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Tuesday, July 08
By Brady Lane at 9:45 AM
This was a fun process.
After meeting with each instructor, I was just itching to go flying. They really got me excited to begin lessons.
I took my time looking for an instructor because selecting a good instructor is huge. Think about it - I’m going to be spending 30+ hours in a confined area with this person while trying to learn new and challenging skills.
I started at www.sportpilot.org/instructors. Here, you can search a database of instructors in your area. After doing this I asked around to some of my pilot friends to see who they recommended (and didn’t recommend).
I then wanted to meet face-to-face with three instructors to help me make a decision.
I was mainly looking to see how our personalities matched up. Do we communicate well? Is this somebody I feel comfortable with? Here are the questions I asked each instructor...(PDF).
Now I have a tough decision. Since I’m completely comfortable personality-wise and competency-wise with each of them, here are some factors that I’m considering in making my decision...
- proximity (one is here in Oshkosh, two are about 45 minutes away)
- experience (two have numerous years of experience, one is freshly trained)
- aircraft (one is a tailwheel, two are nosewheel planes)
- price (they are all about the same, but one is $20 more/hr.)
With AirVenture around the corner, I'll likely have to wait til August to begin. But that's OK. AirVenture's worth it.
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Posted by
@ 12:21 PM, November 03
Great that you met face to face but I want to add that although an instructor might interview well their TRUE teaching style comes out when in the air. I took "intro" flights with all of my candidates, weighing what style works well with me, before selecting an instructor. I pass this on to all the potential students I run into. Hopefully the instructor will have some curriculum to work with. Although we all learn at different rates the pathway should be illuminated for the student.
Transposing from the sailing world (where I am an instructor) the best sailors do not make the best instructors.
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Posted by
@ 01:39 PM, November 03
Jim—this is great advice. Thanks for sharing it with us.
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