Career Change - Full-time CFI: Average Flight Hours per year?

Not to divert your question, but it may pay to post it over at
http://www.ilsapproach.com where you'll get some real world answers to some
guys that are starving to death trying to do what you suggest. After you
build the hours then what? What are your goals? Students won't want to
hear that your goal is to build hours. Do you want to shoot for the
airlines? After you get your multi-rating and some multi and (hopefully
some turbine time) you may be looking at the regionals offering you as
little as $16500 per year to play First Officer on prop planes. After a few
years in props you may get into CRJs, where in my area of the country they
are starting out as FO making about $23,000. Don't get me wrong, the
regionals ARE hiring right now, but the pay sucks.

Lots of CFI's aren't even making $20k attempting to instruct full time.
Keep your job, ask for reduced hours so you can study and work on your
flying. It sounds like you have a great background to freelance or consult
while working on your rateings. Don't become a CFI just to build hours.
Work because you have to, fly or teach because you want to. I know several
guys that became CFI's just to build time so they could get on with the
regionals. They all worked their butts off instructing and ended up burned
out from it. They are bitter for working so hard and not getting the dream
job offers that they thought they deserved. Now they don't instruct nor are
they flying for the airlines.

Making money being a CFI comes down to providing great instruction and great
service. If you're lucky you'll discover an area of instruction that your
local customers are lacking and you can specialize in that area. Remember,
most flying occurs on the weekends, it sounds like you're already available
on the weekends.
--
Jim Burns III
Full time farmer, part time CFI, wife, 2 kids, and a dog that would starve
if I tried to CFI full time

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