Bonanza Man wrote:

Headoutdaplane wrote:Take a trip with another instructor. I know this sounds like treason, but sometimes a different instructor will be able to explain something or show you something that just works. Your instructor should not be offended or defensive, and may even be able to recommend another instructor that you could fly with.

Why go with an instructor at all? The last thing you need is some 20 something kid who's never been off the pavement yet has the almighty CFI. Find somebody who flies off road because he wants to and does it a lot. If he's a CFI too then consider it a bonus.

als, I think you should consider what the Bonanza Man is saying. AOPA has a program called mentoring. Before you go get a mentor you need to make a decision on where you are going with your flying. You are presently getting your PPL with a low wing, side by side tricycle gear, airplane. Since you asked your questions on the BCP it indicates a goal of flying in the backcountry? Some transitions take a lot of time. I don't want to start the taildraggar, tricycle gear debate but I would venture to say that an Archer II is not a typical choice for the backcountry. Since you live in the bay area there are quite a few BCP members with a lot of BCP experience. When or if BCP is your goal ask to see if anybody will take you under their wing. Trust me if one of these guys mentors you it will be the learning experience of a life time. But make sure you are really committed to becoming a BCP because it takes a goal oriented individual.

Headoutdaplane wrote:Wow! no gross generalizations in that post. Irregardless of their age, professional CFIs make at least some of their living teaching, that is, in the transfer of knowledge and (surprisingly enough) many have been off pavement and can teach the technique as the FAA wants it performed in a checkride. A ride with a different instructor is never a bad thing, every pilot has different techniques (witness the posts on short landings) and every pilot I know has taken the best techniques from all the folks they have flown with and made them their own.

I didn't generalize at all. I said that an instructor that has no off pavement experience is of little use, no matter how good a teacher he is. You can't teach what you don't know.

I've known both ends of the spectrum. A couple of brilliant CFII's that could fly anything that would move and teach others to do the same. Then there was another that seemingly would ride along with students as they taught themselves. For the most part, I would say most of the CFI's I've known have all been more than competent but there is truth to the fact that people all learn differently. Sometimes a teacher can drill a student for days, only to have another teacher say the same thing, slightly differently once and have it click. Don't get discouraged as a student (or an instructor for that matter) if it seems the two of you speaking a different language. There are those that can read and learn. Those that can listen and learn and those that can watch and learn. Most of us are a combination of the three but if you are limited to learning primarily via one style and it's not the style the instructor uses, it's going to be a long road.