Going back to (flight) school

[Gatordev]

This may or may not interest some here, and it's a bit long, but I thought I'd post some takeaways and some reactions (to my surprise, more than I expected) during my Multi-Engine Upgrade training I did last month.

Please note, any reference to someone's flight hours isn't meant to be derogatory or as a means to flex. Instead it's meant merely to provide a reference point, especially since many here are familiar with the nuances of hours versus experience and how the overall curve can trend towards logarithmic (with spurts along the way).

I ended up going to a Part 61 school that was very busy but generally appeared to be well organized. Aircraft condition looked pretty healthy (although the twins were a bit rougher and were very slowly getting updated with limited glass). They had two A&Ps (it sounded like it was more like 1 + 1 that needed supervision) and I *think* a Mx admin (who may have also been an A&P, but I forgot to ask).

I did a 5-day course (-ish...wx came into play) and my CFI mentioned he wasn't a fan of jamming everything into such a tight timeline because it wasn't uncommon for it to be "too much" for students just coming out of a 141 school or for those with higher hours but only in a -172/Warrior (or those that refused to unlearn certain habits).

I was surprised (and a little frustrated at first) by how much system knowledge specific to the training aircraft was required for the practical given I may not ever fly the same aircraft again, but after going through the process, I can see why 80-90% of that is done. The aircraft just isn't that complicated in the grand scheme of things, but it's still a good introduction for those who haven't dealt with constant speed props and hydraulics/complex aircraft operations.

The aerodynamics, specifically how it tied to Part 43 certification, was a little more memorization than I was initially expecting, but not that bad once I memorized the list. The school had a really good study packet (and pre-test) that presented the material in a way that gave me 95+% confidence. I ended up watching an hour or two of YouTube videos that gave me the last 5%, and then the packet and ground instruction was all that was really needed to keep reviewing.

But now onto the interesting stuff, at least to me...

- CFIs:

I don't know if it was intentional or not, but I was paired up with the CFI that had the most hours behind (I'm assuming) the Chief Pilot. My instructor had 800 hours TT and had been an Apache Mx guy for 5 years before getting out. He was also an active A&P. He was the old guy of the instructor cadre at 30. Overall, it was a good fit. I could ask him some "dumb question, why do I need to do this?" questions and he would either give a good reason or be honest and say it was silly but it's what you have to do. I'm more than happy to push the "I Believe" button if someone is just up-front with me that it's part of the game...though I'll be happy to bitch about it a little, too.

All of the other line instructors were younger and had fewer hours with the exception of one. She had 1500 hours but was waiting to be picked up by an airline. I chatted with one or two of the other CFIs (and the receptionist, who was in the middle of her instrument rating), and pretty much everyone there was working towards the airlines. I'm not convinced everyone actually knew what that meant, but it was their goal.

What was abundantly clear was how little experience there is amongst these various pilot mills. There's a great article here about how GA is exploding, but the experience is lost quickly. This isn't a new phenomenon, but it has surged with all of the hiring.

Also, so...many..."meows."

It was also amusing to me how part of what everyone is teaching is the commercial ticket (gotta get your COMM so you can get your CFI to get hours to get to the airlines!!!) without any real understanding of what operating as a professional pilot means (beyond doing the CFI thing). My instructor and I were just chatting at one point and I was mentioning some things like GOM limitations, or some Part 135 sub-section that was in the weeds but was important on the job and he fully admitted the irony that he taught the commercial rating, but didn't actually know how it really worked in the -135/-121 world. That's not a slam against him, but an observation we both had and chuckled at. The dichotomy of me, not having ever taken a Commercial checkride but flying Part 135, and him, not having flown Part 135 but teaching the checkride, amused me.

- The Vibe:

What was really cool to observe (and occasionally experience) was how excited people were about aviation, wherever they were in their training/track. Yeah, the 1500 hour chick was burned out, but otherwise people wanted to keep going and reach that next milestone. I asked a couple of people how they were paying for it. Some had loans, one I talked to was trying to avoid loans and would go home and work in Michigan for large blocks of time, saving up, then come down to FL and start flight training back up.

The school had dedicated linemen that rotated shifts that fueled the planes and moved them in and out of the hangar (so you didn't have to pre-flight in the sun and to prevent a traffic jam), and each one was working towards some rating.

I would see the CFIs mingle (they desperately needed their own lounge, but didn't have one) and share teaching moments or talk flying, which was great. The wannabes would talk amongst themselves, expounding on their vast aviation knowledges.

