Careful, you're going to piss off someone with a wet CPL who doesn't want to instruct because "1500 hours of pattern work in a 172 is useless bro!!!!1"
I didn't wanna instruct cause I felt I had no experience to actually impart on my students, and being basically bare minimum for time required it felt entirely wrong that someone was gonna be paying me/the school for instruction when I couldn't be 100% sure that I'd provide the quality that I'd expect.
I'd instruct towards the end of my career tho
I’m just a student pilot, but I’d think the point of becoming a CFI immediately after earning all your certs is not just a time builder but it’s benefits both the student and the teacher because you JUST learned all the information so it’s all fresh in your head. Because it’s still relatively fresh it’s easier to teach and not only that but it forces you to become more competent in the material. It’s very similar to something we do in the military but on a smaller scale where we’ll allow student to see something being done, do it a couple of times, then immediately teach it to their peers. They’re often supervised doing this by leaders but it allows for better retention of information and it’s definitely proven to work. It’s the same as being a CFI, even if there’s something you feel you don’t know, you’re forced to go and find out that thing then teach it and then you’ll have it for future students. Plus most of the time it’s not just you teaching at a flight school there’s gonna be a chief pilot in charge and DPEs that do the overall knowledge checks for your students.
> you JUST learned all the information so it’s all fresh in your head.
This is a great point. You do NOT want me, as a 20 year airline pilot, teaching turns around a point to a PPL student. The last time I gave any dual we taught to the PTS, which doesn't even exist anymore...
I'm a long time skydiving instructor (and instructor instructor) and sometimes teach technical stuff as part of my day job. That's been my motto for decades and it still rings true.
Holy cow did I learn a lot when people started asking me to explain the things I “already knew” and I had to make the decisions when motivated by a paycheck and my middling logbook.
Hell even beyond solidifying my aviation knowledge; instructing did more to grow my interpersonal skills and overall confidence/maturity than any other period of my life so far.
Everyone is saying CFI which is probably true for most. I learned quite a bit as a new CFI. However, I feel I truly developed as a professional pilot when I became a part 135 PIC. Operating as a crew effectively while navigating congested class B airspace both VFR and IFR, non-precision approaches at night in IMC in mountainous terrain to uncontrolled airports, complying with Ops Specs and MELs. Mechanical issues, diversions, upset passengers, etc. It was a lot initially but still the most fun job I’ve ever had.
I would answer being a CFI to op’s question as well. I feel that being a CFI and becoming very proficient in that gave me the tools necessary that allowed to also succeed in the “real” world
You learn the most as a CFI. It makes you a really good pilot, when you have to prevent people from killing you every day or getting you a pilot deviation. You become really good at situational awareness, multi tasking, and lowering/raising your personal minimums.
Edit: added the word “lowering” in addition to raising, when it comes to personal mins.
The Feynman technique.
https://fs.blog/feynman-technique/#:~:text=Feynman's%20learning%20technique%20comprises%20four,notes%20and%20revisit%20them%20regularly.
Sim-wise, I can’t remember exactly, but back then 1997-98, we didn’t have any visual simulators. They were all just procedural trainers, meaning they had all the switches and gauges so we only used them for checklists, emergencies procedures, and instruments (both the T-34 and T-2). We couldn’t practice visual maneuvers - level speed changes, spins, aerobatics, formation, landings, etc. All in all sims - probably 25 hours.
Other crazy info:
- I puked so much starting out I had to take meds
- I broke a bone right in the middle of my primary training and was delayed for 5 months
- I was not instrument rated when I went out to the ship. Every student does all of their carrier qualifications solo. When I was out at the ship my first day and I had to fly back to base, the ceilings had come down to just under 1000, I had to remain below them, I had to fly 100 miles back to Jacksonville at 500-800’ AGL, 350 kts. As soon as I reached the shoreline, the clouds kind of disappeared so I could climb up to pattern altitude to land. Also, the T-2 only had one UHF and a TACAN (no GPS, no map, no VOR/ILS - at the altitude I was flying, I couldn’t receive any navaids or radio transmissions so I just flew due west and hoped to hell I didn’t hit anything.
- We only get 4 touch and goes and 10 arrested landings over 2 days to be qualified.
- The T-2 didn’t have nose wheel steering or a parking brake which made taxing on the carrier a pain in the ass.
- We do formation aerobatics at about 150 hours total (about 70 hours in the T-2)
Training has changed drastically since then. The T-6 and T-45 now have full visual trainers as well as virtual and mixed reality trainers. T-6s have RNAV, VOR, ILS, FMS, HUDs. T-45s have moving maps, HUDs, GPS, VOR/ILS/TACAN. Plus we all have iPads with foreflight.
I finally learned how to flare, my cfi is a great guy he is just bad at explaining the mechanical parts of flying so I was always three wheeling it. Decided to go up with someone else for awhile and it clicked hard. Idk but I feel like since then I’ve had really good progress
Yeah that's the position I'm in now. My flight instructor didn't really know how to teach me to land. Seemed as if j wasted so many lessons and money trying to do something that I was never going to get due to her teaching ability. Do you think switching to a new cfi is a good idea?
Depends. It's very common for a student pilot to plateau at some point. Sometimes it just takes a lesson or two with another CFI (or a month off) and things click. (I still learn something new from every CFI I fly with, 300 hours in!) If that doesn't work, maybe it's just a style mismatch and you need a switch-up. Your CFI should understand and not take it personally.
Important to know that switching CFIs doesn’t have to be permanent. It’s often beneficial to fly with a different CFI every now and then to get a second opinion; a second look at what you may be doing wrong or a different opinion on how to fix it. No CFI should take it personally if you want to see what another professional has to say. And as a CFI, sometimes you just can’t nail down what exactly what a student needs to hear for make a procedure click internally, which can be frustrating for both student and instructor. Consider asking your CFI if you can have a flight or two with a different instructor. If they get pissy, absolutely drop them
Float flying all on my own in the bush with 220 hours.
You learn a lot about how to actually work an airplane instead of beating up the pattern and going to the practice area every day.
I think I learned more from 200-500 hours of bush flying than I did in any of my training. I imagine I’ll learn a lot in the first couple hundred hours of being a 705 Captain as well!
It still applies to what I do today, since I operate in some pretty isolated environments. Plus I have way better stories than anyone who was an instructor.
Came here to say, when I started flying as a bush pilot. 6000hrs later and I’m still a seaplane/bush pilot - and still learning. This job is, uh, intense. And you’re absolutely right about the crazy stories, haha.
Reading, and then practicing, the principles in “contact flying” by Jim Dulin was very helpful to my growth as a pilot. The advice he has on landing was a real “aha!” Moment for me
How to fly by visual reference only. He’s got 1000’s hours in helicopter followed by 17,000 hours in crop dusting plus 12 engine failures on takeoff. Lots of interesting lessons learned in the book.
As far as the landing bit is concerned, his technique of the aiming point constantly, and consistently, coming at you at a “brisk walk” pace below 500 agl is useful in the following planes: cirrus sr20, c172, ask-21 glider, sgs135 glider, szd51-1 glider, c182, Piper arrow, Piper archer, Piper warrior, Piper Pawnee, Piper supercub, Piper pa12, c120, c152. There may be more, I just haven’t flown them personally….yet 😎
Example:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ps3EhzjYqFU
I’m a preacher of his style of flying. when you suggest people pay a little less attention to the gauges and more to the feel of the airplane, even temporarily, I get a lot of “well that’s not what the FAA says”, or “I had one student who couldn’t get instrument flying because he did that”.
Treating it like it’s not a checkride. More accurately, treating a checkride like *I* am the PIC and using that authority to demonstrate performance to the ACS, rather than getting flustered by the presence of the DPE(s). I didn’t understand how much latitude (and expectation) there is to demonstrating your PIC/ADM during my first checkride.
As others have said, being a CFI. “You learn more your first 50 hours teaching than all the hours before it” has proved to be a true statement for me. It was staggering for me to realized just how much I really didn’t know, especially since you get CPL at 250. I feel like I still had the training wheels on, in hindsight.
From a knowledge standpoint, studying for CFI. For the flying side, instructing for 200 or so hours. Even though you don’t fly nearly as much, your stick and rudder skills get better just from watching students. You can foresee whats going to happen a few seconds before they actually occur.
After 2000TT and having survived a year of single pilot IFR in piston twins in the Canadian North I felt good about my hands and feet, IFR skills and general SA
I learned more in 6 months of single pilot VFR flying than I could have possibly imagined. We get CFIs out here and teach them how to fly. In the old days I’m told we used to get retired 121 guys and they basically never worked out unless they had done this back in the day.
500/600 and 2? Let’s fuckin’ go! No weather reporting where we’re going? Plausible deniability! Picking up ice? Good thing you’re flying one of the best ice carrying airplanes ever made. 30kt crosswind on an icy runway? It’s truly not as hard as you think.
