(Michael) wrote in message . com...
snip
As a rule, owners get involved in the maintenance of their aircraft.
There are exceptions, but not many. Even those who don't actually do
the work themselves don't generally hand over checkbook and keys -
they want to know what is being done, why it is being done, and how it
is being done. Once you become involved in the maintenance of the
aircraft, you begin to understand a lot more about how it is put
together, how the sytems work - and thus what the failure modes and
their early warning signs are.

I have to agree that someone who owns and uses an airplane to travel
long distances can add substantial value to the training experience
that a timebuilding, lower hour instructor can't. If the goal of the
student is to pass a particular exam or to rent and fly locally, then
it really doesn't make a difference. For the student who is planning
on owning and travelling extensively in the plane, it certainly can.

I usually fly with instructors that have fairly fresh certificates
and the majority of their hours in the training environment. For the
most part, they have been excellent on things pertaining to a PTS or
local conditions, but their experience lacked the variety that comes
from going places and paying maintence bills. Knowledge of the proper
care and feeding of the airplane systems was usually lacking as well.

A few examples : One instructor showed me how to get a few more
knots out of the rental by leaning aggresively at low altitude and
high power. That instructor has probably not had to pay for exhaust
valve work before. Another showed me how to "test" the nose gear
strut on a 152 by pushing up on the spinner and then letting the nose
settle. He's probably not had to purchase a spinner backplate (which
I had to do when I became an owner and tried this on my own plane).
One gal refused to let me switch mags in flight in an attempt to
isolate a slight roughness (what if it dies and doesn't come back!).
During a BFR I experienced carb ice (not very common in Arizona). The
CFI had not noticed it and became quite alarmed at the engine
roughness after the heat was first turned on. He wanted me to turn the
heat back off to stop the roughness. After the flight, he told me
that although he'd read about carb ice, but wasn't really prepared for
feeling of the real thing in flight.

Several of my instructors had not flown in to a primary class B
airport (Why would you want to do that?), even though there is one
right next door. Most had not landed on anything other than pavement.
Someone who has spent one or two thousand hours using an airplane to
go places has probably seen all of this stuff before and can
(hopefully) pass some of that experience on. The timebuilding
instructor whose experience is largely local and short XC training
flights will have had limited exposure to varying conditions.

To be clear, I'm not saying that a multi thousand hour private pilot
and airplane owner automatically makes a good instructor. I am saying
that owning and travelling will have exposed this hypothetical
prospective instructor to a lot more situations that can be found in
the typical training environment. If the person really is good
instructor material, he/she will be able to pass on some of that
knowledge.

John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180)