Welcome Guest. Sign in or Signup

4 Answers

How strict should a CFI be?

Asked by: 3890 views Flight Instructor, Instrument Rating

Hi guys, I'm a student pilot struggling to understand how a CFI should interact with his/her student. How strict should he be? In general, is there a certain amount of "abrasiveness" common to all CFI? I would like to hear all opinions on this.

 

Thanks!

Ace Any FAA Written Test!
Actual FAA Questions / Free Lifetime Updates
The best explanations in the business
Fast, efficient study.
Pass Your Checkride With Confidence!
FAA Practical Test prep that reflects actual checkrides.
Any checkride: Airplane, Helicopter, Glider, etc.
Written and maintained by actual pilot examiners and master CFIs.
The World's Most Trusted eLogbook
Be Organized, Current, Professional, and Safe.
Highly customizable - for student pilots through pros.
Free Transition Service for users of other eLogs.
Our sincere thanks to pilots such as yourself who support AskACFI while helping themselves by using the awesome PC, Mac, iPhone/iPad, and Android aviation apps of our sponsors.

4 Answers



  1. John D. Collins on Mar 08, 2013

    Each instructor has a different teaching style. Abrasiveness is not normally an effective style and hinders learning. If the personality of the instructor clashes with your expectations, find a new instructor.

    +3 Votes Thumb up 3 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  2. Jonathan Seitz on Mar 08, 2013

    Remember that you are paying the CFI, just like any other employee. If it’s not meshing well with you and them, find someone else.

    +4 Votes Thumb up 4 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  3. Bill Trussell on Mar 08, 2013

    Each instructor needs to find what works with each of his/her students. Abrasiveness can sometimes be misinterpreted. Instructors are allowed to be frustrated with students that do not do what they are asked to do such as coming to a lesson prepared. They are human after all and they are giving up some of their career capital to help others.

    That said, there is no room in a cockpit for truely abrasive behavior. No one learns in that type of environment. Both the student and the instructor should find a way to get to the bottom of the cause of such behavior. The student is paying for the instructor’s time and is owed a lot of respect as a result. There are limits however. Not being prepared is waisting time and money ( just one example). Being abrasive in order to assert ones’s dominance in a situation is plain dumb, leads to less effective learning, and fewer students.

    +4 Votes Thumb up 4 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  4. MaggotCFII on Mar 08, 2013

    All good comments above. Think about each of those for your situation.

    If a CFI is being abrasive, “tending to annoy or cause ill”, then
    learning can be effected to the point of no learning is taking place. Money is
    being wasted.

    I like to think that an instructor has many roles: Teacher – Leader – Captain – Counselor, to name a few.

    There isn’t any room for abrasiveness in these roles.

    +3 Votes Thumb up 3 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes


The following terms have been auto-detected the question above and any answers or discussion provided. Click on a term to see its definition from the Dauntless Aviation JargonBuster Glossary.

Answer Question

Our sincere thanks to all who contribute constructively to this forum in answering flight training questions. If you are a flight instructor or represent a flight school / FBO offering flight instruction, you are welcome to include links to your site and related contact information as it pertains to offering local flight instruction in a specific geographic area. Additionally, direct links to FAA and related official government sources of information are welcome. However we thank you for your understanding that links to other sites or text that may be construed as explicit or implicit advertising of other business, sites, or goods/services are not permitted even if such links nominally are relevant to the question asked.