10.29.07
Posted in Uncategorized at 12:30 am by jrhilliard
While working at my skydiving job this afternoon, the boss caught me between loads and complimented me on how pleased he’d been with my work for him.
I was flattered and a bit surprised. I didn’t think I’d done anything out of the ordinary for him.
What surprised me most, however, was the reason for the compliment. His kind words didn’t originate from me always coming in early, doing careful preflights, or learning the best jump line for the day–they came from my smooth flying.
Apparently some of the tandem instructors had been impressed at how smoothly I fly. Smooth flying keeps the students relaxed, makes it easier to spot the drop zone, etc. It’s simply more enjoyable in general.
Smooth flying isn’t even something I consciously think about anymore. I just do it. I’d feel weird if I didn’t fly smoothly. It’s part of the job. It’s part of every professional pilot’s job.
All through my flight training, my instructors kept stressing passenger comfort. Don’t bank too quickly or too steeply. Stay coordinated. Make pitch changes slowly and gently. Don’t allow the plane to “bubble” or “sink” with the extension or retraction of flaps. Never jam the throttle in or yank it back. Plan descent rates in advance.
Basically, every change in movement or sound should be as subtle and indetectable as possible.
So that’s what I do. It’s nothing especially difficult, just an attitude the pilot has to ingrain in himself. Flying is a dance, not a wrestling match. It’s a fine symphony, not an off-key garage band. The little details matter.
Apparently some of the other jump pilots never had this approach stressed during their training. Sometimes I take it for granted that every professional pilot is smooth, but I guess it hasn’t always worked that way for some of their jump pilots.
Simply put, my point is this: smooth flying will impress people. It doesn’t matter how well you can navigate or talk on the radios if you’re constantly throwing people around in the cabin. Learn to fly smooth and you’ll stick out from the crowd, guaranteed. It doesn’t sound like a big deal, but it is.
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10.24.07
Posted in Uncategorized at 3:25 am by jrhilliard
The other night I met a guy who is learning to fly near me. Really nice guy, almost ready for his private pilot checkride.
I forget how it got brought up, but he started talking to me about my pay rate for freelance flight instructing. When I told him I charge $45/hour, he bluntly told me even the most experienced guys in this area only charge $35/hour. He said I would never make it as an instructor around here unless I lower my rates.
I responded that although I love teaching, that’s fine with me if students go elsewhere over the $10/hour price difference. I’ve set what I consider to be a fair rate, and I’d rather not instruct for less. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to explain myself further.
This got me to thinking, from an outsider’s perspective (an outsider being a student, or anybody who is not a flight instructor), it might be hard to understand why we instructors set rates the way we do.
Please let me explain.
First, it’s important to understand the role a flight instructor plays in the process of learning to fly. The CFI must be thorough, dedicated, and technically proficient. They are ultimately responsible for the safety of every flight. There is a huge amount of liability associated with every flight. Not only that, but they are responsible for the safety of the student *after* the process of flight training is completed–the lessons learned with that instructor directly affect how safe of a pilot that student becomes in the long run.
Basically, this is a *huge* responsibility! It’s vitally important to have a flight instructor who is not just “building time” but actually cares about teaching, and teaching well. Although cost and efficiency play roles here, safety is the absolutely critical element. I take my teaching very personally–at the risk of sounding melodramatic, lives depend on how good of a job I do.
In addition to the safety aspect of teaching, the flight instructor must be a person who “clicks” with the student both in and out of the cockpit. From a student’s perspective, there is nothing worse than trying to learn from an instructor they can’t get along with. Maybe the CFI is irritable, demeaning, or just plain hard to understand. Everybody learns in different ways and sometimes a CFI has a hard time figuring out what teaching methods make the most sense to a student. Whatever the case, learning is greatly hindered when the student and teacher don’t see eye to eye.
Finally, no matter how great of a teacher a CFI might be, the logistics of learning to fly must not be forgotten. The CFI must have time on their schedule to spend with the student. The greatest CFI in the world is of little use if they can only schedule one lesson per month.
