL.

In the words of my idol Ricky Bobby, “If you ain’t first you’re last!” This is also great information. I used 2 primary instructors for my ppl. They were both great, but 2 different personalities. The CFI in my Archer check out video is one of my favorite people. He’s very relaxed, which make me relax.

Great vid !!! all important steps to remember when choosing a CFI, at the end of the day bad training will get you killed ! PIC as a student is vital to understand in making the best decisions, trust your instincts, if it feels wrong, it is !

Hi - your point about the instructor being a good listener is (imo) absolutely crucial. I train in other sectors and never want to be the type who hears a few words and thinks it's just another of the FAQs. A student's question reveals an awful lot about where they are in their understanding and knowledge of the topic and should be closely attended to.

As someone whos currently undergoing CFI training for hour building, I appreciate this a lot, it gives me drive and objectives to strive for when I have students :) Thanks!!

Awesome video Charlie. CFI's are such an important piece to get the future pilots off to the right start. Their impact can be felt over a lifetime. Thanks for the content.

First off, love your channel. I do have to put in my 2 cents on this. I have one primary instructor, we get along awesome. Honestly I have probably 26 landing and takeoffs now (with no CFI input) in under 12hrs(short field, grass runway, towered ect). He told me he’s confident enough in me that he would of signed me off for solo at 7hrs, but due to weather and also just getting some good cross country out of the way and what not while we had mild VFR weather. It’s been an awesome experience and I’m not worried about soloing at all tomorrow. Now, with that being said, hour 3 I went with a different instructor, who’s a bush pilot. He scared the crap out of me. But, I learned so much during that lesson even though he instructed more like a military drill instructor, high stress, advanced maneuvers, no give. That flight, really taught me a lot about the airplane itself, it’s limits, and really gave me the confidence to move forward. Like he said “you will never know what you can do unless you know the limits of your aircraft, you don’t get that by flying gentle and being nice” I’m lucky my main CFI get along great, we trust each other, and I like his teaching style. Plus, he’s great at working out schedule, and, on top of that, I’m number one on his cancellation list. Thank you for your videos. Also just to add, my instructor had me mountain flying in the first hour. 😅

As a new CFI I appreciate this video and agree with all your points. Well thought out video!

I did my PPL after moving to France, I had 2 instructors, 1 is an airline pilot and he speaks to me in English, great instructor explains things, does exercices with you and no matter what your intention treats you like you're an airline pilot... the other I couldn't really understand but he spoke to me in French no matter what and thats how I learnt aviation French and what as a glider pilot I liked the way he would explain something but unless you were doing something wrong he would sit quitely and let you figure things out for yourself. I only found out he speaks perfect English after I finished my 45 hours haha

This is super helpful as I'm looking for the right CFI for me at my flight school. Now I have more ideas of what to look out for. Thanks for the video!

Thank you for posting this. I’m a student pilot right now, but I want to give my best to my future students when I’m a CFI. I’ll keep this video in mind as I see my instructors throughout my licenses. Yet another great video, thank you.

Great tips, I wish I had watched this before I got my first CFI. This video could put him out of business. I'm blessed to have found a great CFI now. Every potential student should watch this video.

Great video on instructors. I got my CFI when I was very young about 19/20 enjoyed instructing then went to the airlines USAIR / American 1978 - 2018 now I am back to instructing and enjoy every minute doing it. I am making little airline pilots !

Another great video. Absolutely agree that a couple of CFIs will give different perspectives and a better prepare the student for being PIC. I started off with a young CFI who was very detailed oriented but didn’t push me in the cockpit. At 16 hours, he got a job at the regionals and I transitioned to an old bush pilot. He pushed me in the cockpit and made me a better pilot. I am very thankful for both of them. Every student learning process is different and has their own thresholds. A good instructor adapts to the student’s learning style and finds the balance of providing high challenge with low threat. It is a very fine line to walk.

Really great video for someone looking to start their adventure.

I just discovered this channel and I'm really loving your videos, they have so much good information in them. I'm currently doing my commercial and I'm considering moving to a different flight training provider and after watching this it has definitely made that discussion a lot easier to make. The thing that makes it hard for me and the reason I have been thinking about it for the last few months is that I like my instructor but his style of teaching isn't really the best for me.

So glad to see this video and realizing my instructor has all of the good traits you are mentioning.

My dad is a cfi and he is teaching me to fly it’s kind of a weird dynamic because he holds me to much higher standards than required for a private i also take my check ride in a couple weeks which is exciting.

