switching jobs

[cryesis]

If you were a CFI working for a flight school with questionable maintenance and low pay but you were flying about 1000hrs per year, would you leave the job for another CFI job with good aircraft maintenance but flying much less, say 200-300 hours per year?

[Flying Pig]

Depends on how "questionable" your Mx is. Ive seen pilots who call Mx questionable because the mechanic didnt wash and wax the aircraft at least once per week. Ive seen aircraft (fixed wing) that had wood screws holding a panel on and Mx was described as "outstanding" because the mechanics knew how to improvise to get the job done.

 

Jobs are like women..... never leave one until you have a better one unless shes trying to kill you. (My wife doesnt think thats funny)

Edited August 28, 2013 by Flying Pig

[Dnr032]

 

Jobs are like women..... never leave one until you have a better one unless shes trying to kill you. (My wife doesnt think thats funny)

 

Thanks Flying Pig!

 

That is the funniest and the truest thing I have read on this forum in a long time. You made my day!

[apiaguy]

can you give us some examples of the "questionable" maintenance? Hard to give cred to the armchair mechanic.

My answer already would be No... questionable to me means you don't particularly agree with some aspect but it isn't illegal or unsafe.

Edited August 28, 2013 by apiaguy

[eagle5]

No.

[avbug]

If you're flying a thousand hours a year, you won't be there much longer. You sound like you want to get away from there. Getting your experience and getting out is the best way to do that.

 

What's "questionable?" I'm a fairly experienced aircraft mechanic and inspector. I know what's questionable and what's not, and what's safe and what's not. If you're instructing, at least from an external perspective, you should know...but how much do you know about what you find questionable?

 

I ask that as a serious question. I find many instructors who teach students to preflight an aircraft, but couldn't tell you how to properly safety wire (and thus don't know if the wire they're seeing is correct, or backward), who don't know how many threads must protrude from beyond the fiber in a fiberlock nut, and who don't know the most basic things about maintenance in order to know if what they're seeing is correct. How can they describe something as questionable, then, if they don't know what's right and what's not?

 

If questionable means flying past time limits on the airframe or engine, if it means annuals done in an hour, if it means records that get changed or squawks that simply disappear, or obvious, constant oil leaks, or vibrations that shouldn't be there and never get fixed, then you have to ask yourself what's more valuable to you: the prospect of getting a little more time, or getting yourself and/or a student hurt or killed (or simply risking your pilot or instructor certificate over a violation).

 

If you're moving from one instructor job to another, you're making a lateral move. It's not a step up. If you're making it for a good reason, so be it, but even for a little pay increase, it's not much of a step up, and all else being equal, a school that flies a lot less likely means you'll be instructing a lot longer. Is that what you want?

 

There's more to the issue, and you may do well to explore it a little more. It may be more complex than it first appears.

[WolftalonID]

Avbug you have a good point. I am in that spot myself, trying to gain more knowledge everyday on what it is I am looking at. Students look to the CFI as the guide, and sometimes the all knowing, when in reality we are still young padewons ourselves with some stick skills.

 

I realized when I went to the Robinson safty corse that our mechanic must hate it when we get back. Suddenly everything is wrong and we know more than we should. In reality we learned how to be afraid...very afraid, and yet no depth or experience came with the imparted fear.

 

Most flight students dont get the opportunity to learn maintenance or even advanced preflight skills. Now as an instructor, I am responsible to impart knowledge, not fear.

 

Not liking something is definatly not the same as weather or not its done right or done wrong.

 

My own advise to the OP....like said above, if they are not trying to kill you....stay loyal, and dont burn bridges. These relationships now are the ones that will help you move out into your next job. Networking is fragile, and your just starting. You cant afford to break off unless your life is on the line. Your a commercial rated pilot now, you should know what that means. If your flying and dont trust the bird.....what are you doing?

[pilot#476398]

I find many instructors who teach students to preflight an aircraft, but couldn't tell you how to properly safety wire (and thus don't know if the wire they're seeing is correct, or backward), who don't know how many threads must protrude from beyond the fiber in a fiberlock nut, and who don't know the most basic things about maintenance in order to know if what they're seeing is correct. How can they describe something as questionable, then, if they don't know what's right and what's not?

 

Perhaps a school's mechanic and not its CFIs should be teaching the pre-flight to students?

[Spike]

In my opinion, lateral moves waste time. That is, unless you don’t care how long it takes you to transition into an entry-level turbine job….

 

Additionally, one’s imagination can run wile when jobs fall in your lap and the grass appears to be greener on the other side. For me (and without further information about what you are defining as “questionable maintenance” and, how much time you have), it sounds like you are comparing schools in order to rationalize a reason to leave. Simply put, if I felt my safety was being compromised, I would leave regardless if I had another job in hand…. Conversely, I would leave if the lateral move benefitted me in some form or fashion, if I simply didn’t like my current working conditions……..

 

In the end, these experiences will shape you as a pilot. If you find you are compromising your integrity as a pilot, moving on may be worth a consideration leading to a decision only you can make…………….

[cryesis]

Avbug PM sent

[avbug]

A good place to begin learning basic maintenance standards is AC 43.13. It's got the information you need to know. You should also have read and digested the aircraft maintenance manual. The flight manual has some basic information you need, but regarding systems and the aircraft, it's dumbed down for pilots. The maintenance manual is usually a much better source for getting to know the aircraft.