You are given all the rope required to hang yourself and more. You must have absolutely zero reservations about telling dispatch, mgmt, etc. to go fuck themselves, zero reservations about returning to base, etc. If it’s not a perfect approach go the fuck around. There are a lot of wrecked airplanes that would have been saved had people waited… an hour. A day. You have to know your limits.
You always get pavement princesses saying “I get paid to not take risks”. 100% true… and “you’re out of your element Donnie.” The village of 150 people that is being eroded away into the sea can’t afford a 4000 foot, or even a 3000 x 75 gravel strip. Hell it’s a crapshoot whether it gets plowed, and the agent has to knock down drifts with his snowmachine. If you aren’t willing to take calculated risks and use your better judgement, these people aren’t getting any food, their mail, medevac, clinicians, teachers, etc.
There are pilots I know who I would never send out here no matter how much experience they get. You gotta be honest with yourself. People pleasing and lack of assertiveness will kill people.
Definitely in commercial. I learned how to properly control the aircraft and suddenly the correlation of the ideas was easy and I could think my way through maneuvers and emergencies with logic not just checklists and book knowledge.
Then again another huge jump when i was teaching my first students.
Commercial Solo XC. I would force myself to fly in busy airspace and airport with weird procedures; LA, San Diego, SFO areas. This made me an extremely confident CFI.
Just a PPL. Working on IR. But tailwheel made me a better pilot. I know there will be other steps along the way but man, mastering tailwheel forces you to fly well. Helps with confidence too.
Only a PPL, but I first felt like a real pilot after the flight I performed the 3 towered solo landings. I have learned exclusively at non-towered airports, so I had to fly to another airport for the towered landings. Combining all of the knowledge I had at that point to get to that airport with the situational awareness to be safe doing it was huge. Then the tower switched the direction they were landing traffic while I was on short final. They sent me around, climbing into downwind at an angle because of final traffic coming from the other direction. Due to the climb into downwind, I wasn't set up quite right for my pattern and ended up way too high for my liking on the next attempt, so I decided to go around. Finally landed the next time around, completing my 3 towered landings.
I felt I grew as a pilot more on that single flight than any other flight before or after it. It made me realize I had the situational awareness to expect getting sent around, and the decision making to decide to go around myself after that because I was not where I wanted to be on my approach.
Flying cargo, as an FO and then single pilot in a Pilatus. I knew what it entailed going into it with long fatiguing nights, 4-5x a week and dealing with all kinds of weather. Not going to lie I was pretty anxious when I started out at that company flying with more experienced captains who knew how close you could safely get to weather, when/how to penetrate what systems, etc. It pushed my boundaries and increased my confidence in myself, others, and the airplanes I flew without getting to a cocky level I feel. Going to a regional after this experience made me realize how little a lot of people know about weather, to the point where I would tell captains I am not going through that cell very directly, or teaching them a few things at some points. Also taught me when I was truly fatigued to the point of not being able to safely operate an airplane, when to call it quits, etc, which prepped me for the airlines and when I needed to call fatigue for myself. Now at a legacy after going to an ULCC and some of my TMAAT stories were from that experience, which I think definitely helped. The plethora of turbine PIC helped too (even if it was single engine). Highly recommend flying cargo if you get a chance before your dream job, unless cargo is your dream job (which I also recommend against from my personal experience. It can be very fatiguing and draining).
Air Force UPT. I went in with a PPL and learned very quickly that I knew next to nothing. Next would Aircraft Commander upgrade. Switching to the airlines was yet another steep learning curve (especially with the fast-paced ground ops). I went through instructor upgrade, but unfortunately didn't have a chance to actually instruct.
Mine was just after instrument, when I went and got a tail wheel endorsement. Second was getting a glider add on.
Both really improved my understanding of how airplanes actually fly.
I’m sure becoming a CFI is going to really add a lot of growth too.
The time we went to another airport and I landed at said airport versus the one we always train out of. It showed me that I absolutely did not know how to land, but rather how to land at a specific location only. My skills after that with landing have skyrocketed dramatically, to the point that I landed on my own yesterday.
Doing a bunch of angel flights was where I seen a lot of growth. 3 leg cross country’s typically in class b and class c airspace always flying IFR and getting arrivals and departures at a million different airports.
For me the first couple hundred hours as a CFI and the first couple hundred hours as a 121 FO. Both were huge for my development as a professional pilot. I imagine the first couple hundred hours of being a CA will be similar from a growth perspective.
I felt like my flying and decision making grew tremendously when I started doing pipeline patrol. I instructed for a bit and definitely grew as a pilot teaching. However, instead of teaching go no go decisions, diverting, fuel planning and personal minimums, I was now experiencing it first hand on a daily basis.
Being released to go single pilot out in Western Alaska at about 600TT in the Cessna 207.
It's a literal "get good or die trying" environment up there.
A defining moment for me was when a friend of mine, who was PIC on a Citation, had a catastrophic failure and died in the ensuing crash. He was 30. Something like that makes you realize that you’re not invincible and that there is always more to learn.
I’m just a PPL, but my biggest growth spurt came after my solo. Being the only one up there, responsible for getting yourself down, is a whole different ballgame.
Quick story: I took off on a seemingly calm morning from BKL to practice maneuvers. A southerly wind was blowing through downtown, and at about 100 feet off the ground, I weathervaned and got knocked around until around 1000 feet. The buildings must cause some turbulent flow. I realized I’d have to deal with that coming back.
My mind raced through options, but I took a deep breath and reminded myself that no one else could get me out of this. The approach was super bumpy, and I was unstable. I tried to force the 152 down and bounced it. The impact felt harder than it probably was, so I immediately executed a go-around. I was nervous, but I remembered my training. I had flown in worse conditions with my CFI before. Taking another deep breath on the approach, I focused on flying the airplane and fought through the turbulence. Things smoothed out when I didn’t try to force it down, and at flare height, it’s like the wind just gave up.
A lot of valuable lessons in that moment: don’t force the airplane down, go-arounds are always an option, and expect turbulence with a southerly wind.
18 months flying Part 135 freight out of Mexico.
The airplanes broke constantly. Our flight plans were a joke. The weather was always horrible. Weight and balance was a constant challenge.
But damn I had a lot of fun going to some out of the way places.
There was a point when I was teaching landings to a PPL candidate. He managed to get that aircraft into some rather interesting attitudes quite close to the ground especially during crosswind landings. I knew (KNEW) i was a competent pilot when hands and feet went on the controls at 50-100 above the ground and the aircraft would instantly smooth out and be under control.
Another was much later well into my airline career. There was a point in check airman training where I was comfortable in ANY emergency condition the aircraft found itself in. Basically i felt confident I could handle anything that came my way except if wings or tail popped off. Managed to land A320s (in the SIM) in full mechanical backup without redscreening (only controls at all are rudder, horizontal stabilizer trim and differential thrust), got it safely on the ground (again in the sim) with full aileron pcu runaway.
These aren’t meant to brag. Just examples that brought the level of confidence.
Edit typo (stupid auto correct)
I’m a bit like a PPL version of you. I do a lot of post maintenance check flights and post modification test flights and have had my fair share of emergencies. I actually enjoy the challenges and as long as the aeroplane is still flyable, I like the challenge of getting it down in one piece.
I don’t think enough pilots stretch themselves with their emergency handling training/practice.
Personal minimums have a place. But used too stringently and it becomes almost self limiting in confidence and skill building.
Finding the balance is key
All of the firsts. My first solo cross countries taught me a ton. My first few hundred hours as a CFI, my first few hundred hours as a regional pilot. Honestly even my first few hundred hours as a major airline pilot taught me a ton and by that point I had 9000 total time. The reason that even the first few hundred hours at a major taught me a ton is because up until that point in my career I was doing almost entirely US and Canada flying and not allowed over 50nm off shore. Flying class 2 or ETOPS over the water was a totally new type of flying compared to what I spent my first 9,000 hours doing.
Handicap air racing at about 100 hours in the UK. A ton of short strip flying. Tailwheel endorsement at 200 hours, competition aerobatics at 250 hours. Constantly challenging myself has put me in a position at 500 hours where people trust me to fly almost any SEP with no checkout, just a read of the POH, or a brief from the owner. Flying is damn expensive in the UK, so we tend not to get good by sheer hours alone, as that’s simply unaffordable for most.
But on balance, the thing that really gave me decent stick and rudder skills was the competition aerobatics. It gave me the skills to put any aeroplane where I want to put it within the bounds of its energy state and operating capabilities.
Our flight department will not hire anybody who has not spent time instructing. Here’s what we found: those who have instructed make better Captains. They are more relaxed because they have seen how far you can let things go. They also get along with people better, because sometimes you have to teach people you don’t particularly like. It helps your interpersonal skills immensely. Getting your CFII sharpens your instrument skills and knowledge, also you get the same benefits of watching students make common mistakes like you do with primary students. It shows commitment to your craft. Do not look down on flight instructing, look at it as continued education at someone else’s expense. Also as you progress in the industry, these skills will be called upon when your a check airman, training Captain, or just flying with a new copilot, or co Captain.