The whole experience was invigorating, especially as someone who gets burned out flying throughout my work week, but also as someone who used to be one of these "kids," fueling and washing planes for any flight time I could manage to score.

- Nostalgia:

Which brings me to the reaction I had the whole time that I wasn't expecting...reminiscing about the past and missing all (well, a lot) of those past flying experiences, usually in part because of the great people I got to fly with. And the cool hardware, too.

I was happy to get my ticket and head home, and I just can't get excited about banging around in a Piper or Cessna as a CFI, but I did really enjoy the energy that flowed through and around the flight school.

 

[VMO4]

Interesting....some of that sounds familiar.

I got my ticket in the late 90's at a combination of a small airfield outside Birmingham, Alabama and then finished here at KPIE in Clearwater. But both had a common vibe, that is CFI's who were older, had no interest in going to the show, and worked as the pilot of all trades at a combination 135/61 school/brokerage outfit. One day we were doing pattern work, then they went of for a two day trip in a King Air, then back to instructing.

In the last few years, sometimes when my A&P/CFI who works on my Cub, and is 88 years old is not available for a flight review, I have to go to one of the local schools. First thing I notice, is I am one of the few students who is not Chinese or Indian, the CFI has 300 hrs and a wet CFI ticket, and probably could not land my Cub without bending it, and I am forced to sit through a three hour oral on all the various types of indicated airspeeds, even though if you spend too much time looking at the airspeed indicator in my Cub you are doing it wrong.

At least in this area, the idea of the professional CFI is hard to find, they are all tolerating it until they get the magical ATP and are gone. I am glad you had a more positive experience.

 

[Fallonflyr]

As a silverback, I can understand why these kids are fired up. My last trip to the training center I got a kick listening to CFI war stories from the kids sitting behind me on the bus from the hotel to the sims. I did a trip to Tel Aviv with a 24 year old first officer who got their private in 2018. They have great timing.

 

[ChuckMK23]

Nice write up @Gatordev - I would agree with your read of the flight training world in 2024!

The days of the light (and even medium) twin are dead - and a far cry from the 80's, 90's and early 2000's when a twin meant more performance and redundancy in systems. In the days of sub $2/gal AVGAS they made sense. Barons, Aztecs, Senecas, were really popular with owner/operators. You could *rent* a twin and time-build fairly easily. In the days before connectivity and the interwebs, there was very little transparency to the rising accident rates in light twins.

Fast forward to today and you see twins almost the exclusive domicile of flight schools of some kind. The common business model today is typically the owner of 1, 2, 3 or more twins engine airplanes is a DPE. He hires young, hustling, MEI's to teach and act as PIC while they build time, and COMM MEL students pay ~$5K for a 3-4 day accelerated course. The DPE owner/DPE gets to do all the checkrides for cash. in addition. These same "schools" also do MEI short courses and ATP for military folks separating and going right to a Major. The good ones have a good reputation, good maintenance, etc. Seminoles, DA-42 TwinStar, and quite a few Beech twins form the core of these schools. The biggest hurdle is these programs don't meet the FSDO criterial for a non-pass rate, so there is a revolving door where the FSDO wants to see more unsuccessful checkrides, retraining, etc.

I would encourage you to go get your MEI at some point - as it opens up a lot of job options for non-traditional flying jobs.

I do a lot of Private and Commercial level training for young people - and while the content is fairly routine, the enjoyable part for me is seeing how people learn and how they overcome barriers to learning and seeing how students react to different techniques I've picked up over the years. I still see a lot of nice young people going for it and doing what it takes. Most of these students have financial support from parents and family and that helps. I've got one former student who just got her CFI and is working nights as a crew scheduler for a 121 Cargo carrier seeing how the sausage gets made. Of course I've also had a couple of students where dad is a widebody airline guy and wants kid to go in the family profession, but they're not digging it but won't quit for fear of disappointing dad.

 

[MIDNJAC]

My sim partner during FO initial training two years ago had been a B-2 ordie as late as maybe 2017-2018. Here he was a few years later, coming from a short stint at a very popular regional, after an even shorter stint as a regional CA there. Fantastic pilot, really appreciated being paired with him, but man, talk about great timing (something I am keenly aware was the case for me too). That being said, I think that era might be drawing to a close. I feel really fortunate that my good timing was great enough to put me comfortably into the seniority list and a decent QOL as a line holder before things slowed.

Interesting thoughts, thanks for the post! Whole different world than when I completed my CSEL and instrument checkrides going on 21 years ago.