Are CFIs personable?

Andrew Sarangan wrote:
Long time ago when I took my first intro flight, the CFI turned me off
flying. Fortunately he did not turn me off permanently he only put it
off by a few years. He seemed disinterested in the whole thing, and
was unwilling to appreciate the excitement of my first time
experience. I had read up quite a bit, so I knew more than someone
with zero hours, and the CFI found it very annoying that I was asking
questions about aerodymanics, such as how the rudders work, and
adverse yaw and all that stuff. Having become a CFI myself, my guess
is that he did not know the answers to my questions but was too proud
to admit it, so he tried to play down my questions as dumb.


Maybe I've been lucky but I can't think of any instructor I ever flew with that
came across as arrogant. There was varying dedication to teaching as some were
just building hours towards a loftier goal, but every one of them shared a love
of flying. And every one of them was quite approachable.

Your later comments may well be right on the money. I see similar behavior at
work at times: the nurses who show annoyance when you don't know the answer to
one of their queries during our shift changes invariably wouldn't be capable of
answering similar questions themselves. If they become intimidating enough,
maybe you won't dare ask?

As an aside, when they get particularly condescending I usually make a crack
about they won't mind looking up the answer themself, as they're the only one in
the room who gives a **** about the answer. Just so we understand each other
clearly....



--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN
mschnerdatcarolina.rr.com