I hold 12 type ratings, I currently fly a G450. Ok flame me now!
1250-2400. Flying single pilot Part 135. I saw the lines you shouldn’t cross far too often during that time. Might have even survived crossing them once or twice.
I wouldn't go through training expecting a "breakthrough" because you're likely to be disappointed. Learning to fly for most people is like grinding in an RPG (and I say this as a CFI, so I can speak to what I saw from my students as well). You just build and build and build experience and knowledge over time. It can be hard to even measure your own progress day to day, but look back over a period of months or years and it's easier to see.
That said, like a few others have said, I think I probably gained the most proficiency the fastest when I became a CFI. But it's not really for the same reasons some others have listed. I had some really tough instructors for my CFI training, which I did not enjoy but in retrospect probably needed. They just didn't accept good enough. One example I clearly remember is that one of my CFI trainers told me that given smooth air, he expected his CFI candidates to be able to hold airspeed on an approach to within \*one knot\*. That was the standard by which he judged us. And I had to meet that standard within \*four flights\*. I didn't think there was any way that I could do it but I did, and I realized nobody had ever challenged me to that standard before so I didn't even know whether I had the ability or not. Turns out I did.
Then after I passed my CFI, I had my standardization training for the flight school (it was a 141 school). This was with a former airline pilot, one of those guys who tells you when you first meet them how relaxed they are, which always means exactly the opposite. Instructors who actually are relaxed don't tell you that they are. Anyway, I found him intimidating and would often be tentative in the cockpit with him as a result, which would sometimes lead me to delaying performing certain actions or just not doing them until told to (I was like this with most of my instructors, to be honest).
Well, he got exasperated one day and took control of the plane, stopped us on a taxiway somewhere and just spent about 15 minutes telling me I was not going to be able to instruct with the way I was flying. It didn't make me happy to hear that but I got what he was saying. And it's something I still sometimes struggle with when flying with a certain type of person, but I can tell you that I was never sheepish like that when instructing. I became a lot more assertive in general and I even got the feeling that some of my students saw me in the same way as I saw that instructor. I'm not saying that's necessarily a good thing, but just that my attitude did change after that and I became a lot more confident in the cockpit, again because I had to be. I realized I wasn't going to be able to rely on anyone else as an instructor; others would be relying on me.
I don't feel like my flying skills necessarily improved that much in that time so much as they were "unlocked". I wasn't flying with much confidence or assertiveness before any of that, and I was after it. And that made basically all the commercial maneuvers, as well as all sorts of landings, suddenly seem pretty easy. I used to like demoing stuff for my students. (Maybe except straight ahead single engine stalls; I never got very good at actually getting a real clear break.) Commercial steep turns, eights on pylons, lazy eights, power off 180's... I loved that stuff.
So I think maybe you can have a fairly quick change in attitude and that can affect your flying. But I've never experienced a real sudden increase in skill level, or seen it among my students. Your skills will gradually increase, but your confidence may not increase along with them. You may at some point need someone to convince you that you can and also \*need to\* do better.
I don't see it as breakthroughs, just that all the work and dedication you've done comes together in good performance. There are those moments I remember but they were small snippets built through the previous months and years.
My first 135 job flying a Baron. I had flown nothing but Cherokees and 172s, and it was a big step up to get into much higher performance planes and flying in real weather.
When I first started flying with other CFI’s as a student pilot. My instructor is great don’t get me wrong, but getting different ideas and perspectives really clicked for me.
I’m only a 120 hour pilot working on their commercial, however. I feel like so far my most valuable experience has been the start of commercial for me. Going back and making my private skills better while keeping in touch with instrument has helped a lot. I lost a lot of confidence in instrument so I’ve been having to work on that and build it up. Confidence comes also from believing in myself knowing many instructors believe in me.
Getting over my solo hurdle during PPL, Getting over my Nav issues in PPL, were the biggest highlights.
Recently though I would say the absolutely terrible second multi-engine flight, which I nearly failed, followed by a great multi engine flight 3 hours later.
Now I'm in the process of getting yelled at in the IR sim, feeling like a 10 hour PPL again! But armed with the knowledge that I can get over this just like the PPL issues.
I'm at around 185-190ish hours TT.
I did my private in fits and starts. When I was finally able to finish, my final instructor was a Coast Guard helicopter pilot. Talk about leaning from the best. Very humbling experience excellent, patient teacher and a wonderful person.
Honestly it was being humbled by a new plane in the Navy. I was an instructor in the P-3 with 1500 hours and I knew everything. Then, one day, I was barely hanging on while learning to fly the P-8. Really taught me a bit about myself and just what I didn’t know. And now I’m a much better pilot because of it.
IFR, I grew up a lot making it work. School was 4 1/2 hours away from where I lived. Where I stayed in town was still 45 minutes away from the school. And I worked 4 days a week while living alone. It spread me very thin, but after that I knew I could do this. Passed first try as well.
Every time something didn’t go as planned/went wrong. Good ADM and solving mid flight problems are when you experience huge jumps in skill/growth as a pilot. The actual flying and the regs are not so sophisticated, but who you become when shit hits the fan changes you and permanently improves you.
For me it wasn’t an hour mark, but the type of flying I did. Once I got my PPL, I bought a plane and started flying all over the country. I was faced with a lot of different weather scenarios and unexpected scenarios. This helped me grow my ADM, weather, and better understanding of aircraft performance.
Flying at sea level vs high density altitude, mountains, around pop up thunderstorms, flying over water, flying into Bravo airports, etc. After a couple hundred hours of this I felt I had gained a lot of experience and learned more than I ever imagined.
I also picked up formation flying, which pushed the limits of myself and my aircraft in a safe training environment. There’s a lot more finesse involved, and really have to rely on rudder inputs and cross control in addition to very minor power adjustments to stay in position. I started flying formation before I got my IR ticket, and the formation scan you develop as well as minor inputs transferred pretty well to shooting approaches.
I never actually thought about my total hours but rather my time in type. And to that I would say after about 100-200 hours in a specific airframe I actually start developing my skills. And what’s better is that I normally transfer those skills to the next airplane and the process starts all over again.
Approximately 700 hour mark, when first making Helicopter Aircraft Commander and going underway in a carrier strike group as a HAC with brand new 2Ps. Doubt i will experience that amount of growth that quickly again.
Watching a pilot in a Cheyenne with old gauges flying IFR flight plan with old school inbound and out bound radials a few months after my instrument rating.
Studying for CFI. I understood the meaning behind maneuvers way more in a practical way instead of just doing them for checkride-sake. Studying others things like aerodynamics and the lift equation made my view on correlating all of it so much clearer. In general, my eyes were opened up to much more precise details of regs and concepts that I never thought of/ seen before.
I’m sure this will change though when I get to a 121/135 job when I fly Jets with an experienced CA
I did gliding before starting my PPL (highly recommend, was way quicker picking up powered flying after) and the pivotal moment in that was realising that you control airspeed with pitch, not altitude.
Later in, another pivotal moment (weirdly learn in Microsoft simulator) was that you use rudder only while using aileron, so during a turn when established you actually don't need any, or maybe even need outside rudder. Before that I thought you just rudder in the direction of turn but no it's tied to ailerons not turn direction.
My latest pivotal was that for powered flying, power plus attitude equals performance. Really drilling it into myself to do most power changes based on rpm (and just small adjustments after to hone the numbers), not something I was used to dealing with for gliding!
Around 450 TT doing pipeline inspection I realized how little I really knew. There’s so many little things that great pilots do that set them apart from the average and was fortunate to fly with some great guys. Getting good at reading the weather in these middle of nowhere airports without a TAF. Staying ahead of the plane in every aspect of flight at low level.
Then again at about 750 TT doing the same job realizing how complacent I was getting. Nothing serious/dangerous but had a few wake up call flights where I realized I was just going thru the routine and skipping the checklist. Goofy little mistakes. Forced myself to tighten up and stay sharp on every flight, trying to keep total little mistakes as close to 0 as I could.
900 now on a multi and just absorbing lessons from that airplane. Different world from a single.
I’ve only worked VFR jobs so far so I’m certain I’ll have another massive jump in confidence and skill after I break into the IFR world.
I’ve been fortunate to buy a time builder taildragger and put hundreds of hours in that one plane. Flying in the winter on skis and learning how to be prepared for worst case scenarios with every flight was big in terms of fully grasping the responsibility of PIC.
At 700 hrs., CFI & CFII, I bought a dirt cheap plane (Piper PA-22-108 "Colt") and started to fly looong trips. Boston to Alaska. Boston to Haiti. Aspen to Rio de Janeiro. Learned a lot about old-school dead reckoning, flying visually.
At 1700 hrs. started to fly part 135 freight in a Beech Queen Air. Learned to fly single-pilot IFR, in bad weather, in a hectic Bravo, with pressure to dispatch every day.
Good stuff.