Questions that are discerning tools are best utilized in many cases. Questions that lead someone how to find answers are very helpful!

Im just getting into flight school and this was the best channel to stumble onto!

A few flights into my training, my assigned instructor wasn't available and I got given the boss's son. Negative reinforcement and immediate intervention were definitely his style. Something about the way I was doing stalls really pissed him off, but I never did find out what. Instead, the session descended into a shouting match. In the end it was me who realised that neither of us was looking outside and neither of us was actually flying the aircraft. I demanded that he take me back. I think it earned me some respect, he was a much nicer human being after that, but we both knew that we weren't a good match in the cockpit.

Thank you so much for your videos. I'm starting training in a few months and your content has been invaluable.

Great Video Charlie, very informative. Thank You.

I think these are great pointers for any teacher or instructor in any field!

you really pointed out something very helpful and reassured my judgements on my CFI choices.

Wonderful, sound advice. Brilliant points. Good of you to share this information.

Thanks for validating my philosophy of not surprising my students. I never saw value in what I call “stupid surprises”. That being said briefing and training for emergencies is a different story as you mentioned. My goal as a CFI was to be able to confidently step out of the plane some day soon and let them be PIC.

Charlie, I really appreciated this video as I'm struggling with a CFI right now. I didn't fly for almost 20 years--a classic Rusty Pilot. I decided to get current and start flying again. I found a wonderful CFI--my first woman instructor. She'd flown for the airlines and was now teaching so she'd have more time for her family. She was patient and nurturing and supportive and it was a great experience. After passing my Flight Review, I decided to get a tailwheel endorsement. I found an instructor who advertised that most of his students averaged four hours to transition to taildragger, so I thought that was manageable. I've since discovered that most other tailwheel CFIs average much longer than that (4 hours seemed pretty quick to me). So I started the process and it quickly became apparent that taking a rusty pilot from a 172 to an aerobatic 150hp Citabria was a HUGE jump. I'm really struggling with the CFI in the backseat yelling at me over the headphones while I'm bouncing down the runway and trying to keep it straight. It's nerve-shattering. In post-flight briefing, he just shakes his head and says he doesn't know what to tell me, that I'm just "not getting it." I'm up to six hours now and I think I need to try someone else. After our last flight, I actually said to him "I know I'm a low-time private pilot and a rusty pilot, but this is the first time I've ever felt like a bad pilot..." He just shook his head and didn't say anything. You're doing great work, man! Thanks so much!

I was also a turboprop Flight Engineer, second generation on the L-188 (Lockheed Electra four-engine turboprop) Dad became an aviation maintenance technician and an FAA Aircraft Mechanic with Airframe and Powerplant ratings in the USAF. Dad was an aircraft mechanic, a crew chief on a USAF Beechcraft C-45 and a USAF Douglas C-47

Great video.. especially the part about being on edge.. my first instructor was a horrible fit for me. He did a great job instructing the information, but during the flights would be rigid and his hands were always a 1/4 inch from the controls. It made me on edge to the point that my pattern work and maneuvers were not progressing and I didn’t even want to go to the airport.. luckily he got his hours and went somewhere and my next instructor was a perfect fit for me..

Charlie, your video is relevant to anyone in the teaching business, not just High School teachers, or aviators.

Your mention of surprises brought back a memory. Following the second T/O of me second lesson, my CFI Stuck the hood on my head, fully expecting me to “lose it” in a few seconds. He was astonished that I finished my climb out, leveling off right on the target altitude as I rolled out of my turn within a few degrees of the requested heading. I didn’t tell him until the lesson was over about how much reading I had been doing, including 3 or 4 times through Frank Kingston Smith’s “I’d Rather Be Flying.” It took a while to convince him that while I understood and trusted the instruments, I wasn’t foolish enough to wander into IFR conditions without the proper training and ratings.

This is actually a good video for CFI's as to what they could do better.

When I was looking for a CFI demonstrate what I think he called a tail whip but he said he wasn't sure how to do it but tried banking and whipping the plane around while pushing and pulling power not getting the effect he was looking for. Being my second flight ever I never flew with him again. Found a great instructor and got my PP. Flying is amazing.

Excellent recommendations. I agree with them in my own experience.

My classic "I hate being a CFI", was a CFI that was an ATP, and gaining a higher pay rate than most. I figured I could learn a lot from him. Turned out he was an ex-corporate pilot who had lost his commercial rating for safety violations. He was extremely angry about his "unfair treatment", and just wanted his former job back (and was slumming it). We parted company shortly.

