Greg’s Video: “The Savvy Flight Instructor: Secrets of the Successful CFI! (& Flight School, too!)”

How to recruit flight students, train and motivate them, and achieve business success in the process!

Flight instructing offers some of the most rewarding flying there is. We experience the joy of fulfilling our students’ dreams of flight, become better pilots ourselves in the process, and develop lifelong friendships with many of those we teach. 

This video offers some great tips for CFI and Flight School Training Success!

For a deeper dive, download and read The Savvy Flight Instructor 2nd Edition eBook; Secrets of the Successful CFI!

Greg

Richard Jackson photo.

Thank you, Mike Shiflett and Nick Horn of CFI Bootcamp, for hosting this presentation on your weekly Saturday Power Hour!


For more guidance on this topic, download Greg’s The Savvy Flight Instructor 2nd Edition ebook.



Subscribe here to follow Greg’s latest posts, photos, and podcasts!



Please support Greg’s Flying Carpet Podcast, Blog, & Student Pilot Pep Talk Facebook Group!

Make a one-time donation, or better yet, subscribe your ongoing support. Thank you! Greg


Listen and subscribe via your favorite podcast directory!
Apple PodcastsSpotifyGoogle PodcastsStitcherTuneInPocketCastsCastroPodchaserPodcast AddictDeezerListen NotesRSSiHeartRadioPandoraAmazon Music


If you enjoyed this story, you’ll love Greg’s book, Flying Carpet: The Soul of an Airplane. Autographed copies available!



Greg’s Aviation Books, Fine Art Aerial Photo Prints, and Pilot Achievement Plaques!


Greg’s Aviation Books

Greg’s “Views from the Flying Carpet” Aerial Fine Art Prints

Greg’s Pilot Achievement Plaques


“Best ‘1st Flying Lesson’ Ever!” Greg Brown’s Flying Carpet Podcast #39

Ride along with renowned aviator, writer, and photographer Greg Brown in his light airplane, the Flying Carpet, as he searches behind clouds for the real America, experiencing countless aerial adventures along the way.


Listen to “Best ‘1st Flying Lesson’ Ever!” Greg Brown’s Flying Carpet Podcast #39, here or on your favorite podcast directory.

Any pilot will tell you that learning to fly an airplane is a challenging endeavor. So when you fly with someone who demonstrates a natural knack for it, that’s a special occasion.

Well, I recently experienced the best “1st flying lesson” I have encountered in thousands of hours as a flight instructor. Here is the inspiring story.

Greg

Sawyer’s Flagstaff-Pulliam Airport Spotting Guide

VATSIM Virtual Air Traffic Simulation Network

Find all of Greg’s Flying Carpet Podcast episodes here!

Podcast music by Hannis Brown.


Listen and subscribe to Greg’s podcast via your favorite podcast directory!

Apple PodcastsSpotifyGoogle PodcastsStitcherTuneInPocketCastsCastroPodchaserPodcast AddictDeezerListen NotesRSSiHeartRadioPandoraAmazon Music


Subscribe here to follow Greg’s latest posts, photos, and podcasts!


Podcast episode questions or suggestions? Join Greg Brown’s Flying Carpet Podcast Facebook Group!


If you enjoyed this story, you’ll love Greg’s book, Flying Carpet: The Soul of an Airplane. Autographed copies available!



Please support Greg’s Flying Carpet Podcast, Blog, & Student Pilot Pep Talk Facebook Group!

Make a one-time donation, or better yet, subscribe your ongoing support. Thank you! Greg



Greg’s Aviation Books, Fine Art Aerial Photo Prints, and Pilot Achievement Plaques!


Greg’s Aviation Books

Greg’s “Views from the Flying Carpet” Aerial Fine Art Prints

Greg’s Pilot Achievement Plaques


Greg’s Video: “The Savvy Flight Instructor: Succeeding as a New CFI!”

How to cinch your first CFI job, line up flight students, and train and motivate them as a pro!

Flight instructing offers some of the most rewarding flying there is. We experience the joy of fulfilling our students’ dreams of flight, become better pilots ourselves in the process, and develop lifelong friendships with many of those we teach. 