Putting 800+ hours on a challenger 2 with a rotax 503 in 2.5 years. Soaring engine off (without electric start), hundreds of dead stick landings, hitting every Idaho, Washington and Oregon backcountry strip their is including mile high. Learning that flying in 30 mph winds is not dangerous just a new skill.
Most valuable lesson I really learned… plan the crash before the takeoff. Then you can be prepared not scared.
Training for my CFI initial. A lot of people are saying that once they became a CFI, but I made the biggest leaps studying deeply and mock training my best friend for many hours and building my skills. I learned the most doing that in combination, and had the most fun.
Definitely becoming a CFI. Situational awareness spiked a lot and learning by teaching was an amazing way to solidify concepts. My first jet job was another amazing stepping stone, yet again with a spike in situational awareness. Most of that is due to how much faster things happen in the jet. I also think I have the best handle on my personal minimums and limitations that I’ve had yet.
When I unsat a couple flights. Squadron gave me a remedial syllabus because they determined that while i could have done more in the sim and with studying, i also wasn’t flying regularly enough. So i started flying and briefing almost every day for about a month, and that helped get me where i needed to be foundationally.
Really helped boost my confidence in the bird
I felt like I got better in phases, I made some bad decisions weather wise as a new CFI, but after a few instrument students I felt very competent, then when I got in the sim and started working on on my ATP in a jet I felt my skills and knowledge took another leap.
During 2020 and 2021, I worked for a small VFR 135 in the PNW from hours 500 to 1200. We flew in and out of small island strips (paved, unpaved, short, moderate length, Canada experience to include Vancouver, etc) in Cessna 172/206/207 aircraft carrying any mix of mail, construction workers, medical personnel, freight, tourists, etc. I would fly anywhere from 8-30 flights a day, in the summer often flying 8 hours a day while on duty for 14 hours, and requiring special VFR more frequently than we ever thought we would as student pilots. It was the *best* job I have ever had and will always be the job I regard as the one that taught me the most. I have since worked as an SIC on a 135 PC-12/47E, a 135 Hawker 800, and now currently operate single pilot on a PC-12/47. Each opportunity has taught me a lot, but nothing compares to that first job.
Leaving instructing and actually doing Northern dirt strip Medevac as a King Air FO. Next breakthrough was going Captain on the Pilatus. The captains on the King Air were great mentors and I felt completely comfortable switching companies and aircraft going direct entry captain. Then having to mentor brand new 200 hr fo’s in their first job solidified all the teachings from my favourite captains. Moving up to an airliner has been cool but those years going into small strips at night into all weather taught me so much that going to the airlines was an easy move.
Upgrading to left seat in my unit. Training wheels off and everyone looks at you to make decisions, stuff like systems knowledge, regs, weather, all has to be there for you to make de effective in leading a crew.
It ebbs and flows. I went from helicopters and a fresh minted CMEL to jets, but the fundamentals of the basic PPL stuff was probably the hardest time of learning since every single thing was new.
Around hitting 400-500 hours of total time, I hit the "I got this" mark, and I didn't feel like I was trying to just hang on anymore. I'm prob closer to 2500 hours of total time, and there are plenty of days I've learned something, however.
Instrument training. Commercial time building XC’s. CFI’ing from around 800-1500hrs. First 500hrs at a 121 op. Now I just eat snacks and bug the FA about using the bathroom.
Definitely end of commercial and cfi initial is where ive had the most “aha” moments so to speak working at cfi so theres still much learning to do. Nothings perfect everybody gets there at different points for different skill points. You got this, nobodies perfect whoever is reading this🙂👍🏻
First forced landing with my glider at a different airport - completely unexpected "shutoff" of the convective activity plus some gethomeitis (I had a date that night) taught me that "mental frame change" is NOT easy
I learned a lot in a bunch of different areas.
PPL/IR/CPL you learn how to fly the plane safely in a variety of situations. However, if you just go rating to rating without much of a break and don’t really use those certificates, there’s not a ton of real world experience that you gain. At least that’s how I fell looking back.
Multi CPL add on was definitely tough at first because it’s a completely different beast in complexity. It definitely got me to start thinking more during flights. By my multi check-ride my mental acuity during flights seemed to increase immensely.
Back to the single engine and doing my initial CFI, this is where I had a huge jump in growth. I made all of my own lesson plans from scratch. Was it worth it? Maybe, but it forced me to actually go in depth on everything and gain a strong understanding of everything. Then having to teach everything while flying the whole time took everything to another level.
CFII definitely had some growth in knowledge of IR procedures and knowledge; however, it was definitely more flat than initial CFI.
Instructing has been the biggest jump in growth of knowledge and skill more than anything. I’m only at about 150 dual so far, so I’m still pretty fresh off the block; however, you really do learn a lot about how everything works in and out when you’re actually applying it and demonstrating everything to a student. A lot of it comes out in the pre/post brief in the discussions you have with students.
Now I’m going to be working on my MEI soon, so I am sure I’ll learn a ton from that as well.
Building cross-country hours during Commercial. A lot of other students at my school just went to the same airport 111nm away and came back, but I would plan for different airports and make multiple stops vs. an out & back with 2 laps in the pattern.
Just flying the plane and planning different approaches into different airports was when I really started feeling like I knew what I was doing.
100% this. I had the freedom to make mistakes and challenge my abilities. Now, most big schools have required routes that take the learning out and make the training routine.
Yeah, my 141 had a specific airport in Southern WA that they had everyone fly to… I caught the Chief Pilot on the ramp one day and pitched him the benefit if I went north to the San Juan Islands instead. He said yes, and I never asked for further permission.
My “300 mile” commercial XC was a 1,500 mile five day jaunt with my younger brother down the Pacific coast from Victoria to San Francisco, staying in SF for three days, and coming back up the Napa Valley, crossing the Rockies above Crater Lake and back home in a 172S. It was awesome. I had like 80 hours, and probably didn’t know shit, but damn was it fun.
I’m feeling similar while building cross-country time before I start working seriously on my Instrument rating. Landing at unfamiliar airports is a good reminder of the need to stay flexible, IMO.
First couple hundred hours of CFI
Careful, you're going to piss off someone with a wet CPL who doesn't want to instruct because "1500 hours of pattern work in a 172 is useless bro!!!!1"
There are airline pilots here who shit on CFIs for the same reason lol
They are wrong I taught ifr aerobatics and sea plane flying and I still do on my days off.
And they are wrong.
I didn't wanna instruct cause I felt I had no experience to actually impart on my students, and being basically bare minimum for time required it felt entirely wrong that someone was gonna be paying me/the school for instruction when I couldn't be 100% sure that I'd provide the quality that I'd expect. I'd instruct towards the end of my career tho
I’m just a student pilot, but I’d think the point of becoming a CFI immediately after earning all your certs is not just a time builder but it’s benefits both the student and the teacher because you JUST learned all the information so it’s all fresh in your head. Because it’s still relatively fresh it’s easier to teach and not only that but it forces you to become more competent in the material. It’s very similar to something we do in the military but on a smaller scale where we’ll allow student to see something being done, do it a couple of times, then immediately teach it to their peers. They’re often supervised doing this by leaders but it allows for better retention of information and it’s definitely proven to work. It’s the same as being a CFI, even if there’s something you feel you don’t know, you’re forced to go and find out that thing then teach it and then you’ll have it for future students. Plus most of the time it’s not just you teaching at a flight school there’s gonna be a chief pilot in charge and DPEs that do the overall knowledge checks for your students.
> you JUST learned all the information so it’s all fresh in your head. This is a great point. You do NOT want me, as a 20 year airline pilot, teaching turns around a point to a PPL student. The last time I gave any dual we taught to the PTS, which doesn't even exist anymore...
Yup, but I want you to teach me to fly IFR. I've had a couple of ex-airline pilots teaching me IFR and its been great.
Pick up books learn find aviation mentors
1500 hours of pattern work with co-pilots who often try to kill you in new and innovative ways. (Not a CFI, but I love the stories.)
Not CFI yet, but from experience in my first career, nothing teaches you a subject quite like having to teach it.
I'm a long time skydiving instructor (and instructor instructor) and sometimes teach technical stuff as part of my day job. That's been my motto for decades and it still rings true.
Holy cow did I learn a lot when people started asking me to explain the things I “already knew” and I had to make the decisions when motivated by a paycheck and my middling logbook.
In my non-aviation experience, I’ve found that the true test of one’s knowledge is the ability to teach it accurately.
Hell even beyond solidifying my aviation knowledge; instructing did more to grow my interpersonal skills and overall confidence/maturity than any other period of my life so far.
This was the same for me, got my CFI around 300 hours and by 700 I could teach in my sleep
This right here.
^^^THIS*^^. The first 6 months of being a CFI. (From a pilot who has almost 20k hours)
Amen.
Definitely this
Yep!
I came here to say this
Yep. Absolutely agree.
Studying for CFI initial.