My current CFI has promised to help me get through my check ride, which I really like. I have been through so many different instructors in my so far 100+ hours of pre-solo.

I had two lessons with a CFI that was only hour building for the airlines. He would constantly take the controls without asking. He would take the plane to go look at something he wanted to see on the ground and just take up my (expensive) flight time in general. Glad I found someone else shortly after.

Great advice Charlie, love the video 👌

Great info, thanks!

great tips Charlie! thank you!

Definitely agree I like a CFI that waits for me to make a few mistakes (this is how my CFI was) they didn't just say something as soon as I made an error, they gave me a chance to find it myself. idk how I feel on the CFI saying something like "good job" mine almost never did. All I knew is if he was quiet I was doing something right, kept me thinking and checking to make sure everything was correct. On a side note to that when he did say good job, I knew it meant something. My CFI went over everything, but he kept me on edge. I felt it was good, because it forced me to learn precision air work. That type of CFI is definitely not right for everyone, but I thought it was a good fit for me. I've been with CFIs that always tell me good job and I can't tell if they really mean it or not. A trait that I feel is important: Don't choose a CFI who is like "we will just talk about everything in the plane". Pick one that will sit down on the ground, talk to you before and after the flight (at least after the flight). This way they go over things to improve on and you get ground training/study with them.

My CFI for my PPL was a crusty old crab. I think a great many students probably left him over the years as he did come across as mean. He was a Vietnam-era, Navy, A-6 Intruder pilot back in the day. He never raised his voice but always had a "growl" to his voice. He was very thorough and never threw any surprises at me. One big thing was that I never sensed that he was uncomfortable with me making mistakes (or my poor skills, early on) and I learned from those mistakes. He was very patient with me. I always felt safe with him (most important to me) and learned how to be a good, safe pilot.

I fired one CFI because she repeatedly would tell me I'm under speed when i was bang on. She couldn't figure out that from where she was sitting the gauge would look like it was reading low. NEXT! LOL

I was run off from finishing my PPL the first time I tried from a terrible instructor. He had no personality, couldn’t explain things well, never let me make my own mistakes and learn to correct them. He was very short with me if I didn’t get something the first time. What made me quit (only to come back later and finish my ppl) was one breezy day he didn’t even want to go up but I had scheduled, paid and fueled the plane, it was a beautiful day but a 10-15mph quartering crosswind. I needed to learn to work a crosswind but he just didn’t feel like teaching me that day. He had just gotten back from a long cross country but he refused to let me so with someone else. So we went up and he showed me how to land with a crosswind before letting me try. On my first try I wasn’t using enough rudder and drifted off centerline before flair. The runway was wide and I was in control, just not on centerline anymore. Without vocalizing for me to correct it or saying the normal “my controls” he simply took his yoke and started handling the airplane. I was focused on what I was doing and didn’t notice he had grabbed the yoke so when I felt me reacting to his inputs he slammed the throttle forward and pushed my hand off MY yoke! He took us around and landed, taxied to the ramp without a word then after shut down got out and literally yelled at me for trying to correct his inputs. In front of several people on the ramp he yelled “don’t you EVER do that again!” I was young. 18. I was too inexperienced in life and such situations to know I wasn’t in the wrong so I didn’t defend myself. I was pulled aside by another instructor and he asked if I was ok and that Sid (my CFI’s name) was out of line and he’d be glad to take me up. I left and didn’t go back for a year. I was too afraid and embarrassed. Until then I was at the airport every day. I knew everyone and everyone knew me and I was usually praised for how quickly I was progressing but that flight ruined it all for me for months. I’m glad I got over the shame I felt that day and came back, got a good instructor and finished.

Good video - I wanted to see what you thought and I learned that the CFI I trained for my Private certificate with has all those attributes. Also I was watching the video in double speed and couldn't figure out why all the approaches were so fast - then I realized.

Loved the video. I'm a rusty pilot (haven't flown in 12 years) that is scheduled to go for a flight review in two days. I know its going to be a multi-day process but I also know that the wrong CFI could create more problems that I will have to deal with. So .... hoping for the best. I did learn in a rural Texas area. There was one CFI at the local airport and I was fortunate that we had a good relationship and even though he was young (we were the same age) and he was just building time (he left for a corporate job before I got my certificate) he was a great teacher in the cockpit. The verbal "book" stuff not so much. So I felt I was a safe pilot having flown with him but I was also ignorant of how the "system" worked. But that isn't all bad because now I will have GPS and ADS-B to learn about and I can dump all the data I still have stored about the wandering ADF. 8-) Thanks again for your videos!!

