Click Here to Return to

I felt this was the best place to ask....

I am working on getting my CFI/CFII and MEI. I currently am studying for the written exams but wanted to know just some general advice about working my way for these ratings.

Does anyone have any advice to give to a 39 year old 600 hour pilot that wants to get these ratings? How difficult is the journey, anything I can expect or look out for, etc... I have the prerequisites with my Commercial SEL, Commercial MEL and instrument ratings.

Thanks very much for any responses.

Greg Ellis

greg, welcome.

im curious what your motivation is for doing the CFI route? are you looking for a career in aviation or just want to do some teaching at the local airport?

CFI training is a lot of ground work in my experience. With my students it seemed like we spent about 5-10 hrs in the airplane, usually closer to 5, and about 30 hrs of ground instruction.

_________________
Everyone must believe in something, I believe that I will go flying.

That's a great question and I am still working through my thoughts. I started out wanting a complete career change. I have been flying since 1993, with a long hiatus while in dental school, and have a great passion for flying as most do and could see myself doing it as a career.

When I first investigated different jobs that were available, all had one thing in common. Flight Time!!! Some jobs wanted 1500 - 3000 hours and a certain amount in type before they would even look at you. Well, I thought about it for a while and decided that as an instructor I could build the time and try to pursue a career in aviation at the same time.

As I further thought about it my wanting to change careers is not so much motivated by not wanting to do dentistry anymore but more motivated by not wanting to be a part of the business side of dentistry. So I have looked into working for a VA dental clinic, preferrably in Texas which would get me out of the business side of dentistry but allow me to do what I still enjoy and that is treat patients without the hassle of dealing with insurance, payroll, overhead, etc.... (I did my residency at a VA hospital and loved it)

But I still see myself doing something in aviation and I could do some teaching on the side, maybe not primary instruction but BFR's, IPC's, etc...

If a career in aviation were to present itself to me and was attractive I would take it however. Money is not the issue because lord knows I can make far more as a dentist then I ever could flying these days.

So, as you can see, I have given this much thought. I am meeting with my instructor that usually does my BFR's and IPC's with me to talk about this with him.

Thanks for asking and thanks for your response.

That's a great question and I am still working through my thoughts. I started out wanting a complete career change. I have been flying since 1993, with a long hiatus while in dental school, and have a great passion for flying as most do and could see myself doing it as a career.

When I first investigated different jobs that were available, all had one thing in common. Flight Time!!! Some jobs wanted 1500 - 3000 hours and a certain amount in type before they would even look at you. Well, I thought about it for a while and decided that as an instructor I could build the time and try to pursue a career in aviation at the same time.

As I further thought about it my wanting to change careers is not so much motivated by not wanting to do dentistry anymore but more motivated by not wanting to be a part of the business side of dentistry. So I have looked into working for a VA dental clinic, preferrably in Texas which would get me out of the business side of dentistry but allow me to do what I still enjoy and that is treat patients without the hassle of dealing with insurance, payroll, overhead, etc.... (I did my residency at a VA hospital and loved it)

But I still see myself doing something in aviation and I could do some teaching on the side, maybe not primary instruction but BFR's, IPC's, etc...

If a career in aviation were to present itself to me and was attractive I would take it however. Money is not the issue because lord knows I can make far more as a dentist then I ever could flying these days.

So, as you can see, I have given this much thought. I am meeting with my instructor that usually does my BFR's and IPC's with me to talk about this with him.

Thanks for asking and thanks for your response.

That's a great question and I am still working through my thoughts. I started out wanting a complete career change. I have been flying since 1993, with a long hiatus while in dental school, and have a great passion for flying as most do and could see myself doing it as a career.

When I first investigated different jobs that were available, all had one thing in common. Flight Time!!! Some jobs wanted 1500 - 3000 hours and a certain amount in type before they would even look at you. Well, I thought about it for a while and decided that as an instructor I could build the time and try to pursue a career in aviation at the same time.

As I further thought about it my wanting to change careers is not so much motivated by not wanting to do dentistry anymore but more motivated by not wanting to be a part of the business side of dentistry. So I have looked into working for a VA dental clinic, preferrably in Texas which would get me out of the business side of dentistry but allow me to do what I still enjoy and that is treat patients without the hassle of dealing with insurance, payroll, overhead, etc.... (I did my residency at a VA hospital and loved it)

But I still see myself doing something in aviation and I could do some teaching on the side, maybe not primary instruction but BFR's, IPC's, etc...

If a career in aviation were to present itself to me and was attractive I would take it however. Money is not the issue because lord knows I can make far more as a dentist then I ever could flying these days.

So, as you can see, I have given this much thought. I am meeting with my instructor that usually does my BFR's and IPC's with me to talk about this with him.

Thanks for asking and thanks for your response.

That's a great question and I am still working through my thoughts. I started out wanting a complete career change. I have been flying since 1993, with a long hiatus while in dental school, and have a great passion for flying as most do and could see myself doing it as a career.

When I first investigated different jobs that were available, all had one thing in common. Flight Time!!! Some jobs wanted 1500 - 3000 hours and a certain amount in type before they would even look at you. Well, I thought about it for a while and decided that as an instructor I could build the time and try to pursue a career in aviation at the same time.

As I further thought about it my wanting to change careers is not so much motivated by not wanting to do dentistry anymore but more motivated by not wanting to be a part of the business side of dentistry. So I have looked into working for a VA dental clinic, preferrably in Texas which would get me out of the business side of dentistry but allow me to do what I still enjoy and that is treat patients without the hassle of dealing with insurance, payroll, overhead, etc.... (I did my residency at a VA hospital and loved it)

But I still see myself doing something in aviation and I could do some teaching on the side, maybe not primary instruction but BFR's, IPC's, etc...

If a career in aviation were to present itself to me and was attractive I would take it however. Money is not the issue because lord knows I can make far more as a dentist then I ever could flying these days.

So, as you can see, I have given this much thought. I am meeting with my instructor that usually does my BFR's and IPC's with me to talk about this with him.

Thanks for asking and thanks for your response.

Well, I had a nice response for you and it won't let me send it.

Let me shorten my answer and see if that helps. I first and foremost would take a career in aviation if one presented itself to me. However, I have checked the job postings and I am extremely underqualified for the jobs available. Thus the reason for instructing. I futher thought that I could stay in dentistry, just in a different capacity than private practice and teach on the side because I feel I would enjoy instructing.

I had a more detailed response but the forum did not like it.

Thanks for asking and your response.

Sorry about the multiple responses. When I first typed the reply and sent it, it said there was a failure in sending it and had debug mode on the screen. So I tried it a couple of more times with the same error not realizing that the reply was going through each time.

I apologize for the repetition.

greg,

sounds like you know what you need to do. Id say go out and get the ratings and then do as much or as little instruction as you want to do. keep learning once you get the certificate too. there is always more to learn about this flying business. i thought i was pretty smart when i got my CFI but ive learned a ton since then.

_________________
Everyone must believe in something, I believe that I will go flying.

Agree Tony. If you want to learn about flying...teach it! There's nothing to make you more humble when a student asks you a basic question that you don't know (but should know) the answer to.