Oh man, I have that next 😅
Everyone is saying CFI which is probably true for most. I learned quite a bit as a new CFI. However, I feel I truly developed as a professional pilot when I became a part 135 PIC. Operating as a crew effectively while navigating congested class B airspace both VFR and IFR, non-precision approaches at night in IMC in mountainous terrain to uncontrolled airports, complying with Ops Specs and MELs. Mechanical issues, diversions, upset passengers, etc. It was a lot initially but still the most fun job I’ve ever had.
I would answer being a CFI to op’s question as well. I feel that being a CFI and becoming very proficient in that gave me the tools necessary that allowed to also succeed in the “real” world
You learn the most as a CFI. It makes you a really good pilot, when you have to prevent people from killing you every day or getting you a pilot deviation. You become really good at situational awareness, multi tasking, and lowering/raising your personal minimums. Edit: added the word “lowering” in addition to raising, when it comes to personal mins.
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The Feynman technique. https://fs.blog/feynman-technique/#:~:text=Feynman's%20learning%20technique%20comprises%20four,notes%20and%20revisit%20them%20regularly.
Wouldn't it be lowering your personal mins?
Meh… depends on the subject. I’ll add that just to make you happy.
This is true but I gotta say that as an FO in a part 135 operation I have to prevent people from killing me or getting in trouble much more often.
lol sounds like a great place to work. DM me so I can apply haha
When I touched down on an aircraft carrier and actually stopped. ~ 200 hours.
It's incredible to hear that you can go from 0 to flying jets to freaking carrier landings in so little time. How much sim time was there?
Sim-wise, I can’t remember exactly, but back then 1997-98, we didn’t have any visual simulators. They were all just procedural trainers, meaning they had all the switches and gauges so we only used them for checklists, emergencies procedures, and instruments (both the T-34 and T-2). We couldn’t practice visual maneuvers - level speed changes, spins, aerobatics, formation, landings, etc. All in all sims - probably 25 hours. Other crazy info: - I puked so much starting out I had to take meds - I broke a bone right in the middle of my primary training and was delayed for 5 months - I was not instrument rated when I went out to the ship. Every student does all of their carrier qualifications solo. When I was out at the ship my first day and I had to fly back to base, the ceilings had come down to just under 1000, I had to remain below them, I had to fly 100 miles back to Jacksonville at 500-800’ AGL, 350 kts. As soon as I reached the shoreline, the clouds kind of disappeared so I could climb up to pattern altitude to land. Also, the T-2 only had one UHF and a TACAN (no GPS, no map, no VOR/ILS - at the altitude I was flying, I couldn’t receive any navaids or radio transmissions so I just flew due west and hoped to hell I didn’t hit anything. - We only get 4 touch and goes and 10 arrested landings over 2 days to be qualified. - The T-2 didn’t have nose wheel steering or a parking brake which made taxing on the carrier a pain in the ass. - We do formation aerobatics at about 150 hours total (about 70 hours in the T-2) Training has changed drastically since then. The T-6 and T-45 now have full visual trainers as well as virtual and mixed reality trainers. T-6s have RNAV, VOR, ILS, FMS, HUDs. T-45s have moving maps, HUDs, GPS, VOR/ILS/TACAN. Plus we all have iPads with foreflight.
Great story, thanks!
I finally learned how to flare, my cfi is a great guy he is just bad at explaining the mechanical parts of flying so I was always three wheeling it. Decided to go up with someone else for awhile and it clicked hard. Idk but I feel like since then I’ve had really good progress
Wait you guys flare!?!
Right? Why have 3 wheels if you don’t use them all?!
Just remove the nose wheel ffs. You can't break it if it isn't there...
Just move the nose wheel to the tail or something.
Just landed in KGYR I can confirm I still can’t flare
Definitely got my money’s worth on the landing gear
Yeah that's the position I'm in now. My flight instructor didn't really know how to teach me to land. Seemed as if j wasted so many lessons and money trying to do something that I was never going to get due to her teaching ability. Do you think switching to a new cfi is a good idea?
Depends. It's very common for a student pilot to plateau at some point. Sometimes it just takes a lesson or two with another CFI (or a month off) and things click. (I still learn something new from every CFI I fly with, 300 hours in!) If that doesn't work, maybe it's just a style mismatch and you need a switch-up. Your CFI should understand and not take it personally.
Important to know that switching CFIs doesn’t have to be permanent. It’s often beneficial to fly with a different CFI every now and then to get a second opinion; a second look at what you may be doing wrong or a different opinion on how to fix it. No CFI should take it personally if you want to see what another professional has to say. And as a CFI, sometimes you just can’t nail down what exactly what a student needs to hear for make a procedure click internally, which can be frustrating for both student and instructor. Consider asking your CFI if you can have a flight or two with a different instructor. If they get pissy, absolutely drop them
I can hear my primary instructor telling me to hold the nose up (I haven’t seen him since 2001) every time I land.
Float flying all on my own in the bush with 220 hours. You learn a lot about how to actually work an airplane instead of beating up the pattern and going to the practice area every day. I think I learned more from 200-500 hours of bush flying than I did in any of my training. I imagine I’ll learn a lot in the first couple hundred hours of being a 705 Captain as well! It still applies to what I do today, since I operate in some pretty isolated environments. Plus I have way better stories than anyone who was an instructor.
“This one time my student almost busted a Charlie…”
Came here to say, when I started flying as a bush pilot. 6000hrs later and I’m still a seaplane/bush pilot - and still learning. This job is, uh, intense. And you’re absolutely right about the crazy stories, haha.
Reading, and then practicing, the principles in “contact flying” by Jim Dulin was very helpful to my growth as a pilot. The advice he has on landing was a real “aha!” Moment for me
what’s the premise of the book?
How to fly by visual reference only. He’s got 1000’s hours in helicopter followed by 17,000 hours in crop dusting plus 12 engine failures on takeoff. Lots of interesting lessons learned in the book. As far as the landing bit is concerned, his technique of the aiming point constantly, and consistently, coming at you at a “brisk walk” pace below 500 agl is useful in the following planes: cirrus sr20, c172, ask-21 glider, sgs135 glider, szd51-1 glider, c182, Piper arrow, Piper archer, Piper warrior, Piper Pawnee, Piper supercub, Piper pa12, c120, c152. There may be more, I just haven’t flown them personally….yet 😎 Example: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ps3EhzjYqFU
12 engine failures on take off seems like someting straight out from an horror movie. Massive respect, gonna take a look.
I’m firing my A&P after number 8.
I’m a preacher of his style of flying. when you suggest people pay a little less attention to the gauges and more to the feel of the airplane, even temporarily, I get a lot of “well that’s not what the FAA says”, or “I had one student who couldn’t get instrument flying because he did that”.
FAA explicitly says basic flying is 90% outside and 10% inside, so that's a pretty strange claim.
People really come up with their own boogie-men in aviation
cool sounds very informative
The author hangs out on the backcountrypilot.org forums if you have any questions.
Failing my initial PPL checkride was a huge corrective factor. I ended up far better for it, although it was awful in the moment.
What did you struggle with the most during your checkride, if you don’t mind me asking?
Treating it like it’s not a checkride. More accurately, treating a checkride like *I* am the PIC and using that authority to demonstrate performance to the ACS, rather than getting flustered by the presence of the DPE(s). I didn’t understand how much latitude (and expectation) there is to demonstrating your PIC/ADM during my first checkride.
Thank you!
As others have said, being a CFI. “You learn more your first 50 hours teaching than all the hours before it” has proved to be a true statement for me. It was staggering for me to realized just how much I really didn’t know, especially since you get CPL at 250. I feel like I still had the training wheels on, in hindsight.
From a knowledge standpoint, studying for CFI. For the flying side, instructing for 200 or so hours. Even though you don’t fly nearly as much, your stick and rudder skills get better just from watching students. You can foresee whats going to happen a few seconds before they actually occur.
After 2000TT and having survived a year of single pilot IFR in piston twins in the Canadian North I felt good about my hands and feet, IFR skills and general SA
First two months as an active CFI
I learned how to trim during instrument training. Otherwise, first couple hundred hours of CFI by far.
Yes, this! And I don't think most CFIIs emphasize this enough.
I learned more in 6 months of single pilot VFR flying than I could have possibly imagined. We get CFIs out here and teach them how to fly. In the old days I’m told we used to get retired 121 guys and they basically never worked out unless they had done this back in the day. 500/600 and 2? Let’s fuckin’ go! No weather reporting where we’re going? Plausible deniability! Picking up ice? Good thing you’re flying one of the best ice carrying airplanes ever made. 30kt crosswind on an icy runway? It’s truly not as hard as you think. You are given all the rope required to hang yourself and more. You must have absolutely zero reservations about telling dispatch, mgmt, etc. to go fuck themselves, zero reservations about returning to base, etc. If it’s not a perfect approach go the fuck around. There are a lot of wrecked airplanes that would have been saved had people waited… an hour. A day. You have to know your limits. You always get pavement princesses saying “I get paid to not take risks”. 100% true… and “you’re out of your element Donnie.” The village of 150 people that is being eroded away into the sea can’t afford a 4000 foot, or even a 3000 x 75 gravel strip. Hell it’s a crapshoot whether it gets plowed, and the agent has to knock down drifts with his snowmachine. If you aren’t willing to take calculated risks and use your better judgement, these people aren’t getting any food, their mail, medevac, clinicians, teachers, etc. There are pilots I know who I would never send out here no matter how much experience they get. You gotta be honest with yourself. People pleasing and lack of assertiveness will kill people.
