Robert M. Gary wrote:
I was talking to a friend today about how difficult it is to find a
personable golf instructor.

Hope this isn't par for the course :-))




I'm a pretty so-so golfer and it really
turns me off that most instructors are very arrogant and stuck up. I
got to thinking that I sure hope students don't see CFIs the same way.
I've never considered myself better than my students so I sure help I
don't come off as arrogant in anyway. As a CFI I know that other CFIs
interact with me differently so I'm not sure I would know if other
CFIs are stuck up (as a CFI I often find that check out rides are
abbreviated, fees are reduced or instruction hours are under billed
for fellow CFIs).

I've never considered the holding of a CFI certificate to mean that
I'm any type of super pilot. In truth, anyone who takes enough
checkrides can get the certificate, its really something that any can
achieve. I hope other CFIs see it the same way.

-Robert, CFII


My comment on this is the same comment I have shared with the CFI
community for over 50 years; that being everything....and I mean
EVERYTHING..... I ever learned about teaching people to fly I have
learned from the students I have taught to fly. Every moment I ever
spent in a cockpit was as a student learning to be a better student of
my own profession.

My students have taught me, molded me, shaped the way I teach, and made
me not only a better teacher, but a FAR better pilot than I ever would
have been had I not been a flight instructor.

There is no room in aviation for arrogance. There is however, a slim
line between confidence, ability, and arrogance. The CFI who knows the
difference between these things is a flight instructor. Those who don't
are not worthy of the certificate.
Dudley Henriques