No CFI worth learning from is going to give you free training.

I know a guy who, when he was young, bought a Champ and got a job at an FBO. He got free lessons from the instructors who just wanted to fly his plane. That's how he got his license.

Bad idea- time builders are only interested in time and and will be more apt to do the flying than the student.

As to the medical thing: You have to have had a medical certificate within the past 10 years that has not been denied, suspended or revoked.
New students will have to get at least a 3rd class medical

Pilots will eat their young.

Back when hauling checks was still done, there was a company in Nashville that used light twins for that and some other light freight.  They had their pilots pay them, in advance.  Seemed pretty stupid, to me, to even consider having anything to do with that company.


Shortly after I got my A&P, I had a guy suggest that I work for free on his new (to him) twin that he had bought to build hours in (got a smoking deal on it).  I asked him why I should work on his plane for free, and his quick response was so that I could get some experience.  As politely as I could, I informed him that he did not want me working on his plane, because from 30 feet away, I could see a few reasons to ground his plane.


There's some truth to the old "you get what you pay for" saying.

When you get enough time to get your CFI, are you going to work for free as well?  All you're doing is setting a precedent.  You're effing yourself for the future.

No, it's a stupid, immoral, niggardly plan.    CFI's are already working practically for free anyway.

If you own your own plane, you might be able to talk one into flying with you for $10 or $20 bucks an hour.

When I started instructing I had nearly $75k in flight school/college debt and took a pay cut to do that after working at Office Depot. Then I took another cut to fly night cargo. Then flying for a living it took a decade to pay off the debt.



Anybody got the number of that truck driving school?

Unfortunately there isn't a Kit Darby joke here.

With the way the market is today, a brand new CFI with literally zero time instructing has his or her choice of multiple job offers.

oh boy 

I would only instruct for free if it were for very close friends. Then again, I would never recommend a close friend choose me as an instructor...

Think of it as anyone in any other profession... would you ask your carpenter friend to build your house with no labor costs? Ask your CPA friend to do your taxes for free? Etc, etc.... same with pilots, only pilots are usually the only ones to get butthurt by the question.

Aint that the truth.

In the 28 years I've been flying for the airlines, I've seen it go from thousands of hours required to get hired at a commuter, to pay for training, to 200 hour new hires, and now to the regionals paying huge bonuses to attract people.  The 135 scheduled freight place I flew twin cessna's for had a "first officer" program.  Where pilots would pay to sit in the right seat, even though a SIC wasn't required by the regs or the operation.  Never could figure out how they got anyone to bite on that.

Recently I got involved with a local training company that does simulator training.  They require instructors who are typed in the airplane, with 1500 hours of 121 time.  They use airline guys as contract instructors, no benefits, pay on a 1099.  Several of my buddies were working there, so I got talked into doing it for fun.

The original deal was half pay while in training, and full pay for any time spent teaching.  After I had done two full days of ground school, they decided they were not going to pay anyone during training because "too many guys get qualified, and then don't give us enough days of teaching each month".  Well, duh.  It's a part time, something different for fun gig for 99% of us.   I can make more in two days at my "real" job than I can all month there.  If you want people who are going to work every day, hire full time people, with decent pay and benefits.

I declined to complete training.  Shortly there after, I (and everyone else on the email list) got a rather condescending email about "stepping up and helping out" because they had lost some instructors.  But no offer to pay for the time spent training.  You want to use my certificate, you are going to pay me for it.

Steer well clear of any pilots willing to work for free.

Is this like the fixed wing version of the scumbags who troll us heli guys, trying to con some low-pilot pilot into paying the owner for the privilege of ferrying a heli across the country in the name of "cheap time building?"

You fly with a CFI for free, and you're pissing into the wind. Someday it'll be you having to fly for free, trying to build time, and you'll wish you hadn't raped the system.

Do yourself a favor and pay the CFI for the use of his cert. He's (hopefully) worked hard and has probably spent considerable money to get there. Be a good sport and pay your own dues to learn. If you can't afford to pay a CFI for his time so you can learn, then maybe you should rethink your participation in aviation...