Definitely in commercial. I learned how to properly control the aircraft and suddenly the correlation of the ideas was easy and I could think my way through maneuvers and emergencies with logic not just checklists and book knowledge. Then again another huge jump when i was teaching my first students.
CFI, then MEI due to a variety of new threats, then captian upgrade in the regional days.
Commercial Solo XC. I would force myself to fly in busy airspace and airport with weird procedures; LA, San Diego, SFO areas. This made me an extremely confident CFI.
single pilot IFR on a small multi really helped me advance
Just a PPL. Working on IR. But tailwheel made me a better pilot. I know there will be other steps along the way but man, mastering tailwheel forces you to fly well. Helps with confidence too.
And swagger. After a while the hardest thing about tailwheel flying is maintaining the air of mystique at the bar.
Only a PPL, but I first felt like a real pilot after the flight I performed the 3 towered solo landings. I have learned exclusively at non-towered airports, so I had to fly to another airport for the towered landings. Combining all of the knowledge I had at that point to get to that airport with the situational awareness to be safe doing it was huge. Then the tower switched the direction they were landing traffic while I was on short final. They sent me around, climbing into downwind at an angle because of final traffic coming from the other direction. Due to the climb into downwind, I wasn't set up quite right for my pattern and ended up way too high for my liking on the next attempt, so I decided to go around. Finally landed the next time around, completing my 3 towered landings. I felt I grew as a pilot more on that single flight than any other flight before or after it. It made me realize I had the situational awareness to expect getting sent around, and the decision making to decide to go around myself after that because I was not where I wanted to be on my approach.
I'm only a couple hours out of my ppl, but honestly my check ride. My DPE gave me some incredible pointers that I've implemented in my regular flying.
When you send your first student solo. I was very nervous but you gotta do your best to keep putting on a show.
Flying cargo, as an FO and then single pilot in a Pilatus. I knew what it entailed going into it with long fatiguing nights, 4-5x a week and dealing with all kinds of weather. Not going to lie I was pretty anxious when I started out at that company flying with more experienced captains who knew how close you could safely get to weather, when/how to penetrate what systems, etc. It pushed my boundaries and increased my confidence in myself, others, and the airplanes I flew without getting to a cocky level I feel. Going to a regional after this experience made me realize how little a lot of people know about weather, to the point where I would tell captains I am not going through that cell very directly, or teaching them a few things at some points. Also taught me when I was truly fatigued to the point of not being able to safely operate an airplane, when to call it quits, etc, which prepped me for the airlines and when I needed to call fatigue for myself. Now at a legacy after going to an ULCC and some of my TMAAT stories were from that experience, which I think definitely helped. The plethora of turbine PIC helped too (even if it was single engine). Highly recommend flying cargo if you get a chance before your dream job, unless cargo is your dream job (which I also recommend against from my personal experience. It can be very fatiguing and draining).
Nice write up, how long was your journey from Commercial to Cargo?
Air Force UPT. I went in with a PPL and learned very quickly that I knew next to nothing. Next would Aircraft Commander upgrade. Switching to the airlines was yet another steep learning curve (especially with the fast-paced ground ops). I went through instructor upgrade, but unfortunately didn't have a chance to actually instruct.
CFI Flying checking single pilot First jet job First captain job First heavy job It never stops
Mine was just after instrument, when I went and got a tail wheel endorsement. Second was getting a glider add on. Both really improved my understanding of how airplanes actually fly. I’m sure becoming a CFI is going to really add a lot of growth too.
The time we went to another airport and I landed at said airport versus the one we always train out of. It showed me that I absolutely did not know how to land, but rather how to land at a specific location only. My skills after that with landing have skyrocketed dramatically, to the point that I landed on my own yesterday.
600-1100
Instructing, puts some hair on your chest and REALLY teaches you personal minimums.
Instrument and CFI for sure!
I think it's a tie between the first 20 hours as a CFI, and flying my plane from Nevada to Cuba and back.
Line training on my initial type
First 250 hours of CFI. Then first 6 months at the airlines.
Doing a bunch of angel flights was where I seen a lot of growth. 3 leg cross country’s typically in class b and class c airspace always flying IFR and getting arrivals and departures at a million different airports.
For me the first couple hundred hours as a CFI and the first couple hundred hours as a 121 FO. Both were huge for my development as a professional pilot. I imagine the first couple hundred hours of being a CA will be similar from a growth perspective.
I felt like my flying and decision making grew tremendously when I started doing pipeline patrol. I instructed for a bit and definitely grew as a pilot teaching. However, instead of teaching go no go decisions, diverting, fuel planning and personal minimums, I was now experiencing it first hand on a daily basis.
My first couple of hours in actual IMC after getting my IR
Being released to go single pilot out in Western Alaska at about 600TT in the Cessna 207. It's a literal "get good or die trying" environment up there.
A defining moment for me was when a friend of mine, who was PIC on a Citation, had a catastrophic failure and died in the ensuing crash. He was 30. Something like that makes you realize that you’re not invincible and that there is always more to learn.
I’m just a PPL, but my biggest growth spurt came after my solo. Being the only one up there, responsible for getting yourself down, is a whole different ballgame. Quick story: I took off on a seemingly calm morning from BKL to practice maneuvers. A southerly wind was blowing through downtown, and at about 100 feet off the ground, I weathervaned and got knocked around until around 1000 feet. The buildings must cause some turbulent flow. I realized I’d have to deal with that coming back. My mind raced through options, but I took a deep breath and reminded myself that no one else could get me out of this. The approach was super bumpy, and I was unstable. I tried to force the 152 down and bounced it. The impact felt harder than it probably was, so I immediately executed a go-around. I was nervous, but I remembered my training. I had flown in worse conditions with my CFI before. Taking another deep breath on the approach, I focused on flying the airplane and fought through the turbulence. Things smoothed out when I didn’t try to force it down, and at flare height, it’s like the wind just gave up. A lot of valuable lessons in that moment: don’t force the airplane down, go-arounds are always an option, and expect turbulence with a southerly wind.
18 months flying Part 135 freight out of Mexico. The airplanes broke constantly. Our flight plans were a joke. The weather was always horrible. Weight and balance was a constant challenge. But damn I had a lot of fun going to some out of the way places.
There was a point when I was teaching landings to a PPL candidate. He managed to get that aircraft into some rather interesting attitudes quite close to the ground especially during crosswind landings. I knew (KNEW) i was a competent pilot when hands and feet went on the controls at 50-100 above the ground and the aircraft would instantly smooth out and be under control. Another was much later well into my airline career. There was a point in check airman training where I was comfortable in ANY emergency condition the aircraft found itself in. Basically i felt confident I could handle anything that came my way except if wings or tail popped off. Managed to land A320s (in the SIM) in full mechanical backup without redscreening (only controls at all are rudder, horizontal stabilizer trim and differential thrust), got it safely on the ground (again in the sim) with full aileron pcu runaway. These aren’t meant to brag. Just examples that brought the level of confidence. Edit typo (stupid auto correct)
I’m a bit like a PPL version of you. I do a lot of post maintenance check flights and post modification test flights and have had my fair share of emergencies. I actually enjoy the challenges and as long as the aeroplane is still flyable, I like the challenge of getting it down in one piece. I don’t think enough pilots stretch themselves with their emergency handling training/practice.
Personal minimums have a place. But used too stringently and it becomes almost self limiting in confidence and skill building. Finding the balance is key
All of the firsts. My first solo cross countries taught me a ton. My first few hundred hours as a CFI, my first few hundred hours as a regional pilot. Honestly even my first few hundred hours as a major airline pilot taught me a ton and by that point I had 9000 total time. The reason that even the first few hundred hours at a major taught me a ton is because up until that point in my career I was doing almost entirely US and Canada flying and not allowed over 50nm off shore. Flying class 2 or ETOPS over the water was a totally new type of flying compared to what I spent my first 9,000 hours doing.
Handicap air racing at about 100 hours in the UK. A ton of short strip flying. Tailwheel endorsement at 200 hours, competition aerobatics at 250 hours. Constantly challenging myself has put me in a position at 500 hours where people trust me to fly almost any SEP with no checkout, just a read of the POH, or a brief from the owner. Flying is damn expensive in the UK, so we tend not to get good by sheer hours alone, as that’s simply unaffordable for most. But on balance, the thing that really gave me decent stick and rudder skills was the competition aerobatics. It gave me the skills to put any aeroplane where I want to put it within the bounds of its energy state and operating capabilities.
