New CFI/II's and teaching

[ch47fe]

Okay I going to finish my private and get my tickets to start teaching and build time, right?

I cannot imagine teaching someone else to fly at this point.

How many CFI's feel real confident about teaching someone else to fly and fixing all of their mistakes with only 250 hrs TT?

I mean I have already put the 152 into spins on two different lessons with my instructor.

I would $hit if someone else put me in a spin and looked at me and freaked. Obviously, my butt-hole could snap a handful of 16 penny nails when I spun the two times it happened.

I did recover the second one but I am not comfortable with them at all. Teh first one I didn't have a clue and would have just died if I were by myself.

Are you freshly branded CFI's not worried about situations like this? I would be.

 

[canosoup]

You'll know when you getthere

You shouldn't begin to think that you could feel confident teaching at this point. There are many more hours to fly before you sleep and after two inadvertent spins Im sure you're instructor lies awake at night wondering what he did wrong.

You on the other hand are already chalking up experienece, trust me it doesn't stop at the Instrument or Commercial or CFI. Its a Mobius strip, an endlessly twisting loop.

There is no end and consequently no real place to get off the great airplane/flying/instructing ride. You wouldn't want to anyways.

You will know when you are ready to pass on your own hard won lessons to a neophyte. Those first real lessons are an exercise in confidence, you in your own to instill a reciprocal feeling in your student.

Passing all your checkrides (which you will) doesnt neccessarily mean you are ready to teach but its certainly an indication that you are in the right neighborhood.

 

[Timebuilder]

As a CFI, even when brand new, I stopped the spins in the incipient, one quarter of a turn stage. Since most training hapens at 3,000AGL, you don't have a lot of extra time if a spin becomes fully developed. When I did my spin training for my CFI we went up to five or six thousand, and made certain that we had the plane loaded for the Utility category.

Since students can be frightened away from flying by a spin, I made certain that they didn't have a spin.

When you are ready for your CFI, you will have come to enjoy the properly executed spin, and this will ease you mind about a student inadvertently beginning a spin.

Don't worry.

 

[canosoup]

more ramblings

Oh yeah I forgot. Not to discourage you but 250 hour CFI's are about as rare as retractable 152's. 250TT CFI who have the ability to instill confidence in a student are as rare as turbo 152's.
every hour of flight is another lesson you can bring to the able.

 

[Timebuilder]

Good observation, can o'.

I'll bet as an instructor, you are "souper".

 

[bobbysamd]

New CFI

I'm not a freshly-branded CFI at all, but I still remember my early days. Take it from someone who knows, you will amaze yourself at how well you will do. I surprised myself at how well I did when I first started instructing.

Just approach your first instructing flights according to how you were trained. You will give your trainee a pre-flight briefing, fly the flight, and give a post-flight critique. You can get into it slowly by first giving some flight reviews before you take on students.

I kind of followed that route when I first started instructing. I was in CAP and gave annual Form 5 rides to our pilots. A Form 5 is equivalent to a thorough BFR. Shortly thereafter, I instructed in our annual Cadet Flight Encampment and soloed my first three students. I was a little tense when I got out of the airplane for my first guy, but he did just fine. I'd say I was probably more elated than he was.

You'll find that instructing won't be all that much different than when you were a student, except that you be in the right seat and doing most of the talking. You'll find that you'll react instinctively if someone puts you in a spin. Your confidence will increase after each training flight you conduct. You'll be surprised at how much confidence you gain after the first few weeks or so, and especially so after you get your first "pass."

Have fun! Best of luck with your instructing when the time comes.

 

[HexWRX]

My instructor has ~700 hours, and he's quite confident. In fact, I thought he was too confident when He had me try my first crosswind landing and my first night landing... at the same time. Our landing light went out when I turned it on, and didn't even realize it, because I'd never seen it in the dark before (there was still some daylight when we took off) and he told me to turn it on several times, And I said it is on, and it wasnt after we landed that we discovered the problem, and he showed me how to switch to the 2nd light.

Another time (when I had 5 hours) we discovered during pre-flight that the right-hand PPT button was borked, and so I had to do all the radio communication in crowded SAT airspace. In hindsight, though, I think that was the best thing that could have happened to me, cause it greatly improved my radio skills. Still havent had any inadvertent spins, but a few times while practicing stalls he got on the rudders and scolded me for getting in an incipient spin.

 

[Riddle momma]

I am one of those new CFIs. It is a good experience to go through. I had the exact same mind set as you have now. How am I supposed to teach a student with my 300 hours? Then I started teaching, and during the first stall lessons, I was all over the controls with my students. My feet were ridding the rudders the minute the stall horn went off. But as I did more and more, my comfort level rose, and now, I let my students enter a spin. After all, my job is to teach them, and they will only learn by making their own mistakes. Of course, make sure you remain CALM during this whole process, or your student will quickly loose faith in you as an instructor and flying. And don't worry, after that first spin entry, your student will ALWAYS be on the rudders. One more thing.... Go up high, more time to react, and a lot easier to keep your cool )

 

[AZaviator]

Go up high, more time to react, and a lot easier to keep your cool

I was all over the controls with my students. My feet were ridding the rudders the minute the stall horn went off. But as I did more and more, my comfort level rose, and now, I let my students enter a spin

Some very good advice has been posted. When doing stalls with a student, as previously mentioned, just go higher. Instead of 3,000AGL, go up to 5,000AGL. Be sure to be right on the controls with the student and prior to even doing a stall with a student, get the spin recovery procedure fresh in your head, that way, should you enter a spin, you'll be anticipating it and will immediatly be able to recover.

In my opinion, after over 1,200 dual given, the best thing a CFI can have while in the cockpit is ANTICIPATION. If you're anticipating a possible spin, it shouldn't come by surprise if it happens. If you're anticipating a student being all over the runway during crosswind landings, then you will be ready and able to take over the controls, should the situation call for it, etc.

Good luck. We all started out where you're currently at.

 

[FlyinBrian]

I've found that the safe altitude for any maneuver is at least 5000 feet higher (about 10 degrees cooler) in the Arizona summer than in the Arizona winter.