Life as a CFI

Well, I officially have about 4 hours of instructing under my belt (not another notch on the old belt-quote from what movie?). The first flight I had was with a friend of mine who also wants to fly professionally. The plane I received my CFI checkout was a Piper Warrior, of which I've never flown, and is similar to the Piper Seminole, in which I have about 150 hours. This was the plane the friend of mine wanted to fly for his first lesson. I felt comfortable with it on my checkout, but as a first lesson I felt uneasy. The lesson itself turned out to be very constructive and my student ended up enjoying the flight. I, however, felt uneasy for almost the entirety of the trip. Maybe it was the plane, maybe it was instructing for the first time, but it was one of those flights I did not enjoy. I was even skeptical to give my student the controls to fly the plane. He did very well and we landed safely, although there was quite a strong crosswind which didn't help my uneasiness. Afterwards I felt completely drained and fatigued. Fortunately, my next flight, which was with my brother in a Cessna, went exceptionally well and reassured my desire to instruct. Flights following this flight became more and more enjoyable and I'm actually becoming comfortable teaching and letting my students fly the plane. I'm very excited for what's ahead.

Hired

Great news, I was hired as a flight instructor for a flight school where I live in California. This was the school that I received my private pilot license less than a year ago. It's strange that I am now an instructor here. The facility and the company are great and I look forward to instructing here. I had my first student last Sunday and it was an experience in itself. I had a lot of fun, but it was a little overwhelming. I've officially logged one hour of flight instruction given.

*ACPP Completed

After returning from Las Vegas, I spent a week or so at home and then drove down to Riverside to finish up my add-ons (single-engine CFI and commercial, and instrument CFI). I had a week to prepare for the single add-on, which I thought was strange that we would do the single-engine stuff first then go back to the Seminole. My checkrides were scheduled for Friday and Saturday respectively. Getting back into the Cessna was fun and I felt more than ready for the checkride.

However, when I woke up the morning I walked down stairs to find my car not where I parked it. I freaked out thinking that it was stolen and I had a lot of my stuff in it for my checkride. I called the police and thankfully it was towed, not like this was any better. I called my instructor and she gave me a ride to the towing company and I pulled my stuff out and we went to the airport. We weren't in too much of a hurry because the marine layer decided to linger over the Inland Empire and my checkride ended up being postponed until the following Tuesday. I drove home frustrated.

I drove back to Riverside and got up the next day and took my checkride. It was a fun ride and I received the two ratings. Afterwards, we flew the Seminole to prepare for the CFII checkride. I woke up the next morning and we flew over the airport where the DE was located. We arrived a little late and I pulled all my stuff out for the DE to look over. He took a look at my new Temporary Airman Certificate for my commercial rating and noticed that it didn't say "Instrument" on it (a mistake the previous DE made). I couldn't believe the misfortune. He couldn't legally give me a checkride if I "technically" didn't have my instrument. He seemed upset, I was upset, and we departed ways.

We flew back to Riverside and I told my instructor that I was going find a DE where I live and finish the checkride there. I was tired of those little mistakes that caused numerous delays and time spent away from home. I also desperately needed to start making some money since most of the money I had was depleted. Not the best way to end the program, but just glad I don't have to leave anymore.