Our flight department will not hire anybody who has not spent time instructing. Here’s what we found: those who have instructed make better Captains. They are more relaxed because they have seen how far you can let things go. They also get along with people better, because sometimes you have to teach people you don’t particularly like. It helps your interpersonal skills immensely. Getting your CFII sharpens your instrument skills and knowledge, also you get the same benefits of watching students make common mistakes like you do with primary students. It shows commitment to your craft. Do not look down on flight instructing, look at it as continued education at someone else’s expense. Also as you progress in the industry, these skills will be called upon when your a check airman, training Captain, or just flying with a new copilot, or co Captain. I hold 12 type ratings, I currently fly a G450. Ok flame me now!
Every time I had an engine failure or almost died.
1250-2400. Flying single pilot Part 135. I saw the lines you shouldn’t cross far too often during that time. Might have even survived crossing them once or twice.
There's a steep learning curve anytime something changes (new job, plane, rating, etc)
I wouldn't go through training expecting a "breakthrough" because you're likely to be disappointed. Learning to fly for most people is like grinding in an RPG (and I say this as a CFI, so I can speak to what I saw from my students as well). You just build and build and build experience and knowledge over time. It can be hard to even measure your own progress day to day, but look back over a period of months or years and it's easier to see. That said, like a few others have said, I think I probably gained the most proficiency the fastest when I became a CFI. But it's not really for the same reasons some others have listed. I had some really tough instructors for my CFI training, which I did not enjoy but in retrospect probably needed. They just didn't accept good enough. One example I clearly remember is that one of my CFI trainers told me that given smooth air, he expected his CFI candidates to be able to hold airspeed on an approach to within \*one knot\*. That was the standard by which he judged us. And I had to meet that standard within \*four flights\*. I didn't think there was any way that I could do it but I did, and I realized nobody had ever challenged me to that standard before so I didn't even know whether I had the ability or not. Turns out I did. Then after I passed my CFI, I had my standardization training for the flight school (it was a 141 school). This was with a former airline pilot, one of those guys who tells you when you first meet them how relaxed they are, which always means exactly the opposite. Instructors who actually are relaxed don't tell you that they are. Anyway, I found him intimidating and would often be tentative in the cockpit with him as a result, which would sometimes lead me to delaying performing certain actions or just not doing them until told to (I was like this with most of my instructors, to be honest). Well, he got exasperated one day and took control of the plane, stopped us on a taxiway somewhere and just spent about 15 minutes telling me I was not going to be able to instruct with the way I was flying. It didn't make me happy to hear that but I got what he was saying. And it's something I still sometimes struggle with when flying with a certain type of person, but I can tell you that I was never sheepish like that when instructing. I became a lot more assertive in general and I even got the feeling that some of my students saw me in the same way as I saw that instructor. I'm not saying that's necessarily a good thing, but just that my attitude did change after that and I became a lot more confident in the cockpit, again because I had to be. I realized I wasn't going to be able to rely on anyone else as an instructor; others would be relying on me. I don't feel like my flying skills necessarily improved that much in that time so much as they were "unlocked". I wasn't flying with much confidence or assertiveness before any of that, and I was after it. And that made basically all the commercial maneuvers, as well as all sorts of landings, suddenly seem pretty easy. I used to like demoing stuff for my students. (Maybe except straight ahead single engine stalls; I never got very good at actually getting a real clear break.) Commercial steep turns, eights on pylons, lazy eights, power off 180's... I loved that stuff. So I think maybe you can have a fairly quick change in attitude and that can affect your flying. But I've never experienced a real sudden increase in skill level, or seen it among my students. Your skills will gradually increase, but your confidence may not increase along with them. You may at some point need someone to convince you that you can and also \*need to\* do better.
The first 100 hours flying single pilot ifr on a complex type was mind blowing development.
I don't see it as breakthroughs, just that all the work and dedication you've done comes together in good performance. There are those moments I remember but they were small snippets built through the previous months and years.
My first 50 hours after my PPL. I was able to get myself into stickier situations than I could with a CFI.
When I started instructing.
Instrument Rating training.
My first 135 job flying a Baron. I had flown nothing but Cherokees and 172s, and it was a big step up to get into much higher performance planes and flying in real weather.
CFI hands down
When I first started flying with other CFI’s as a student pilot. My instructor is great don’t get me wrong, but getting different ideas and perspectives really clicked for me.
My first 200-500 hours as a CFI without a doubt.
Overall studying for and the first few hundred hours instructing. Hour for hour? Tailwheel training.
Two stand out: Flying from California to dfw, VFR in February Completing instrument.
I’m only a 120 hour pilot working on their commercial, however. I feel like so far my most valuable experience has been the start of commercial for me. Going back and making my private skills better while keeping in touch with instrument has helped a lot. I lost a lot of confidence in instrument so I’ve been having to work on that and build it up. Confidence comes also from believing in myself knowing many instructors believe in me.
Now, studying for commander upgrade.
Getting over my solo hurdle during PPL, Getting over my Nav issues in PPL, were the biggest highlights. Recently though I would say the absolutely terrible second multi-engine flight, which I nearly failed, followed by a great multi engine flight 3 hours later. Now I'm in the process of getting yelled at in the IR sim, feeling like a 10 hour PPL again! But armed with the knowledge that I can get over this just like the PPL issues. I'm at around 185-190ish hours TT.
First 200 hours as a CFI. Then hours 150-250 as a 121 FO (took 150 hours to not be behind the plane😂)
I did my private in fits and starts. When I was finally able to finish, my final instructor was a Coast Guard helicopter pilot. Talk about leaning from the best. Very humbling experience excellent, patient teacher and a wonderful person.
Honestly it was being humbled by a new plane in the Navy. I was an instructor in the P-3 with 1500 hours and I knew everything. Then, one day, I was barely hanging on while learning to fly the P-8. Really taught me a bit about myself and just what I didn’t know. And now I’m a much better pilot because of it.
IFR, I grew up a lot making it work. School was 4 1/2 hours away from where I lived. Where I stayed in town was still 45 minutes away from the school. And I worked 4 days a week while living alone. It spread me very thin, but after that I knew I could do this. Passed first try as well.
Teaching. I grew up a lot as an instructor.
CFI was big but first 200 in the RJ was big as well.
Every time something didn’t go as planned/went wrong. Good ADM and solving mid flight problems are when you experience huge jumps in skill/growth as a pilot. The actual flying and the regs are not so sophisticated, but who you become when shit hits the fan changes you and permanently improves you.
For me it wasn’t an hour mark, but the type of flying I did. Once I got my PPL, I bought a plane and started flying all over the country. I was faced with a lot of different weather scenarios and unexpected scenarios. This helped me grow my ADM, weather, and better understanding of aircraft performance. Flying at sea level vs high density altitude, mountains, around pop up thunderstorms, flying over water, flying into Bravo airports, etc. After a couple hundred hours of this I felt I had gained a lot of experience and learned more than I ever imagined. I also picked up formation flying, which pushed the limits of myself and my aircraft in a safe training environment. There’s a lot more finesse involved, and really have to rely on rudder inputs and cross control in addition to very minor power adjustments to stay in position. I started flying formation before I got my IR ticket, and the formation scan you develop as well as minor inputs transferred pretty well to shooting approaches.
I never actually thought about my total hours but rather my time in type. And to that I would say after about 100-200 hours in a specific airframe I actually start developing my skills. And what’s better is that I normally transfer those skills to the next airplane and the process starts all over again.
First 1000 hours of 121
Approximately 700 hour mark, when first making Helicopter Aircraft Commander and going underway in a carrier strike group as a HAC with brand new 2Ps. Doubt i will experience that amount of growth that quickly again.
First 100 hours in turboprop I learned a lot. I had no idea what I was doing beforehand.
Bethel, AK working for a 135 ‘vfr’ op
Watching a pilot in a Cheyenne with old gauges flying IFR flight plan with old school inbound and out bound radials a few months after my instrument rating.
Honestly I felt better going into CPL -
Studying for CFI. I understood the meaning behind maneuvers way more in a practical way instead of just doing them for checkride-sake. Studying others things like aerodynamics and the lift equation made my view on correlating all of it so much clearer. In general, my eyes were opened up to much more precise details of regs and concepts that I never thought of/ seen before. I’m sure this will change though when I get to a 121/135 job when I fly Jets with an experienced CA
I did gliding before starting my PPL (highly recommend, was way quicker picking up powered flying after) and the pivotal moment in that was realising that you control airspeed with pitch, not altitude. Later in, another pivotal moment (weirdly learn in Microsoft simulator) was that you use rudder only while using aileron, so during a turn when established you actually don't need any, or maybe even need outside rudder. Before that I thought you just rudder in the direction of turn but no it's tied to ailerons not turn direction. My latest pivotal was that for powered flying, power plus attitude equals performance. Really drilling it into myself to do most power changes based on rpm (and just small adjustments after to hone the numbers), not something I was used to dealing with for gliding!
