On 2007-06-25 13:52:25 -0700, Dudley Henriques said:

Robert M. Gary wrote:
I was talking to a friend today about how difficult it is to find a
personable golf instructor.

Hope this isn't par for the course :-))




I'm a pretty so-so golfer and it really
turns me off that most instructors are very arrogant and stuck up. I
got to thinking that I sure hope students don't see CFIs the same way.
I've never considered myself better than my students so I sure help I
don't come off as arrogant in anyway. As a CFI I know that other CFIs
interact with me differently so I'm not sure I would know if other
CFIs are stuck up (as a CFI I often find that check out rides are
abbreviated, fees are reduced or instruction hours are under billed
for fellow CFIs).

I've never considered the holding of a CFI certificate to mean that
I'm any type of super pilot. In truth, anyone who takes enough
checkrides can get the certificate, its really something that any can
achieve. I hope other CFIs see it the same way.

-Robert, CFII


My comment on this is the same comment I have shared with the CFI
community for over 50 years; that being everything....and I mean
EVERYTHING..... I ever learned about teaching people to fly I have
learned from the students I have taught to fly. Every moment I ever
spent in a cockpit was as a student learning to be a better student of
my own profession.

My students have taught me, molded me, shaped the way I teach, and made
me not only a better teacher, but a FAR better pilot than I ever would
have been had I not been a flight instructor.

There is no room in aviation for arrogance. There is however, a slim
line between confidence, ability, and arrogance. The CFI who knows the
difference between these things is a flight instructor. Those who don't
are not worthy of the certificate.
Dudley Henriques

One of the best reasons to be a CFI is the people you get to meet.
There sure is a variety of 'em!

I cannot claim to have gotten on well or even have been able to teach
well every student that I have flown with. I remember one guy in
particular who simply was obsessed with a dispute he had with my
employer -- constantly running him down and threatening all kinds of
action from writing to Cessna and Textron (in which he claimed to be on
the board) to legal action. After three flights of that I simply told
him that I was a loyal employee, that I liked my employer and
considered him to be a personal friend, and that I would feel more
comfortable if he found another instructor working somewhere closer to
his home. I gave him a couple recommendations, one of which he
accepted. Later on I heard from that instructor that this guy was
always going on about what an awful instructor I was and how he was
glad he had dumped me and how he was going to report me to the FAA,
which he claimed he knew several people personally. So I guess you
can't please everybody. And some people can't be pleased by anybody. :-)

--
Waddling Eagle
World Famous Flight Instructor