Advice for new CFIGs

It was rather a shock to me to read the suggestion of charging for instruction. I think I would be far less likely to instruct if instructors were paid. I would feel that it was work and should be done by people who want to work for whatever the going rate might be. My very fortunate situation is such that I prefer to be appreciated than to be paid. If instructors are paid, what about all the other volunteer activities required to keep a club and airfield going? We have a great spirit at our club of about 250 flying members; it helps that we all contribute as volunteers in whatever way we are able. I admit that our average age is high and we have a lot of retirees among the active instructors.

From a student pilot point of view, paying for Instruction may be a better choice. In my case, I wanted to learn ASAP. The local club (Albuquerque Soaring Club) in Moriarty, NM offered free Instruction. But they only operated on weekends, and sometimes only had one day out of two with an Instructor scheduled. The local Commercial operator and FBO (Sundance Aviation) had Instructors available at least six days a week. I took initial training in January 1999 with Sundance and, being able to fly three or four days a week, soloed in a G-103 after 34 flights. It took a total of 13 days of Instruction, including Ground School, and was accomplished in less than a month. I had one Instructor throughout the course.

Free Instruction through the ASC, using these figures, would have taken place over 13 weeks, I would have had at least four different Instructors and I would have been forced to take training in the SGS 2-33, which I wanted to avoid at all costs.

End result: I bought my own sailplane and started soaring almost immediately, whereas I would have probably spent many more months in the 2-33, then a transition to the G-103, and eventually my own glider. I figure going commercial and paying for Instruction, as well as the higher hourly rate on the aircraft, saved me about a year and ended costing about the same dollarwise.

YMMV