Very good show!shoe! We share a lot of views. Where quality of instructor, compatibility matters a lot.

Another great video, thanks.

No experience in aviation but when i first got my cdl the guy my company put me with to get the feel of the truck was super picky about lane placement and gear shifting/selection. I would grind every gear and it was always a challenge to get the truck to do what i wanted it to do with him breathing down my neck. Once i went out on my own all those problems went away and my lane placement got way better and i almost never missed a gear and could put my rpms exactly where i wanted them lol sometimes when your struggling with simple tasks its the person trying to teach

Great Video! Honestly the CFI is expression of how the school is. After having had freelancers of any kind (dentists, lawyers, etc.) I required the school to give me only CFIs who had been trained and worked as professionals. A few weeks ago I was speaking to a few military pilots (one is the former solo of Frecce Tricolori) and I realised the huge gap between the average PPL training and theirs. Going back I would probably look for retired Airforce pilot.

I just became a CFI, and I am because I am trying to get to the airlines. But like you said, I do want to be the best CFI I can be. This definitely helps with trying to become the CFI I want to try to be.

Got my PPL with a nice guy time-building, but he simply couldn't teach. It just wasn't in him and I basically taught myself everything. I should have spoken up early in the process and switched instructors. Fast forward to IR. I actually shopped around to several schools this time. One part 61 shop I requested to speak with an instructor and one or two recent former instrument students about the school. They said we're busy and if you want to schedule an instructor for a lesson you can do that. Well then, guess I'll be scheduling elsewhere! Have an awesome young guy now I love to fly with. He's time-building very quickly, but really gets the CFII life and always shows up 100% for me and can teach well. Finding the right instructor is partly luck, but don't stop until you've found one you mesh with!

great information. I would add that a first lesson with a CFI is also a job interview. Then an honest debrief from the CFI and an honest review of the CFI's performance. What you liked what you didn't like. I have flown with CFIs that I would use again. Also flown with CFIs that were responsive to my concerns and we ended up making a great team. I do believe that you and your CFI are a team with a common goal. Whenever it feels like you're not working together either a conversation or a new CFI is in order. As you say you are the customer. The CFI is providing a service. Are you getting your monies worth.

I am an aspiring CFI. This is very helpful

Yes, finding a good match is important, and it takes a community of aviators. I have had students that I could never send out alone, yet went on with other instructors to achieve first solo. I have also recieved secondhand students from other frustrated instructors, and made good progress, some even finishing a licence.

I’ve had 2 “primary” CFI’s and spent time with about four others. My primary is a mortgage broker who loves to fly and loves to teach. My other primary is trying to build time, but she’s a passionate aviator and take-no-BS instructor. I’m a retired vet, so I’m used to the ass-chewings and survived two wars. I can take harsh criticism, as long as it’s constructive. I expect it. I’ve flown with some other, younger CFI’s, and I find that I might be intimidating to them somehow; be it my age, my combat experience, whatever. They didn’t offer too many suggestions or corrections. Those experiences were not as useful. When I fly with a CFI, I am looking for instruction and criticism. I want to improve, and you are there to advise me. Disregard the fact I’m old enough to be your father. You have more ratings than I do. I am here to learn, I’m paying you to teach. Regardless of your style, and the way your student prefers to learn, remember that.

I love my instructor. He's an airline pilot as his regular job and just really enjoys teaching. He makes sure I understand things. He gets very stern and fills up my headset with "DON't YOU UNDERSTAND? ...." or "Why are you doing that?". Clearly because I didn't understand it then he will calmly explains it. I know it next time. I appreciate his excitability. It brings home the seriousness of what we are doing. Flying is serious business.

Close to getting my cpl ....this is gold . I’m going to use this to see how I can instruct too

Excellent tips in choosing a cfi- when I started a few months ago at my flight school I wanted to try out a few instructors before I settled on one- my gut instincts about the first one who was just doing time waiting for a commercial pilot job was spot on - he was a young dude who had no aptitude to teach . I was m glad I dumped him- the 2nd one was also a young dude waiting for a pilot job - a shade better than first one , but not into teaching- my current one likes to teach and wants to stay a cfi - but he is green though. My progress check was done by a senior guy who was super- he taught me more in 2 hrs than all these young idiots -experience and love for teaching shows Good video, great tips

It's really tough. When I went through my license, I had good and bad instructors. On my first flights, I found out later that we busted airspace... twice. I had no idea. Not good. Then I had instructors who clearly wanted to do long flights, night flights etc to get their experience up. Not cool either. It is really tough to find a good instructor.

