A little nervous and an update

[FlyGirl86]

I just wanted to share that I absolutely love my school. I have about 25 hours in and my flying is going pretty amazing. I am having way more great days than bad days. I hope I didnt jinx myself for tomorrow . I absolutely love doing autos. I know I am always going to be learning things flying, but I kinda feel like I plateaued and the last few flights I feel like I am not really learning as much as I have been. I am not sure if that makes sense but I don't know how else to describe it.

My PPL ground course is almost through and I have a series of tests to take to pass the class and then its on to the knowledge portion of it all. I am really nervous about it. I will be taking it within the next two weeks!!! I pretty much don't plan on doing much except studying for a while.

I know that being a CFI is a long ways away, but I was curious as to how most schools paid their instructors. Are they hourly? Do they get paid different for ground and flight time? Or is it different at different schools? Just curious.

Anyways...I love flying and the 1.4 hours a day is not enough in that helicopter. I hate landing. lol.

And if anyone has some words of wisdom about the the test, let me know. I plan on taking about a million practice tests before the real one, but any advice would help. Thanks a lot!

[heligirl03]

I just wanted to share that I absolutely love my school. I have about 25 hours in and my flying is going pretty amazing. I am having way more great days than bad days. I hope I didnt jinx myself for tomorrow . I absolutely love doing autos. I know I am always going to be learning things flying, but I kinda feel like I plateaued and the last few flights I feel like I am not really learning as much as I have been. I am not sure if that makes sense but I don't know how else to describe it.

My PPL ground course is almost through and I have a series of tests to take to pass the class and then its on to the knowledge portion of it all. I am really nervous about it. I will be taking it within the next two weeks!!! I pretty much don't plan on doing much except studying for a while.

I know that being a CFI is a long ways away, but I was curious as to how most schools paid their instructors. Are they hourly? Do they get paid different for ground and flight time? Or is it different at different schools? Just curious.

Anyways...I love flying and the 1.4 hours a day is not enough in that helicopter. I hate landing. lol.

And if anyone has some words of wisdom about the the test, let me know. I plan on taking about a million practice tests before the real one, but any advice would help. Thanks a lot!

 

 

how long have you been training to get to 25hrs? just curious what your daily/weekly schedule is...

[danter]

I just wanted to share that I absolutely love my school. I have about 25 hours in and my flying is going pretty amazing. I am having way more great days than bad days. I hope I didnt jinx myself for tomorrow . I absolutely love doing autos. I know I am always going to be learning things flying, but I kinda feel like I plateaued and the last few flights I feel like I am not really learning as much as I have been. I am not sure if that makes sense but I don't know how else to describe it.

My PPL ground course is almost through and I have a series of tests to take to pass the class and then its on to the knowledge portion of it all. I am really nervous about it. I will be taking it within the next two weeks!!! I pretty much don't plan on doing much except studying for a while.

I know that being a CFI is a long ways away, but I was curious as to how most schools paid their instructors. Are they hourly? Do they get paid different for ground and flight time? Or is it different at different schools? Just curious.

Anyways...I love flying and the 1.4 hours a day is not enough in that helicopter. I hate landing. lol.

And if anyone has some words of wisdom about the the test, let me know. I plan on taking about a million practice tests before the real one, but any advice would help. Thanks a lot!

 

 

The school that I trained at, universal, the instructors get paid the same $20 an hour for flight and ground. Some schools pay more for flight. Make sure you keep track of how much ground and flight time you have with any instructor. A fellow student and I realized that when we would have a casual conversation the instructors would turn it into a flight discussion and then charge us their $50 ground rate. Also if they take you to lunch and they buy, you are actually paying for it. We were charged for the instructors time and for his big meal. Another thing you need to look at is the pre and post flight. Universal charges .5 of which they do not tell you up front of course. This adds up to $50 per flight. So, for every four flights you just lost one flight. I am still trying to get back $5,000 from instructor over charges from universal. They also did not tell the truth about the loans. They said that there are not any interest charges until six months after you graduate the uvsc program which is not included in the loan which we were told, but it actually starts from day one. They also say that there is no finance charges. There is over $8,000 in finance charges. I brought this to universals attention and they said that it is my responsibility to figure this out. That is interesting because they advertised that there were no interest or finiance charges so why would I need to figure this out. Just make sure you keep track of everything. keep a journal or something and don't let anyone take your money.

