Tow pilots & instructors

[fred]

There is a great shortage of professional glider pilots...Towpilots
and flight instructors. Customers and students will pay real money for
your services.
Our business is severely limited by pilots needed.
Other glider sites are advertising for your help. If you would like to
teach, fly tow planes or even become a business owner, talk to
someone!
This applies to us and our neighbors in soaring. Say yes. Fred.

[[email protected]]

On Jul 24, 8:31 pm, fred > wrote:
> There is a great shortage of professional glider pilots...Towpilots
> and flight instructors. Customers and students will pay real money for
> your services.
> Our business is severely limited by pilots needed.
> Other glider sites are advertising for your help. If you would like to
> teach, fly tow planes or even become a business owner, talk to
> someone!
> This applies to us and our neighbors in soaring. Say yes. Fred.

I had my CFIG at 18. Really enjoyed instruction. Worked full time for
at a well known site for 18 months. Didn't make enough to pay my rent.
I let my CFIG lapse after I got out of dept and started to own a few
things. Now, in my semi-retirement, it would be fun to instruct again.
I regret that in this lawsuit happy society, it is simply not worth
the liability risk that goes with being an instructor. Too bad.....
glider4

[[email protected]]

On Jul 24, 10:07 pm, wrote:
> On Jul 24, 8:31 pm, fred > wrote:
>
> > There is a great shortage of professional glider pilots...Towpilots
> > and flight instructors. Customers and students will pay real money for
> > your services.
> > Our business is severely limited by pilots needed.
> > Other glider sites are advertising for your help. If you would like to
> > teach, fly tow planes or even become a business owner, talk to
> > someone!
> > This applies to us and our neighbors in soaring. Say yes. Fred.
>
> I had my CFIG at 18. Really enjoyed instruction. Worked full time for
> at a well known site for 18 months. Didn't make enough to pay my rent.
> I let my CFIG lapse after I got out of dept and started to own a few
> things. Now, in my semi-retirement, it would be fun to instruct again.
> I regret that in this lawsuit happy society, it is simply not worth
> the liability risk that goes with being an instructor. Too bad.....
> glider4

instructors getting sued is a very rare occurence, particularly if the
instructor is thorough and documents his training well. i think most
of the risk is imagined. of course most CFI's, myself included, arent
really worth suing.

[[email protected]]

> instructors getting sued is a very rare occurence, particularly if the
> instructor is thorough and documents his training well. i think most
> of the risk is imagined. of course most CFI's, myself included, arent
> really worth suing.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

I think you are right, I certainly wasn't worth being sued when I was
instructing. I was also fortunate that, to the best of my knowledge,
none of my students was ever involved in a soaring accident.

I have no data on how many lawsuits are brought against glider school
operators or the instructors who work there. I do know of several
soaring center owners who left the business after accidents due to
skyrocketing liability insurance rates. If there weren't any lawsuits
or settlements or a very real possibility of them, then why would
their liability rates have gone up?

I strongly encourage any good soaring pilot who communicates well and
who does not have significant tangible assets to give becoming a CFIG
serious consideration. It is a lot of fun and provides a great deal of
personal satisfaction. And you will become a more skilled soaring
pilot because of it.

glider4

[[email protected]]

>If there weren't any lawsuits
> or settlements or a very real possibility of them, then why would
> their liability rates have gone up?

you forget that the insurance industry is a business. rates go up for
no other reason than that they can. any excuse the insurance
companies can get they will take. they are trying to make money.

[Bob]

any excuse the insurance
> companies can get they will take. they are trying to make money.


And doing a fine job of doing it too!

Bob

[fred]

On Jul 24, 9:26 pm, wrote:
> > instructors getting sued is a very rare occurence, particularly if the
> > instructor is thorough and documents his training well. i think most
> > of the risk is imagined. of course most CFI's, myself included, arent
> > really worth suing.- Hide quoted text -
>
> > - Show quoted text -
>
> I think you are right, I certainly wasn't worth being sued when I was
> instructing. I was also fortunate that, to the best of my knowledge,
> none of my students was ever involved in a soaring accident.
>
> I have no data on how many lawsuits are brought against glider school
> operators or the instructors who work there. I do know of several
> soaring center owners who left the business after accidents due to
> skyrocketing liability insurance rates. If there weren't any lawsuits
> or settlements or a very real possibility of them, then why would
> their liability rates have gone up?
>
> I strongly encourage any good soaring pilot who communicates well and
> who does not have significant tangible assets to give becoming a CFIG
> serious consideration. It is a lot of fun and provides a great deal of
> personal satisfaction. And you will become a more skilled soaring
> pilot because of it.
>
> glider4

Having been in the glider school business full time and Part time
since 1962 I have no idea of the number of instructors and tow pilots
that have been a part of my life. Most have been extremely good, some
also-ran, but the absolute truth is that I know of NOT EVEN ONE ever
having been sued. Part of it is the fact that the lawyers look for
deep pockets, but the truth is that instructors and tow pilots are
responsible people who care for the outcomes of their actions.
Fear is a natural limit to action. Fear of a lawsuit as a result of
individual action would keep most people offf the road unless the
driver had some confidence that an accident need not happen.
My instructors are covered by my liability insurance...enough that
some level of defense is available.
The NTSB investigates aircraft accidents better than the highway
police do on highway accidents and that helps defend an instructor/tow
pilot.

If legal liability in flight instruction was a real concern, all
flying would end for students could not find a school or an
instructor.

Get a life and a rating, thereby giving someone else a life.
Fred Robinson

[[email protected]]

You are a luck man Fred. No liability claims or settlements since
1962! Wow, OK, my experience is a bit different. We had a settlement
in just the 18 months I worked at the now defunct school in Northern
California. The instructor wasn't personally sued because he (like me
at that time) didn't have a dime to his name. The action wasn't
brought by the seriously injured student but by a property owner who's
show horses and structures were injured/damaged in the crash.
Unfortunately, legal actions can and do happen.

The personal liability faced by an instructor varies based on where
they are instructing. If you are hired as a CFIG as an employee of the
flight school, you should be covered by the flight school's liability
policy. However, you are subject to the limits and terms of that
policy. Typical flight school's liability is capped to $1 or $2
million per occurrence. Legal defense coverage can be just a few
thousand dollars per occurrence. Frankly, for a number of experienced
soaring pilots, these limits won't begin to cover their personal net
worth.

Some schools "hire" their instructors not as employees but as
independent contractors. Unless they are specifically named as
"additional insureds" by the school, the instructor will not be
covered by the school's liability policy. Even if the instructor is
named as additional insureds on the school's policy, unless you are
specifically covered by a waiver of subrogation, the school's
insurance company could come after you in the event of a loss.

If you are instructing for a club then your liability exposure and
insurance coverage could be all over the map. You should read the
club's policy in detail or speak with their agent to find out exactly
what insurance coverage you will and won't have.

Falcon Insurance and others offer Instructors Professional Liability
and Non-Owners coverage that instructors can purchase independently to
cover some of the gaps in liability coverage that may exist in a
school's policy or if the school "hires" it's instructors as
independent contractors. This coverage typically ranges from $400 to
$600 per year. This type of coverage is not a magic bullet but it may
help.

And yes, I admit that I limit my a very few of my activities based on
potential liability risk. Unfortunately, legal actions can and do
happen.

glider4