Thank you for this video! ; I had felt like maybe I was just being too critical of each instructor but I really did see most all of these traits in the five instructors I have flown with, , I am still looking though...

I’m currently in the process of finding a CFI so I’m happy I found this

I've been in flight training for less than a year but I've already had 3 instructors. Mu first one I didnt mesh with well and he was just there to build hours, but the next two I like much better. One of them is there for building but appreciates his job and he has become my backup instructor. My main instructor is a retired airline captain who I love training under. I've noticed that sometimes it gets frustrating as he looks at private pilot training like the ATP and expects perfection but I have quickly realized how much that helps me as a young student when I'm flying solo With the surprises, while I hate them, my instructor pulled power to idle when I was on downwind without any notice (I thought I was making a normal high wind approach). As much as I was shocked and a little terrified at first, he walked me through it and we landed damn near perfectly. So overall, yes, surprises suck but I think when done right they can be very helpful One last point that I found when looking at instructors at my school is that it's super helpful when your instructor understands your budget and helps you get through training effectively. Just as an example, I'm training on a tight budget and flying the cessna 152. The 152 gets booked super quick but we also 3 172s that could fly, but it is significantly more expensive. The day that I needed to prove my last bit of knowledge to be signed off for a solo the 152 was booked but the 172 was available. I asked my instructor and he quickly steered me away telling me that right before my solo that would be a bad decision because we would most likely have to retrain a lot because it's a different aircraft making it much more expensive for me as a student. I find it really helpful when instructors understand what their students goals are and how they can help meet those goals while still helping with boundaries

My ex-flight instructor put us into a spin on my first lesson. That sucked. He also has so many of the negative traits mentioned here. Thank you for giving me some of my sanity back.

Great video! My instructor was Charlie Hammonds. Great guy!

Just saw this so just now commenting. Good video and very good points you make. I’ll ad my $0.02. I’m a retired Navy pilot and have also been a military flight instructor in high performance aircraft. if you don’t feel right or have safety concerns, address them immediately and if not satisfied with the response or answer, don’t fly with the questionable CFI. As an instructor, after a debrief where some things were critiqued, I always listed to student feedback which resulted in many worthwhile discussions. Fly safe….

Super well said. I'm a long time CFI here, and strive to do all the things you encourage! I view my students as my customers first, and students second. I'll give them good constructive criticism and training, but I never want to send someone home with a proverbial tail between their legs. That is 100% unproductive!

I found a CFI to give me private lessons..we did the entire ground school at my house..it had a lot of benifits...one on one was worth every penny..he took his time , he often stayed over the allocated teaching time..And was very patient....I think that ground school made all the difference for me... After a few months, We then headed to the Airport and my first flight was mind blowing..all the stuff he taught me came to life.. Looking back, I think he was a master

This goes to the Time Builder scenario, but I think you want to see enthusiasm and passion for aviation from your CFI. If sitting next to you teaching you how to fly is sucking the life out of that person, it's going to suck the life out of your training as well.

My CFI was great with the information, but made the cockpit a nervous wreck. Nervous energy made me on edge so much that I was exhausted after 30 minutes and couldn't focus on the tasks at hand. I really made flying NOT FUN. Isn't that the point? A great instructor knows the information and makes it fun to learn. LewDix comes to mind.

I said No! I back taxied to the beginning and good thing. It took a longer takeoff roll because of the density altitude.

I've flown with about 3 instructors so far. I would definitely recommend avoiding the cowboys and go with your gut instinct if you feel something is wrong. Had one guy where I never had good feelings about him, and ended up in a safety event that was investigated officially. I wanted to give this guy a chance but my gut was right.

I might save this to have a future CFI watch before we get started haha

Indeed, I had a CFI that couldn't lament enough about being a CFI. He was also the worst CFI I ever had. I ended up having to go to another flight school (20 miles away) but the instructors there were soooooo much better.

Good clarification.

Really good video

Asking questions is the best way for an instructor to learn what a particular student needs from instruction.

