Career or Career Path?

I recently needed an annual insurance signoff in a Piper Chieftain that I fly part-time for a local company. As the chief pilot and I were getting ready for the ride, I ran into an acquaintance who is a freelance CFI and asked if she'd like to come along. Since the chief pilot of this outfit is always looking for part-timers, I explained that this could lead to an opportunity for her to fly bigger airplanes between flight-instructing gigs.

She accepted the offer and came along for the quick round trip to a nearby airport where I was to fly some instrument approaches and make some landings. After my checkride was finished, she joined me up front for the flight back to our home base. After takeoff, I gave her the controls while explaining some of the systems and quirks of the big Navajo. Her control of the airplane was good, and her attitude toward flying was safety oriented and humble. I knew that with some experience, she could be a great part-timer for this tiny flight department.

After flying the Chieftain, she was definitely enamored with the experience and the thrill of flying something new and completely different. She was especially intrigued at the prospects of flying the company's larger Pilatus PC-12--her favorite airplane, she admitted.

But the real rub was that she lacked a multiengine rating, and the buck stopped there as far as the chief pilot was concerned. Without that, she wasn't much use to him since everyone cuts their teeth in the Chieftain before moving to the Pilatus. Conversely, her thoughts on the subject of getting a multiengine rating were also very valid. She had never really needed it. She is a well-known, well-liked instructor on the field who has plenty of business doing what she loves to do--fly and teach. There had been no urgent reason to get the multiengine rating.

Multiengine ratings are extremely expensive in these days of $6-a-gallon fuel and twin trainers renting for $225 an hour. Admirably, this CFI wants to get her multi rating the right way: A thorough training program where she will master the subject, not one of those whiz-bang-you're-done outfits that churns out students with a piece of paper and little experience. "In this business more than many others, you really do get what you pay for," she told me. And if she was to get her multi rating her way, it may cost even more.

I explained to her that a multiengine rating is one of the most fun ratings to get since you get to fly an airplane that has a split personality. A twin with both engines running is a powerful, fun machine to fly. On one engine, though, it's a total pig and has to be handled with finesse to milk any performance out of it. I look fondly upon my multiengine training since I was blessed with excellent instructors. I learned more about airplanes and aerodynamics (thrust vector, P-factor, CG, critical engine, and the many factors that affect V_MC) during my multiengine training than I ever would have been exposed to if I stuck with singles. It was a huge learning experience that was a crucial step in my becoming a professional pilot. In other words, I told her, even if you don't use it, a multiengine rating is a good thing to obtain simply because of the knowledge gained.

But some people resist change, and there's nothing wrong with that.

She explained that she has an established career--setting her own flying schedule and working as a freelance writer from her home--and is not in a rush to build time as are younger pilots gunning for the airlines. She's thinking about having children, and her current setup allows her the flexibility to do whatever she pleases. Is the grass greener on the other side? That Pilatus is a tempting carrot, but to get there she has to start in the Chieftain--and that requires a multiengine rating.

"I instruct because I truly enjoy it, not because I need to amass hours quickly," she told me. "I suppose not everyone in the industry has the same appreciation for the value of flight instruction as an occupation." But, she admitted, "If you are looking for a pilot who will treat your customer with the utmost care, professionalism, and maturity, you may have stumbled upon the right one." Aha! There's still hope.

In the meantime, though, our local airport now has a fine flight instructor with a winning attitude regarding her job.

And in these days of CFIs with fewer than 400 hours shipping off for airline careers, it's nice to know that there are still some career CFIs out there to teach new pilots.

Pete Bedell is a Boeing 737 first officer for a major airline and contributor to AOPA Flight Training and AOPA Pilot magazines.