Nov 24, 2024
For some pilots, becoming a flight instructor is a career choice, but it can also be a convenient stepping stone to future employment in the aviation industry. Working as a flight instructor is popular for aspiring pilots as it allows you to build up your hours and skills in a budget-friendly way. Learning about the requirements needed to become a flight instructor can help you decide whether it’s the right gateway for your aviation career. Let’s take a look at what it takes to become a flight instructor in NZ.
What Is A Flight Instructor?
Put simply, a flight instructor is a person who teaches others how to fly an aircraft. More specifically, instructors are highly trained certified aviation professionals who provide instruction and guidance both in the classroom and during in-flight training sessions for a variety of different types of pilots.
Flight instructors are the ones who teach the knowledge, skills, and techniques necessary to operate an aircraft safely and effectively, and they are responsible for the safety of their students, the aircraft, and other ground staff during training.
Learning to be a certified flight instructor requires some additional flight training, passing the appropriate industry standard qualifications, and any additional ratings. The C-Category instructor rating is essentially an add-on to your commercial pilot licence that permits the ability to teach PPL and CPL students towards gaining their pilot’s licences.
What Do Flight Instructors Do?
Flight instructors work to develop a student pilot’s understanding of traditional aviation rules and regulations, aircraft aerodynamics and manoeuvres, along with other factors such as aircraft performance, meteorology and navigation principles. Here is a quick summary of what a flight instructor does.
- Teaches both on-ground and in-flight skills, procedures, techniques and theory
- Assesses and reports on student pilot progress and maintains performance records
- Develop lesson plans and teaching methods (textbook/simulators/in-flight)
- Teaches emergency response techniques
- Helps licensed pilots improve their skills or earn additional certifications or ratings
- Provides mentorship and insight that fosters good judgment and decision-making skills
Flight instructors are expected to teach their students by first explaining the skill or manoeuvre, then demonstrating it, followed up by providing guidance and a safety net while the student practices it, and finally serving as a ground-based mentor.
How To Become A Flight Instructor In NZ
Here in NZ, there are two strict requirements for becoming a flight instructor – you will need to hold both a Commercial Pilot Licence (CPL) and a Flight Instructor Rating (C Category). There are other types of instructor ratings more on these below.
1. Getting Your Commercial Pilot Licence
To hold a Commercial Pilots Licence in New Zealand you must:
- Be a minimum of 18 years old
- Have your Private Pilot Licence (PPL)
- Have logged at least 200 hours of flying
- Hold a current Class 1 Medical Certificate
- Pass all CPL theory papers/exams and flight test
- Be Proficiencient in the English language
- Have no criminal convictions (meet Civil Aviation Authority’s fit and proper person requirements)
2. Getting Your Flight Instructor Rating (C Category)
Having gained your CPL, you can then go for a Flight Instructor Rating (C Category). This will include additional theory and flight-based training, including:
- Completion of the flight Instructional Techniques Course (ITC) – a four-day theory course on teaching and interacting with student pilots when presenting flight lessons.
- 200 hours total flight time in fixed-wing aeroplanes, including:
- 150 hours pilot in command
- 15 hours of instrument time, including 5 hours dual
- 1 hour of dual instruction in spin recovery
- 40 hours cross-country flight (as pilot in command)
Additional Instructor Requirements Under C-Cat Licence
For Nighttime Instruction. 10 hours night flight time (including 5 hours pilot in command) + demonstrating instructional and flying competence in night flight to a flight examiner.
- For Multi-Engine Aeroplane Instruction. 50 hours flight time in multi-engine aeroplanes, including at least 25 hours pilot in command + demonstrating instructional and flying competence in a multi-engine aeroplane to a flight examiner.
- Spin Instruction. Demonstration of competence in spinning and recovery to a flight examiner.
- Aerobatics Instruction. Demonstrate competence in at least three basic aerobatic manoeuvres to a flight examiner (the loop, barrel roll, and stall turn).
- Cross-Country Navigation Under IFR Instruction. Hold a current instrument rating and have at least 50 hours experience as the pilot in command on cross-country IFR operations. Plus experience must be certified in your logbook by a flight examiner.
Other Flight Instructor Ratings In NZ
There are actually five different types of instructor ratings in New Zealand Category A, B, C, D and E.
- A-Category Instructor Rating – Flight Examiners (at least 1250 hours)
- B-Category Instructor Rating – Senior flight instructors, Chief Flying Instructor (CFI), Deputy Chief Flying Instructor DCFI (at least 500 hours).
- C-Category – CPL holders, operate under the supervision of an A or B Category instructor (at least 200 hours)
- D-Category – Conducts type ratings for any aircraft for which they hold a type rating (at least 700 hours)
- E-Category – Specifically for conducting agricultural flying instruction (at least 700 hours)
Top 9 Benefits Of Becoming A Flight Instructor
Working as a flight instructor can be a very rewarding career choice with numerous benefits – here are just a few!
1. You Get Paid To Fly!
Working as a flight instructor means you get to fly all day and get paid for it! Plus you gain valuable flight experience and are able to provide mentorship to others – sounds like the perfect job right?
2. Easily Building Up Your Hours
One of the biggest advantages of flight instructing is that you can increase your flight hours fairly rapidly due to the additional time spent in the cockpit. One of the main reasons why it is a popular career choice for aspiring airline pilots.
3. Work/Life Balance
For some pilots, the semi-consistent hours of a flight instructor are appealing. You’ll be home each night for dinner, and there is no overnight travel involved.
4. Honing Your Skills
The key to becoming a great pilot instead of just a good one is constantly learning and expanding your skills. As an instructor, you are in a unique position of learning while you teach, strengthening your own abilities and even acknowledging areas you may need to improve – learning from each other as you go.
5. Career Boost
Having “Flight Instructor” listed on your CV is also a bonus, especially when looking forward to a career within the airline industry, as anything you can do to make yourself stand out from other applicants is always a bonus.
6. Every Day Is Different
There is no dull routine in the world of flight instructors, varying weather conditions, different pilots every day and a variety of aircraft all play their part in making each day different from the last. Plus your “view from the office” is spectacular!
7. It’s A Rewarding Career
Mentoring and helping others is very rewarding when you see the results of your efforts first-hand. Working with other aviation-minded people is also a great way to make contacts within the business.
8. Good Career Prospects
Pilots are always in high demand, therefore so is the need for flight instructors. You will have plenty of choices when it comes to work opportunities.
9. Develop Your People Skills
In the aviation industry, it is important to be able to communicate effectively and efficiently with all aviation staff and passengers. Having worked as a flight instructor, you will have the opportunity to work with a wide variety of different people and in the process better develop your problem-solving skills, expand your social capacity, and build up your team-based work ethic.
If you’re interested in starting your flight training journey and becoming a flight instructor, contact the Southern Wings flight training team today.
Change medical cert link in becoming a pilot post to this:
https://www.aviation.govt.nz/licensing-and-certification/medical-certification