Here's a question for the group: I've got a flight instructor that I
work well with. I finished my private with him and did my entire
instrument rating with him. I want to start on my commercial (SE, and
then CFI, CFII, and later ME) and was wondering if there is any good
reason to look for someone new to train with.

To give some background, when working on my private I had some bad
luck. The first guy I worked with was a timebuilder. I don't even want
to say how many hours I had before I soloed, suffice it so say that I
was probably taken advantage of. Later, he got an job with a commuter
in Florida, and was gone. My second instructor, who soloed me probably
on my second or third lesson (hmm...) was a good guy, but he had to
relocate when his job at UAL went away. (he wasn't a pilot, but an
A&P).

Anyway, my current instructor is good. He's definitely of the
old-school mold: great stick, kind of irritable, smart, ATP gazillion
hours, nitpicky, occasionally absent-minded, has some strange ideas
about how the world does/ought to work He's one of those guys who
is happy to fly GPS approaches, but can't quite mask his derision for
pilots who "need to see the little airplane on the moving map." Of
course, we all know he has a point, but he's not the most politic
person in the world.

So, I get along with this guy, and I've done two ratings with him, so
the question is if there really is anything to be gained by finding
somebody else to fly with someone new, just for a different
perspective? Different style of piloting? I suspect that the answer is
yes, but is it worth it? What are the odds that the next guy I fly
with is going to be a flake?

It probably helps to share my long-term goals. I do *not* want to be
an airline pilot. I have another career, which, though not the stuff
of dreams, pays nicely. What I do want to do is get my CFI and have a
student or two at a time, flying weekends, etc, maybe have a part-time
income for when I'm "retired." Sometimes I think that maybe I could do
some corporate flying one day if I one the lottery first. (or my
company went IPO, which has seems to have similar odds)

Also, I just like to pursue ratings, because I enjoy the challenge and
the learning.

Just soliciting opinions... What do you guys think?


thanks!

jacobowitz73 --at-- yahoo --dot-- com