Bob,

My point is that time is not the Be All and End All, other skills which one brings to the table are important. Intelligence, desire, previous teaching experience and an in check ego can make the 15 hour pilot the perfect candidate. The disparity in flying ability from one person to another is ginormous, as a tow pilot you know this well as do I. Pull a guy who has flown in the military for 20 years and/or the airlines and then pull a low time private pilot. Yes there are some outstanding PPLs but in general the difference is palpable.

Someone like Paul with an ATP, 5 Type Ratings, Comm-ASEL, Comm-Rotorcraft, CFI-A and CFI-R, 2000 hours instructing and 21,000 hours of flying brings much to the table. You can't buy that, it comes with time and experience. Those of us without that level of experience would do well to pay attention when they speak. That is NOT to say that someone with 15 hours PIC in a glider and wet ink on a CFIG cant be a good instructor and someone has to be their first student. However as Tango Whiskey noted in Germany and Switzerland a new CFIG is supervised for a period of time by an experienced instructor, a requirement that might need to be adopted here in the land of the free and the home of the brave.

I was recruited to teach Nuclear Medicine to student technologists at a Community College. I met all but one of the minimum requirements and could have picked that up easily but I'm not the type. I've seen lots of teachers and instructors who were not the type. Like Dirty Harry said, "A man's got to know his limitations."

Walt Connelly
Former tow pilot
Now happy helicopter pilot.