This video offers some great tips to get you started! For a deeper dive, download and read The Savvy Flight Instructor 2nd Edition eBook; Secrets of the Successful CFI! Also available, my classic pilot career-advancement text, Job Hunting for Pilots 2nd Edition; Networking your way to a Pilot Job.

Greg

Richard Jackson photo.

Thank you, Mike Shiflett and Nick Horn of CFI Bootcamp, for hosting this presentation on your weekly Saturday Power Hour!


For more guidance on this topic, download Greg’s The Savvy Flight Instructor 2nd Edition ebook.




Subscribe here to follow Greg’s latest posts, photos, and podcasts!



Please support Greg’s Flying Carpet Podcast, Blog, & Student Pilot Pep Talk Facebook Group!

Make a one-time donation, or better yet, subscribe your ongoing support. Thank you! Greg


Listen and subscribe via your favorite podcast directory!
Apple PodcastsSpotifyGoogle PodcastsStitcherTuneInPocketCastsCastroPodchaserPodcast AddictDeezerListen NotesRSSiHeartRadioPandoraAmazon Music



Greg’s Aviation Books, Fine Art Aerial Photo Prints, and Pilot Achievement Plaques!


Greg’s Aviation Books

Greg’s “Views from the Flying Carpet” Aerial Fine Art Prints

Greg’s Pilot Achievement Plaques


“Bowling Alley Hot Dogs,” Greg Brown’s Flying Carpet Podcast #36

Ride along with renowned aviator, writer, and photographer Greg Brown in his light airplane, the Flying Carpet, as he searches behind clouds for the real America, experiencing countless aerial adventures along the way.


Listen to “Bowling Alley Hot Dogs,” Greg Brown’s Flying Carpet Podcast #36, here or on your favorite podcast directory.

Flight instructing offers some of the most rewarding flying there is. We experience the joy of fulfilling our students’ dreams of flight, become better pilots ourselves in the process, and develop lifelong friendships with many of those we teach. 

But among hours and hours of routine teaching and flying, there are occasional hard lessons, too, most often unanticipated. And those hard lessons are generally even more eye-opening and profound for us instructors than for our students. 

Above all, we learn that while maintaining a relaxed cockpit learning environment, we must never become complacent. 

Okay, everyone, hop aboard my Flying Carpet, buckle into the pilot’s seat, and prepare for takeoff on Flight #36, “Bowling Alley Hot Dogs.”

Greg

Podcast music by Hannis Brown.

PS: Find all of Greg’s Flying Carpet Podcast episodes here!


Listen and subscribe to Greg’s podcast via your favorite podcast directory!

Apple PodcastsSpotifyGoogle PodcastsStitcherTuneInPocketCastsCastroPodchaserPodcast AddictDeezerListen NotesRSSiHeartRadioPandoraAmazon Music


Subscribe here to follow Greg’s latest posts, photos, and podcasts!


Podcast episode questions or suggestions? Join Greg Brown’s Flying Carpet Podcast Facebook Group!


If you enjoyed this story, you’ll love Greg’s book, Flying Carpet: The Soul of an Airplane. Autographed copies available!


Please support Greg’s Flying Carpet Podcast, Blog, & Student Pilot Pep Talk Facebook Group!

Make a one-time donation, or better yet, subscribe your ongoing support. Thank you! Greg



Greg’s Aviation Books, Fine Art Aerial Photo Prints, and Pilot Achievement Plaques!


Greg’s Aviation Books

Greg’s “Views from the Flying Carpet” Aerial Fine Art Prints

Greg’s Pilot Achievement Plaques


New! “The Turbine Pilot’s Flight Manual Fifth Edition!”

by Gregory N. Brown & Mark J. Holt

Everything a pilot is expected to know when transitioning to turbine-powered aircraft. Covers all the essentials of turbine aircraft in one book.

Whether you’re preparing for turbine ground school, studying for your Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) certificate, priming for a corporate or airline interview, or upgrading into a personal jet or turboprop—The Turbine Pilot’s Flight Manual Fifth Edition is designed for you.

With precision and a sense of humor, authors Greg Brown and Mark Holt cover all the basics for turbine pilot operations, clearly explaining the differences between turbine aircraft and their piston engine counterparts.

