Karmutzen wrote:Instead of a puppy-mill 200 hour wonder that’s only instructing until he can move up, maybe us seasoned backcountry guys should get instructor ticket and pass on our knowledge and experience. That’s what I’m doing.

When you get it done do you want to come over here and train a bunch of guys? I'm looking for an instructor for about 10 guys. Both PPL and CPL.

Karmutzen wrote:Instead of a puppy-mill 200 hour wonder that’s only instructing until he can move up, maybe us seasoned backcountry guys should get instructor ticket and pass on our knowledge and experience. That’s what I’m doing.

What you propose doing is basically the situation at hand, and I'm glad of that. I enjoy all the bootstrap admonitions people have posted, but that's not the problem here. Maybe I should have titled this thread "Holy crap, the bureaucrats keep making things harder than they ought to be". Or, "How can I assist a highly motivated kid who I hope to be a resource for".
Great that you're going for an instructor ticket, Karmutzen. Good on ya.
-DP

I guess I will try to help out here. I have been down this road similar to what is being discussed.

There is no easy way through the bureaucracy that I am aware of.

One of the first things I have a prospective is student do is log on to medXpress and get started on that. My experiences have been slightly different than others on here simply because all this stuff is very foreign to a student off the street. It is good for a CFI to be around to start the that process because a student may need help with the class of medical needed as well as other things. If I remember correctly they will also need their medical history, misdemeanor, and felony history. All that can be done on their own. Then setup an appointment with an AME.

Then when that is out of the way the student will need to sign in on IACRA. A CFI will need to be there for that to be completed. Then you wait for a plastic student pilot certificate. My last student about a year ago said he got one to print off in about 3 days, I thought he said but they need a student pilot licencse to solo legally. I may be wrong, but I think the CFI as well as the AME and DPE's are "certifying officers" for the English Proficient" requirements.


I originally got my CFI in 1992 became a spray pilot and had it reinstated in 2013. I thought there was a lot to learn.

Hope this helps.

Karmutzen wrote:Instead of a puppy-mill 200 hour wonder that’s only instructing until he can move up, maybe us seasoned backcountry guys should get instructor ticket and pass on our knowledge and experience. That’s what I’m doing.

That's a great idea, and I applaud it, but it doesn't really help a kid get their PPL. Teach a student to fly the backcountry properly, and they'll get failed by the vast majority of FAA examiners on their PPL check ride.

The FAA has pretty specific flight envelopes you have to conform to in order to get your ticket...teaching to the test might not make for great pilots, but if you don't teach to the test your student isn't going to get any ticket at all. Flight training is EXPENSIVE, and anyone who's paying for it with anything other than a bottomless trust fund wants to be taught how to pass the check ride in as little time as possible.

If there's one thing I recommend new students do above and beyond the minimums, it's to get spin recovery training early on. I've never understood subjecting students to stalls without first knowing spin recovery. It's so easy once you know it, and it takes the fear-factor out of stalls. Stalls are a LOT easier to do gracefully when you're not scared of them.

That's a great idea, and I applaud it, but it doesn't really help a kid get their PPL. Teach a student to fly the backcountry properly, and they'll get failed by the vast majority of FAA examiners on their PPL check ride.

The FAA has pretty specific flight envelopes you have to conform to in order to get your ticket...teaching to the test might not make for great pilots, but if you don't teach to the test your student isn't going to get any ticket at all. Flight training is EXPENSIVE, and anyone who's paying for it with anything other than a bottomless trust fund wants to be taught how to pass the check ride in as little time as possible.

This has been my experience as well.

Lost: thanks for your post- that’s exactly the practical help I was looking for.
-DP