Congratulations! You just bought an airplane—or a share of one—and now you need to find a flight instructor who can teach you how to fly it.
Luckily for you, pilot hiring at the airlines appears to have slowed down a bit, which means commercial pilots who became flight instructors to build their hours for jobs at airlines are staying flight instructors for a bit longer than they were even a year ago. This means they have more time to develop as teachers.
When this happens, the learners (the customers who hire these CFIs) benefit. You just spent a lot of money on that airplane, so you deserve to fly with someone who will be dedicated to turning you into a safe and competent pilot.
Start With Type Clubs
There is probably a type club for the aircraft you purchased—Cessna, Cirrus, Piper Cherokee, Van’s RV, Bellanca, etc. Do an online search, as you may find a chapter near you.
These clubs often have resources such as flight instructors who specialize in teaching in that airframe.
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Take advantage of this knowledge. Even if they cannot do the training themselves due to a scheduling conflict, they may be able to connect you with someone who can do the job.
Professional CFI Groups
The National Association of Flight Instructors (NAFI) and the Society of Aviation and Flight Educators (SAFE) are two organizations geared toward elevating the art of aviation education.
Both groups offer a Master Flight Instructor program that encourages CFIs to go above and beyond time building to develop skills as aviation educators. Both also have a robust web presence that includes a database with contact information for flight instructors.
Visit Local Flight Schools
Check with local flight schools to see if they have an instructor who has the experience and availability to teach in your aircraft.
Fair warning: There are some schools that do not permit their CFIs to provide training in a customer’s airplane, or that strongly discourage it, because the school receives less money when the school’s airplanes are not utilized.
Insurance Requirements
Your insurance company will likely have specific experience requirements for the CFI who provides the training. Get the information in writing.
The CFI will be asked to fill out a form that lists their hours in the make and model. It is not uncommon for the insurance carrier to insist the instructor have at least 25 hours of experience in the aircraft make and model before they provide coverage.
Caveat: Verify the recency of the instructor’s experience. Recency is key. For example, the CFI has logged 500 hours of tailwheel instruction given, but it was more than 10 years in the past, and they haven’t flown tailwheel since. So you may want to keep shopping.
To the CFIs: Make sure the customer has insurance and that you are covered by it. Ask for a copy of the policy and read it carefully.
If you have your own insurance, check with your carrier as well to make sure you are covered when teaching in a customer’s airplane and that you have the proper endorsements, skills, and experience to do so.
Think conservatively. Although you just got your tailwheel endorsement and have 12 hours logged in a J-3 Cub, you will want to get more experience before you attempt to teach in a Cessna 180.
Paying the CFI
The more experience a person has in their chosen profession, the higher their rate of compensation. That goes for CFIs as well. But as it is often seen as an entry-level flying job there are flight schools and private aircraft owners who try to get away with paying less than minimum wage for the instructor’s time or seriously low-balling an experienced instructor.
While there are some time builders who will fly for free just to get the hours, most instructors have bills to pay like everyone else. Please respect this.
Ground Instruction
Before the first flight lesson the CFI and customer should go through the logbooks for the aircraft to verify that it is airworthy. This will likely be the first ground session the CFI will do with the customer.
To the CFIs: If the learner chomps at the bit, saying they don’t want to do any ground instruction—not even the preflight briefing—and simply want to fly, it can present a challenge. As a seasoned instructor once told a class of instructor candidates, “If they don’t listen to you on the ground, don’t expect them to listen to you in the air.”
Hazardous Attitudes
One of the common concerns CFIs have about non-certificated aircraft owners is that they can be less inclined to follow the rules than someone training at a flying club or flight school. At the latter, when a student pilot breaks the rules—for example, illegally flying with a passenger or flying solo when they have not been endorsed to do so—they can be removed from the school and lose their access to the airplanes.
If they own the airplane, there really isn’t anything a CFI can do except refuse to fly with them again. Occasionally, someone reports these illegal and sometimes dangerous pilots to the FAA, but unless there is proof (like video from a surveillance camera at the airport), there is very little the agency can do about it.
To the CFIs: If the customer doesn’t respect the rules (anti-authority), it is unlikely that FAA action will have much of an impact. Fortunately, word about these anti-authority pilots gets around quickly, so you know who to avoid.
To the learners: When you find the CFI whose teaching style matches your learning style, do your best to get the most out of the partnership. Do your best to be sure your schedules match up and you can fly at least twice a week, though three times a week is better.
Remember, learning to fly is a commitment, and you will get out of it the same effort you put into it.