Yesterday I did 7.6 hours of flying, once you hit 8, your done legally. I did 2 cross countries to Charlottesville at 1.6 hours a piece and the rest was just taking students up and doing maneuvers. Pretty damn tiring…
280hrs
No Comments » Posted by v1valarob / Being a CFI...
I have 45 hours of dual given now. I have finished instructing one marine, he solo’d, did his solo xc, and is now on his way to Pensacola. I should have my other marine done this week, and my other 2 should be ready for solo by the end of the week.
I have realized that once a week students take much more attention, and catching up. My marines, who have never flown before, by the 4th lesson are extremely proficient in comparison to their experience with the radios and just the basics of flying and landing. I assume this is because they are flying almost everyday, or everyday in a row with good weather. My civilian students who only come in once a week spend at least the first half hour of just getting back into the flow of things, and putting them on the radio is a complete mess.
I have also realized that to a new student, landing almost by themselves is a pivotal moment to them. When they look over and see that I dont have my hands on any of the controls and they have just greased a landing, they start feeling much more confident in how they are coming along. It also makes me much happier because its less work I have to do 
273hr total time.
No Comments » Posted by v1valarob / Being a CFI...
Not much to update on. My original 2 students are 2 lessons away from soloing. Thats going to be a crazy experience telling someone they are ready to go fly by themselves.
I have also had one flight review since the last update. However the guy had not flown since 2003, and his skills had definitley faded. We went up and pretty much did straight and level flight just to get back into flying. I was a little worried when we where taxiing and he said “so where are the brakes?” I questioned his aeronautical decision making skills too when he wanted to go flying in winds gusting up to 25 knots. For those who dont know, if its over 10 knots, and if its gusting higher, it get a bit bumpy. Even though the winds where high, they where going straight down the runway, instead of a crosswind, so I agreed to take him up.
I also got a brand new student on Sunday. He isnt a marine, just a regular guy who wants to fly. I took him up for about an hour. We flew to a local airport, and just did straight and level flight, and climbs and descents. This was the first time I had to actually use a steep turn for whats its meant to teach you. While coming into Manassas, approach told us there was another aircraft at our 12 o’clock, same altitude, heading towards us. I quickly found him, and he was definitely heading towards us, so I quickly grabbed the controls and made a steep right turn. The other plane didnt even change direction, so Im guessing he was pretty clueless.
Ill update again once my guys solo.
No Comments » Posted by v1valarob / Being a CFI...