Back when I was trying to learn to fly I had 4 CFIs in a fairly short time. The first one was a retired contractor, perusing becoming a corporate pilot. He was ok, but I got the feeling he was pretty new to instructing. But he didn’t challenge me in the air. I racked up quite a number of hours doing the basics, and not really progressing. The others I flew with only once, but I got a good idea of their ways. #2 was a young guy, probably on the way to commercial aviation, Very good, challenged me. I even did my first landings with him, and on grass instead of the usual asphalt strip. Should have tried to keep on with him. #3 I think came from commercial aviation, and was none too happy about it. At least on that day. First bad sign was he insisted on cleaning the 172’s windows with the fuel sumped from the tanks instead of proper window cleaner. In the air, he wasn’t too bad, properly challenged me, and it was pretty uneventful. But after landing, I stopped the plane, got out the checklist, and he just reached across me and shut everything off with a slap on the switches. Totally ignored the checklist. Didn[t want to ever fly with him again. Last CFI I had was an old timer, chief instructor for a club I joined. Demanding, a lot more so than the other 4, but I appreciated that. One problem we had was his throttle & airspeed settings were different from the last school. We should have probably spent some time ironing this out before flying, but I would set X rpm, and held say why are you at that rpm, etc. And, the difference was enough to affect how the plane performed (still a 172), so I had to adjust in other ways. Unfortunately, I had to stop training soon after that flight, with financial and medical issues in the forefront. Love your channel. Keep up the good work!

My CFI just lets me get on with it, with just a guiding nudge if required (for example "speed", or "turn base now"). I like this style as that's what I've been used to with learning to drive forklifts, trucks, cars, riding horseback, etc. The only time this didn't work out for me was when I became task-saturated above the runway when I was beginning to struggle with crosswind and had birds infront of me. "I need help", I said, but he didn't intervene and just let me have a firm and flat landing. The end result was 'fine' but I asked for help and didn't get it. In retrospect maybe that was the right course of action, if you are out flying on your own and get task-saturated, you just have to deal with it, you can't ask for help.

Organized! You want to know at the end of todays flight lesson what to look forward to in the next... with little or no deviation. Also some instructors may be hesitant to teach things that aren't going to be required on the check ride (spin recovery, for example). Others may be more than willing. If the opportunity is offered, snatch it up. If not, ask for it.

Great vid from a student's standpoint. On the other end; the frustration of keeping instructors headed in the same direction. Professionalism, welfare for the student, enthusiasm (fun), standardization, SAFETY (crashing into a hangar during an intro flightis dubious when it comes to safety).This is the 'short' version.

When i was getting my glider licecnce it as hard to find a good instructor, the club had too many instructors (30) and they all had their on wild ideas... most were just interested in free flying but I found 2 that helped me become a well above standard glider pilot. I hated the instructors that never took their hand off the stick or nit-picked every little thing but miss the obvious... i found that old instructors were the best.

I've been lucky to have flown with a few great instructors, and a couple of OK instructors. Never a bad one. The great ones all wanted to know what my goals were, and they genuinely listened. Three of the four were career instructors, one was on his way to fly for the airlines. All loved to fly, and loved to teach, I think you can just sense that. I don't want to fly with an instructor that I don't like being around, or that doesn't love what he/she does. None did surprises, except to cut power. They all did that after the first lesson, and I think that's already saved my life once. The 'ok' ones were just less passionate about it, were focused on thing other than the fundamentals. I've heard of flying with instructors that would take the controls a lot, or would fly large parts of the lesson themselves. That would be a deal breaker. I think my best suggestion would be that if you don't look forward to seeing and talking with your instructor, you need to get another one.

Great points.

Well said bud!

Procedures are best taught by example and questions lead the student to do things on their own.

And you should mention, unlike, say, driving school, if you fly regularly you will need an instructor. For life. At the very least for BFRs, but for instrument ratings its more like a regular commitment, since you need to see a CFI regularly for currency (like a doctor).

I started flying again at the beginning of 2020 and really connected with the two instructors that I did most of my flying with. Then at the beginning of September as I was going into my cross country training and feeling confident that I wasn't far off sitting my PPL the CFI walked out. It was mid October before a new one was appointed and I never clicked with him. I felt like I was going backwards with my flying and stopped in November as it was all just becoming too stressful and I ended up sick. I am looking at starting back up again mid January when the C rated instructor that I have been flying with on and off since the beginning of the year will be back from holidays. I really like him as an instructor but if I still am no closer after a month to sitting my PPL I don't know what I will do.