From the Editor

For some reason, some flight instructors don?t have a good opinion of themselves. If you?re an instructor, have you heard yourself say, apologetically, "I?m just a flight instructor"? If you?re not a CFI, how many instructors have you heard make this remark ? a statement that implies teaching is a less-than-worthy venture?

Do instructors devalue their worth and importance because it?s expected of them? Because aviation people constantly tell them that they grasp the lowest rung of some imaginary career ladder, rather than the highest?

Certainly, CFIs must have higher self-esteem because they?ve earned the most challenging certificate the FAA offers. If this isn?t true, why do thousands of CFIs, who don?t actively exercise their privileges, endure a butt-numbing 16-hour flight instructor recertification clinic (FIRC) every 24 months to keep their CFI current?

I posed these questions to Sean Elliott, executive director of the National Association of Flight Instructors. He said he wished I?d have asked them a week earlier. He had been at a FIRC where 85 percent of the more than 100 attendees indicated on a questionnaire that they did not exercise the teaching privileges they had worked so hard to earn.

What motivates these instructors? What is it about possessing a flight instructor certificate that compels them to maintain its currency? In the grand scheme of aviation, in what place to they see themselves? And why?

I have some ideas, but I?d sure like to find out from the CFIs themselves (e-mail me at [email protected]). if we have some insight into their interests and motivation, perhaps we could encourage some of them to start teaching again ? and I don?t mean as full-time, line instructors.

According to Sean, who talks to lots of CFIs, current instructors who don?t exercise their privileges generally are older, experienced professionals in aviation and other fields.

Haven?t they learned things in accumulating all their experience that might benefit the pilots they teach ? even if they do nothing more than give several flight reviews each year? There?s no denying we have a shortage of full-time instructors. With this shortage comes the possibility of overloading existing CFIs. That means flight instruction might be unavailable to some potential students who can?t find an instructor, not to mention short-changing students who are training. If a CFI has too much to do in too little time, cutting corners in less critical areas becomes an option.

For example, because the quality of instruction they receive determines their future success as pilots, primary students probably get an instructor?s full attention. However, the stressed-out instructor may not have the time to help pilots needing a flight review to progress from "minimum acceptable" to "proficient."

Wouldn?t a current CFI who doesn?t prepare pilots for a checkride, but has years of flight experience, be ideal for flight reviews and similar pilot-proficiency-check instructor responsibilities such as aircraft checkouts and instrument proficiency checks? The combination of the CFI?s practical flying experience, and a modest number of "students" each year, should make for quality instruction that helps pilots achieve a higher level of skill and proficiency.

Sure, giving several flight reviews a year isn?t much, but when you multiply them by the thousands of current instructors who don?t actively teach, it would be a sizeable contribution. There?s an important place in aviation for all CFIs, regardless of how often or how little they teach.

Finally, before apologizing for being "just a flight instructor," CFIs should remember that they occupy a special place reserved for a select few. The instructors who taught us to fly have revealed a magical new world. for that we will always be appreciative.

This fact became apparent at the Flight Instructor Hall of Fame induction ceremony, held at the EAA Aviation Center in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, in late October. The instructors were inducted first, followed by the inductees to the halls of fame for aerobatics, warbirds, and homebuilding. Many of the other inductees, such as Burt Rutan and Curtis Pitts, are much more widely known than the instructors who were being recognized, but all of the inductees have made a significant contribution to aviation.

After the ceremony the honored instructors, Bill Kershner and Marv Easter, as well as the wife and son of the late Joe Vorbeck, attracted the other inductees, and many people from the audience, like a magnet. The heartfelt handshakes and arm-in-arm poses for pictures spoke volumes.

In the end, a flight instructor?s place is a matter of personal positioning. noted author and teacher Bill Kershner spoke eloquently on what being a CFI means to him. "I?ve been a Navy fighter pilot and a civilian test pilot," he said, "but I?ve always come back to being a flight instructor because the flight instructor certificate is the most important one issued."

When asked how he hoped to be remembered, Kershner offered a succinct and powerful answer. "When I die, my tombstone will read nothing more than this: William K. Kershner, Flight Instructor."