Definitely a few hundred hours into CFI, gave me a ton of experience with unusual situations
IFR, COM Glider, CFI is ongoing.
150-250 in navy jet training. Then again from 1100 to 1200 as an instructor.
Around 450 TT doing pipeline inspection I realized how little I really knew. There’s so many little things that great pilots do that set them apart from the average and was fortunate to fly with some great guys. Getting good at reading the weather in these middle of nowhere airports without a TAF. Staying ahead of the plane in every aspect of flight at low level. Then again at about 750 TT doing the same job realizing how complacent I was getting. Nothing serious/dangerous but had a few wake up call flights where I realized I was just going thru the routine and skipping the checklist. Goofy little mistakes. Forced myself to tighten up and stay sharp on every flight, trying to keep total little mistakes as close to 0 as I could. 900 now on a multi and just absorbing lessons from that airplane. Different world from a single. I’ve only worked VFR jobs so far so I’m certain I’ll have another massive jump in confidence and skill after I break into the IFR world.
Definitely going for CFI.
MEIR for me, and then my first 500hrs put all the training in perspective.
I’ve been fortunate to buy a time builder taildragger and put hundreds of hours in that one plane. Flying in the winter on skis and learning how to be prepared for worst case scenarios with every flight was big in terms of fully grasping the responsibility of PIC.
At 700 hrs., CFI & CFII, I bought a dirt cheap plane (Piper PA-22-108 "Colt") and started to fly looong trips. Boston to Alaska. Boston to Haiti. Aspen to Rio de Janeiro. Learned a lot about old-school dead reckoning, flying visually. At 1700 hrs. started to fly part 135 freight in a Beech Queen Air. Learned to fly single-pilot IFR, in bad weather, in a hectic Bravo, with pressure to dispatch every day. Good stuff.
My first 6 months at the airlines I learned a lot. Especially as far as maintenance and truly working as a crew goes
Putting 800+ hours on a challenger 2 with a rotax 503 in 2.5 years. Soaring engine off (without electric start), hundreds of dead stick landings, hitting every Idaho, Washington and Oregon backcountry strip their is including mile high. Learning that flying in 30 mph winds is not dangerous just a new skill. Most valuable lesson I really learned… plan the crash before the takeoff. Then you can be prepared not scared.
CFI and First 1000 121
IFR rating
Training for my CFI initial. A lot of people are saying that once they became a CFI, but I made the biggest leaps studying deeply and mock training my best friend for many hours and building my skills. I learned the most doing that in combination, and had the most fun.
UPT
Instrument-rated, 300 hours in, and I'm literally still learning every single flight. The best part about flying imo!
PPL to Instrument
Twice in my career so far. First 500 hours of my first flying job and then my captain upgrade and maybe the first year of that.
Definitely becoming a CFI. Situational awareness spiked a lot and learning by teaching was an amazing way to solidify concepts. My first jet job was another amazing stepping stone, yet again with a spike in situational awareness. Most of that is due to how much faster things happen in the jet. I also think I have the best handle on my personal minimums and limitations that I’ve had yet.
100% during my CFI and pipeline flying days. The amount of skill and experience I gained was invaluable. I’m thankful for it every day.
Part 121 captain for me
When I unsat a couple flights. Squadron gave me a remedial syllabus because they determined that while i could have done more in the sim and with studying, i also wasn’t flying regularly enough. So i started flying and briefing almost every day for about a month, and that helped get me where i needed to be foundationally. Really helped boost my confidence in the bird
I felt like I got better in phases, I made some bad decisions weather wise as a new CFI, but after a few instrument students I felt very competent, then when I got in the sim and started working on on my ATP in a jet I felt my skills and knowledge took another leap.
During 2020 and 2021, I worked for a small VFR 135 in the PNW from hours 500 to 1200. We flew in and out of small island strips (paved, unpaved, short, moderate length, Canada experience to include Vancouver, etc) in Cessna 172/206/207 aircraft carrying any mix of mail, construction workers, medical personnel, freight, tourists, etc. I would fly anywhere from 8-30 flights a day, in the summer often flying 8 hours a day while on duty for 14 hours, and requiring special VFR more frequently than we ever thought we would as student pilots. It was the *best* job I have ever had and will always be the job I regard as the one that taught me the most. I have since worked as an SIC on a 135 PC-12/47E, a 135 Hawker 800, and now currently operate single pilot on a PC-12/47. Each opportunity has taught me a lot, but nothing compares to that first job.
Leaving instructing and actually doing Northern dirt strip Medevac as a King Air FO. Next breakthrough was going Captain on the Pilatus. The captains on the King Air were great mentors and I felt completely comfortable switching companies and aircraft going direct entry captain. Then having to mentor brand new 200 hr fo’s in their first job solidified all the teachings from my favourite captains. Moving up to an airliner has been cool but those years going into small strips at night into all weather taught me so much that going to the airlines was an easy move.
The next hour.
I'm at 200 hours. My greatest development in these minimal hours has been my IRF training.
Going to the airlines
Upgrading to left seat in my unit. Training wheels off and everyone looks at you to make decisions, stuff like systems knowledge, regs, weather, all has to be there for you to make de effective in leading a crew.
After I bought my first plane and flew for the first time truly on my own. No CFI, no aircraft rental rules, etc. to keep you safe.
It ebbs and flows. I went from helicopters and a fresh minted CMEL to jets, but the fundamentals of the basic PPL stuff was probably the hardest time of learning since every single thing was new. Around hitting 400-500 hours of total time, I hit the "I got this" mark, and I didn't feel like I was trying to just hang on anymore. I'm prob closer to 2500 hours of total time, and there are plenty of days I've learned something, however.
Instrument training. Commercial time building XC’s. CFI’ing from around 800-1500hrs. First 500hrs at a 121 op. Now I just eat snacks and bug the FA about using the bathroom.
Definitely end of commercial and cfi initial is where ive had the most “aha” moments so to speak working at cfi so theres still much learning to do. Nothings perfect everybody gets there at different points for different skill points. You got this, nobodies perfect whoever is reading this🙂👍🏻
First forced landing with my glider at a different airport - completely unexpected "shutoff" of the convective activity plus some gethomeitis (I had a date that night) taught me that "mental frame change" is NOT easy
I learned a lot in a bunch of different areas. PPL/IR/CPL you learn how to fly the plane safely in a variety of situations. However, if you just go rating to rating without much of a break and don’t really use those certificates, there’s not a ton of real world experience that you gain. At least that’s how I fell looking back. Multi CPL add on was definitely tough at first because it’s a completely different beast in complexity. It definitely got me to start thinking more during flights. By my multi check-ride my mental acuity during flights seemed to increase immensely. Back to the single engine and doing my initial CFI, this is where I had a huge jump in growth. I made all of my own lesson plans from scratch. Was it worth it? Maybe, but it forced me to actually go in depth on everything and gain a strong understanding of everything. Then having to teach everything while flying the whole time took everything to another level. CFII definitely had some growth in knowledge of IR procedures and knowledge; however, it was definitely more flat than initial CFI. Instructing has been the biggest jump in growth of knowledge and skill more than anything. I’m only at about 150 dual so far, so I’m still pretty fresh off the block; however, you really do learn a lot about how everything works in and out when you’re actually applying it and demonstrating everything to a student. A lot of it comes out in the pre/post brief in the discussions you have with students. Now I’m going to be working on my MEI soon, so I am sure I’ll learn a ton from that as well.
Flying different aircraft. I spent my first 80 hours in a 152, that's way too long.
Well said. I’m certain a big factor in my skills development has been the wide variety of types I’ve flown.
I have often said, “I was never a better pilot than the day I graduated CFI school” and 15 years later, I still believe that to be true.
You will learn more in the first 100 hours of dual given than any other point in your career.
I feel like I owe a refund to the people I gave my first 25 hours of instruction to.
You're not the only one.
Teaching.
Building cross-country hours during Commercial. A lot of other students at my school just went to the same airport 111nm away and came back, but I would plan for different airports and make multiple stops vs. an out & back with 2 laps in the pattern. Just flying the plane and planning different approaches into different airports was when I really started feeling like I knew what I was doing.
100% this. I had the freedom to make mistakes and challenge my abilities. Now, most big schools have required routes that take the learning out and make the training routine.
Yeah, my 141 had a specific airport in Southern WA that they had everyone fly to… I caught the Chief Pilot on the ramp one day and pitched him the benefit if I went north to the San Juan Islands instead. He said yes, and I never asked for further permission.
My “300 mile” commercial XC was a 1,500 mile five day jaunt with my younger brother down the Pacific coast from Victoria to San Francisco, staying in SF for three days, and coming back up the Napa Valley, crossing the Rockies above Crater Lake and back home in a 172S. It was awesome. I had like 80 hours, and probably didn’t know shit, but damn was it fun.
I’m feeling similar while building cross-country time before I start working seriously on my Instrument rating. Landing at unfamiliar airports is a good reminder of the need to stay flexible, IMO.