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Now that you have a good idea about the flight school, what should you look for in an instructor? Remember this is a key step in getting the most efficient training. If you do not like the person for whatever reason, it will cost more in obtaining a new instructor because the new instructor needs to review what you have been taught already.

Here are some questions to ask an instructor:

1. What is your availability? (Make sure this matches when you are available to optimize your training)
2. Do you use a syllabus? (Make sure they have a plan for your training and are flexible enough to mold this around the way you learn.)
3. What is their pass rate for check rides? (You are getting the training to pass a check ride, not to fail one. Make sure the instructor has a good pass rate.)

There a lot of quality flight instructors at many flight schools. The airline industry is not hiring many pilots these days, so the instructors have been at the school for a while, and usually have a very impressive resume. You will commonly find Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, University of North Dakota, and Purdue University graduates instructing there, so the quality of instructors are great.

If there are not any near by flight schools, you can always try and find someone who has an aircraft and find a flight instructor. Just remember the structure of a flight school might not be there.

You might be saying to yourself right now, I don’t have the time to do the training; things at home and the office are so crazy right now. Another popular excuse I have heard is, "I don’t have the money to do it…flying is real expensive". I used to fit in all these categories, and I will share how I overcame my “why” and turned them into “why not.”

As with anything in life, we have to have goals and the internal drive to be as successful as possible. This is the same aptitude you need to have in order to obtain your private pilots license. With the aid of computers and software available for us today, the learning process has never been easier. Through the experiences of obtaining my pilots license up to getting instructor ratings, I try to follow the same checklist for making my dream become a reality.

Written by: Paul Hibbs

About the author:
Paul Hibbs is a graduate of Embry-Riddle and has over 8 years of flight experience. He maintains a rating of Certified Flight Instructor and CFII with a mulit-engine rating. For questions or comments please write Paul at, paul@savvypilot.com

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