[500E]

Dont worrey about the Plateau most people go through it, you consolidate the lessons and then move forward

[FlyGirl86]

The school that I trained at, universal, the instructors get paid the same $20 an hour for flight and ground. Some schools pay more for flight. Make sure you keep track of how much ground and flight time you have with any instructor. A fellow student and I realized that when we would have a casual conversation the instructors would turn it into a flight discussion and then charge us their $50 ground rate. Also if they take you to lunch and they buy, you are actually paying for it. We were charged for the instructors time and for his big meal. Another thing you need to look at is the pre and post flight. Universal charges .5 of which they do not tell you up front of course. This adds up to $50 per flight. So, for every four flights you just lost one flight. I am still trying to get back $5,000 from instructor over charges from universal. They also did not tell the truth about the loans. They said that there are not any interest charges until six months after you graduate the uvsc program which is not included in the loan which we were told, but it actually starts from day one. They also say that there is no finance charges. There is over $8,000 in finance charges. I brought this to universals attention and they said that it is my responsibility to figure this out. That is interesting because they advertised that there were no interest or finiance charges so why would I need to figure this out. Just make sure you keep track of everything. keep a journal or something and don't let anyone take your money.

 

 

sounds like you kinda got the short end of the stick on all that. I am pay close attention to what I am paying. But my instructors have never tried to overcharge me or make me pay for 'chat' time. Thats one thing I love about my school. They will tell you if you are starting a conversation that you could potentially get charged for. They don't try to turn stuff around to turn it into a flight discussion and sometimes I think they sell themselves short.

Thanks for the advice though and good luck getting your money back!!!!

 

how long have you been training to get to 25hrs? just curious what your daily/weekly schedule is...

 

 

I started out flying only three times a week, and the past couple of weeks I have been flying five times a week. I re-calculated and I have closer to 30 hours, not 25. I started in September and have had several days of groundwork instead of flying. My hours are racking up quickly now.

[Goldy]

I re-calculated and I have closer to 30 hours, not 25. I started in September and have had several days of groundwork instead of flying. My hours are racking up quickly now.

 

 

Flygirl- If you feel the plateau, and you're good at all the emergency stuff- its probably about time to solo....then you'll find yourself really learning again. Of course, the best judge of that is your CFI...but sure sounds like you are close...good luck

 

Goldy

[FordMustang0288]

$20 an hour seems like an awful lotl. but when you realize they only have maybe 2-4 hours of flying time a day...that must be pretty tough.

 

My school charges the same amount for ground & flight. They are also pretty generous with the charges. I havent noticed any outrageous fees just yet.

 

I'm also flying about 5 days a week...with about 1 hour a day. But I only started late October. I wouldnt do it any different...I feel strange when I get into the chopper after those 2 days of rest.

[msgrappling]

What school is it Flygirl? and what kind of helicopter is it?

[BOATFIXERGUY]

All schools are different in how much they pay. When we were doing instruction, some CFI's made $30 and hour, others $20 an hour. Depends on how good they are, and what they are teaching or doing. They got paid the same for ground. Their time started for when the slot was reserved. Most cfi's do much more than just teach. Every school/operation is different. We used the Enstrom 280C and R44. Our chief pilot made $35 an hour no matter what he was doing.

 

The student pays slightly more obviously...taxes, workmans comp, and such adds up.

[BOATFIXERGUY]

And in answer to your 1.4 hours per day...

 

For the first 10 hours or so, that is usually the norm. If you do too much flying in the early stages, its counter-productive. You have enough experience right now though to jump to two (2) hops per day. Ask your instructor to increase your daily flying. You should do a hop of 1.2 to 1.5, take a break, debrief, and then go out for another hop. It will really help!

 

john

Edited October 18, 2007 by BOATFIXERGUY

[jehh]

I know that being a CFI is a long ways away, but I was curious as to how most schools paid their instructors. Are they hourly? Do they get paid different for ground and flight time? Or is it different at different schools? Just curious.

 

Most schools pay hourly, based on when you're working, however there are exceptions.

 

I pay my CFIs a base salary for their first 100 hours of time worked a month. They get $15/hr for everything over that, both ground and flight. That is starting pay, I give raises starting at 500 hours of flight time.

[beckwith]

jehh, can you tell us what that salary is for the first houndred hours?

[jehh]

jehh, can you tell us what that salary is for the first houndred hours?

 

$1,500 a month, or $15/hr... It gives the CFIs the assurance that they will not starve in the event of bad weather or a bad month (our living expenses are low, $500/month for an apartment), however it also provides for higher pay for working longer hours.

 

It usually takes 4 months to reach the next pay step, and after that it happens every 3 months or so. The average yearly pay is between $25K and $35K, depending on how much the CFI works.

 

Once a CFI has 1,000 hours, pay then depends on the individual and if he/she desires to stay and teach longer.

[volition]

Funny Msgrappling!!!! You post question/answer's almost one year later from when the post actually started!!!