"Mediacom" wrote in message
news:JmcNe.260850$x96.20579@attbi_s72...
[...] I guess I am looking for any advice on starting lessons with a
"baby" CFI. Obvious concerns are 1. That he will be hesitant to put his
students up for a check ride because he will not want them to fail. 2. I
might miss out on the wisdom of a more experienced pilot. 3. His lack of
an instrument rating will make me miss out on some wisdom in that area as
well. Obviously I know that CFIs have to start with a blank slate and I
am not necessarily opposed to taking up lessons with him. I'm just
interested in any feedback.

You have valid concerns. However, keep in mind that your primary
instructor, while they will be extremely important in setting habits you'll
keep with you the rest of your flying career, they are far from the only
instructor you'll ever fly with, and have an opportunity to learn from.

A risk with a more experienced instructor is that they may not know when to
quit offering "extras". There's a LOT of new concepts and things to learn
for a new pilot, and an experienced instructor could overwhelm that new
pilot with things that, while useful to know, aren't really relevant to
learning the fundamentals of flying an airplane.

As far as your specific concerns go: #1 is more an issue of professionalism,
and I haven't heard of it being a serious problem. At most flight schools,
the instructor (and especially a brand new instructor) is not the sole
arbiter of when you go for your check ride. So an instructor should, one
hopes, not fear of recommending a student too early because he has a chief
instructor to help him ensure that his determination is correct.

#2 might be a valid concern. However, a brand new instructor who has flown
with an experienced instructor may many of the same insights to offer. And
of course, as I pointed out above, as a fledgling pilot, you may not really
be ready to take on all of the little extra tidbits that might be offered by
a more experienced instructor.

#3 seems to me to be of the least concern. You'll have plenty of time to
learn about instrument flying if and when you train for your instrument
rating. There's very little that can be offered during primary training
that will make much sense to you. Near the very end, you might get to a
point where it does, but then you should be spending your time prepping for
the checkride.

One strong argument in favor of brand new instructors is that they are often
people who were students themselves, only recently. They have a lot more
empathy and recent experience for what you're going through and that MAY
translate into a more effective teaching process. No guarantees, but it's
always nice when the person you're sitting next to really understands what
you're going through, rather than it being a long distant memory.

It really does depend a lot on the instructor. Some new instructors are
there just for the hours, and they are looking forward to running off to
"the majors" as soon as they can. Others take the instructing job
seriously, and being new to the job have a lot more enthusiasm and energy
than many more experienced instructors.

And likewise, while it's a pretty safe bet that experienced instructors are
less likely to be building hours (they stuck around this long, why would
they leave? ), they may have less empathy for a primary student, and may
have lost some of the enjoyment of instructing. Or they could be great.
You never really know without either talking to previous students, or flying
with them, and this applies to all instructors regardless of experience.

Pete