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Need advice on how to proceed with my training.

Asked by: 3243 views Commercial Pilot, Flight Instructor, Instrument Rating

Hi I'm a 21 year old PPL currently working on my Instrument rating with about 235tt (lots of light sport time). I have passed my instrument written with a 95. To continue my flight training I need to secure loans. I am planning on doing all of my instrument training part 61 in a 172m. I then want to continue on and get my commercial, followed by the CFI and maybe CFII. All the ground school is through King Schools. I'm a fairly quick learner and don't think I'll need any more training than the average guy. I also know a very good free lance instructor who will possibly take me through the instrument rating. Now my problem is that my family wants to know exactly how much this who ordeal is going to cost me in loans. So I have been putting together a spreadsheet with my projected costs to get to the CFI stage. All the night flying, cross-country and PIC requirements have been met, so I don't have to do any time building. I will not worry about any multi engine stuff for now; it is simply too expensive. So far I have: INSTRUMENT Instrument dual    ~30 hours x $140    4200 Ground instruction ~10 hours x $30       300 Examiner fee                                                 500 COMMERCIAL SEL Piper Arrow Dual   ~15 hours x $180     2700 Ground instruction ~5 hours x $30          150 Written test                                                    130 Examiner fee                                                 500 CFI/CFII Not a clue. This is my problem. I don't know what is required to get the CFI/CFII as far as flying and ground school is concerned through part 61. I am aware that this is a very tough rating with a high failure rate. I also know it involves a lot of lesson planning and book work. I do not know if that can be done alone with only a few hours with an instructor before the test or what. If at all possible I want to keep the price of these ratings below $10k. I just do not have access to the funds to go to a 141 school, nor do I really care to pay off those loans. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

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1 Answers



  1. Mark Kolber on Aug 01, 2015

    I do not know if that can be done alone with only a few hours with an instructor before the test or what.

    Not really. A lot of the book work and basic knowledge can be done on your own. And the maneuvers are the same as for the private and commercial certificate, except from the other seat (which takes a bit of getting used to for most). The problem is that the heart of the CFI certificate is teaching, both on the ground and in the air. That does not come naturally to most people and is not something one can effectively practice on oneself or on non-pilots, at least until one gets close to the end and has already had sufficient sessions with an instructor.

    One way some have dealt with the cost is combining training for the instrument and commercial or (more commonly) for the commercial and CFI.

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