There are roughly 125,00 flight instructors in the United States. That’s a big number — or at least it seems like a big number. But is it really?
These CFIs come from the much larger pool of 700,000 or so pilots in the United States. Every one of those pilots has worked with a CFI at some point, possibly for an extended period or perhaps for just a few hours to complete a flight review.
Even CFIs have to fly with CFIs.
Nobody escapes the process of learning, testing, reviewing, and validating the knowledge and skills necessary to fly safely.
With approximately 18% of the pilot population holding a CFI ticket, it would seem obvious that scheduling a flight with a CFI would be easy. It should be a cake walk.
However, for many of us that’s not the case. There isn’t an even distribution of CFIs across the nation. Many live and work in densely populated areas of the country, while few can be found in much wider expanses of real estate.
Beyond the challenge of finding a CFI to work with, there is the even more limiting factor of finding a truly good CFI to work with — a CFI who goes beyond the entry-level requirement of holding the certificate. If you were hoping to find someone to train with, to learn from, that search may take time and require you to travel a considerable distance.
I spoke with a fellow CFI just the other day who lives in a sparsely populated, very rural part of the country. He tells me he’s the only CFI within 100 miles.
My neighborhood is a bit different. We’re awash in CFIs in these parts, although not all of them are available for whatever it is the customer might want to do.
Some of us specialize in primary instruction but do so in an academy setting where walk-ins are not particularly welcome. Others specialize in taildragger instruction, multi-engine instruction, seaplane add-on ratings, or type specific training designed to fulfill a bucket list experience or prepare a pilot to meet the insurance requirements of their newly purchased aircraft.
As if that isn’t enough of a muddled marketplace, there is the never-ending tug of war between the newly minted CFIs who are pumped up with pride and ambition vs the old guard who have been logging hours for decades.
There is a palpable mistrust between these two groups — sometimes deservedly so. In other cases, the animosity is entirely unjustified. Yet, there is a nugget of validity to the misgivings felt by either side.
New CFIs have every reason to be proud. Earning that certificate comes at the end of a long road of training and testing that can easily lead one to believe they are special.
It’s worth noting that while pilots make up a paltry 0.2% of the overall population, CFIs represent just a 0.03% share of the larger pie. We are the minority of the minority.
And yet, being counted as a part of the group does not make all CFIs equal.
One of the risks of having initially achieved this landmark certificate is that we all have the potential to get a big head. We can overestimate our skills and knowledge when in truth we hold the certificate but lack much experience.
This has always been true. It was certainly the case when I came through the system many years ago. My classmates and I thought we were pretty big stuff, having submitted to and passed at least eight practical tests in the prior year.
We were ready to go with our certificates in our pocket. Yes, certificates, plural.
We held commercial pilot privileges, as well as our coveted CFI ticket, and an Advanced Instrument Ground Instructor certificate as well. We were in the big time as far as we were concerned.
That was before my buddy had a student throw up on him from stress after a VFR morning flight went unexpectedly IFR. They were flying a C-152 and didn’t break out at decision height. After two tries they had to perform a bit of a cross-country to an airport that was still VFR.
It was prior to a good friend having an electrical fire while on an instrument training flight that forced him to perform an off-airport landing in a farmer’s field.
On the day I earned my CFI I had not yet faced the challenge of a full-blown electrical failure in flight, or an engine winding down to nothing while I was in cruise, or a radio vibrating its way right out of the panel as I rotated for takeoff.
All those issues and more befell us as my peers and I built time, worked with new students, and traveled long distances at the controls of small general aviation aircraft. In other words, we gained experience. Bad things happened and we found a way to deal with the challenge.
Old dudes have always tended to disparage the younger crowd.
I am an old dude these days, but I’ll refrain from banging on about how the new CFIs are deficient. Rather, I’ll say they’re new and unseasoned. That’s not their fault, but it is their responsibility to get up to speed.
At the same time, I’ll steer clear of suggesting all older CFIs are wizards of the air with boundless knowledge and skill. That just ain’t true — although many of us have learned a few things over the years that are worth knowing.
If the newbies could learn at the knee of the old guard, and the elders would enjoy the benefit of sharing their experiences with the more youthful among us, imagine what a utopian experience flight instruction might be.
We all have something to learn and something to teach. All of us. Even you and me.