Now, getting back to this issue of flight instructor fees, and how I set mine…
I’ll start by saying I fit all of the criteria I just outlined. I’ve been doing this for three years and am very proficient/safe. I also work hard to get along with everyone I meet and find ways for my students to learn as quickly and easily as possible. I don’t want to brag, but frankly, I’m a good teacher.
And available? Yep, I’ve got that, too. I have a very flexible schedule and can fly with somebody as much as they want.
So knowing that I’m a high quality instructor, I asked myself, can any old Joe Schmoe do my job? Not really. That means I must be at least somewhat in demand.
Then I thought, do I need the flight hours? Not really. Therefore, I can set my rates with little regard for the fact that the higher the rate, the less I will fly (incidentally, that’s not to be confused with the inverse…lower rates do not necessarily mean I’ll be overwhelmed with business).
Next, I thought, do I need the money? Not really. I’m fortunate enough to be at a point in my life with low expenditures and money in the bank. I don’t *have* to have a high income in order to survive. If a few people are turned away by supposedly high rates, I’ll still be fine.
Finally, I came to the be-all end-all question: What am I worth? What is my expertise worth? What is my responsibility (and the liability that comes along with it) worth? At what point will I say to myself, “Nah, this amount of money isn’t worth the hassle?”
Considering my skills, amount of effort required, and liability involved, I decided on $45/hr. Considering auto mechanics, plumbers, and personal trainers oftentimes make $50/hr, I don’t see anything unreasonable about that number.
If a prospective student opts to fly with another instructor for no reason other than the price difference, that’s ok with me. In fact, I wish them well. If the other instructor is just as sharp, personable, professional, and available as me, there’d be no reason not to use them!
However, if the student runs in to problems, but doesn’t want to switch because of the price difference, that seems to be a bit penny wise and pound foolish. When adding only a few hours on to their total training time costs them hundreds of dollars (plane rental + instructor), it’s important to have everything run smoothly during training. Even a small delay can make the $10/hr difference in instructors quickly evaporate.
Basically, students should be careful not to look at specific dollar figures when choosing an instructor. It’s better to interview them, fly with them, and go with whichever instructor they feel best about, regardless of money. When a person opts to train with me, I make sure they get their money’s worth. Need I say more?
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10.04.07
Posted in Uncategorized at 11:34 am by jrhilliard
The strangest thought hit me yesterday. As I sat at my computer, aimlessly checking my e-mail and reading the forums at Jetcareers.com, I thought, “I wonder if I meet the minimums for humanitarian flying?”
I have no idea where the thought came from. I pulled up Google and started searching for information on companies that do humanitarian flying. I found a few blogs written by pilots working for a company called Air Serv International. It sounds like Air Serv is a business that does contract flying in developing nations–sort of like Blackwater working in Iraq, except they help people instead of shoot at them? I don’t know. Here is Air Serv’s web site:
http://www.airserv.org/
And here is a link to the most intriguing blog:
http://nomadicpilotgeek.blogspot.com/
It’s written by a Cessna Caravan (C-208) pilot who used to work in the Democratic Republic of Congo. There’s little information about flying in the blog, but a lot of interesting reading about the culture and politics of living in Congo.
Even though the blog authors didn’t sound very enthusiastic about their work, it sounded like an adventure I could go for someday.
I long ago ruled out mission flying for myself because it seems like every mission opportunity I’ve seen has little to do with flying and more to do with everything else. Mission organizations want their pilots to be pilots, mechanics, nurses, pastors, and general handymen. They have tons of responsibilities outside of flying, and they get paid pennies for it. That’s all fine, but it’s not for me. I don’t have any interest in working for a church. Politics are bad enough in a regular business, but throw religion in to the mix and it gets to be even more of a pain–too many strong opinions about the way things ought to be.
Now, just living in a foreign country, making a decent living, flying, and helping people? I could go for that. To me, that seems to be the difference between “humanitarian” flying and “mission” flying.
So I started looking through Air Serv’s web site and discovered their minimums aren’t too high. It’ll be a while before I meet their Twin Otter / King Air captain minimums (need 450 more hours multi time!) but I’m close to their Caravan captain minimums, and it sounds like they need pilots badly.
Maybe after I get done with school I’ll apply. It’s tempting!
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