This manual clarifies the complex topics of turbine aircraft engines and all major jet and turboprop power and airframe systems. It includes discussions on high-speed aerodynamics, automation, wake turbulence, high-altitude and adverse weather, air carrier operations, transport airplane performance, and cockpit professionalism and leadership.

You’ll be introduced to state-of-the-art cockpit instrumentation including flight management systems (FMS), global navigation (GPS/RNAV/RNP), and head-up guidance systems (HGS). Learn the operating principles of hazard avoidance systems, including weather radar, enhanced ground proximity warning systems (EGPWS), predictive wind shear systems (PWS), advanced communication procedures and equipment (datalink and ADS-B), and the latest engine performance management techniques. A wealth of illustrations and additional online resources enhance understanding.

Here’s why you need “The Turbine Pilot’s Flight Manual!”
(Courtesy of Capt. Chris Dunn.)

This new fifth edition* incorporates new material addressing the many recent electronic flight bag (EFB) developments applicable to professional piloting, includes all topics required for completing an ATP Certification Training Program (ATP-CTP), and adds technology and terminology updates. Includes a glossary of airline and corporate aviation terminology, handy turbine pilot rules-of-thumb, and a comprehensive turbine aircraft “Spotter’s Guide.”

In short, The Turbine Pilot’s Flight Manual introduces all the principles and lingo required to “talk turbine.” Many airlines and corporate flight departments recommend reading this book before interviewing, and prior to attending ground school. 

The straightforward “how-things-work” approach is also ideal for anyone who has ever wondered about how turbine aircraft work, including pilots and aviation enthusiasts of all ages and experience levels.

Many thanks to my friend and coauthor Mark Holt, my terrific publisher ASA, past publisher ISU Press, and all my colleagues and readers who’ve impacted this book’s success. You all are the greatest!!!

Greg

The Turbine Pilot’s Flight Manual 5th Edition is available in print and ebook formats.

Attention Academic and Academy Classroom Instructors: For the first time, this new edition includes access to chapter review questions and answer keys, and chapter slide presentation files (PowerPoint format) containing all textbook figures.

Published by ASA (Aviation Supplies and Academics, Inc.)


ORDER NOW in print, PDF, or ePub through ASA, RedShelf, Amazon/Kindle, or your favorite pilot supplies store or website.

(Autographed copies available here.)

“Waiting for Weather,” Greg’s August, 2018 Flying Carpet column; Remembering AOPA Editor Mike Collins

Why post a 2018 column now?

When I shared this morning’s “Facebook Memory,” touting AOPA Flight Training magazine’s 2020 coverage of my Flying Carpet Podcast debut, my friend Gary Palmer observed, “A great homage and inspiration. But that picture is of a younger year which sounds like you have another story to tell!”

There is indeed a story behind that photo, but it’s a sad one. It was taken in 2018 by my late friend Mike Collins, longtime AOPA editor and photographer who passed away of COVID in February, 2021. Gary’s comment revived a flood of memories of working with Mike and socializing together over his passion for microbrew beer.

Mike had flown commercially to Arizona to take new author-photos for my then Flying Carpet column. Together he, my wife, and I enjoyed a few memorable days of flying, photography, and friendship, before he launched back to AOPA’s Maryland headquarters. It was such an enjoyable experience that I wrote a column about it, never guessing it’d be the last time I’d see him.

So here is my August, 2018 column about the experience, “Waiting for Weather,” which I apparently never got around to posting at the time. Mike, I know I’m far from alone in missing you… hope you’re gettin’ in some serious flying and photography up there.

**Read Greg’s column, Waiting for Weather” **. (Mobile-device link.)

(This column first appeared in AOPA Flight Training magazine.)

Photos: Above, Greg pilots Mike and Scott homeward over Phoenix (Mike Collins photo.) Below, Mike photographs Greg following our sunset landing described in the column. (Scott Tabako photo.)

Subscribe here to follow Greg’s latest posts, photos, and podcasts!


If you enjoyed this story, you’ll love Greg’s book, Flying Carpet: The Soul of an Airplane. Autographed copies available!

“Backstory: Flight Instructor Hall of Fame,” Greg’s Flying Carpet Podcast #20

Ride along with renowned aviator, writer, and photographer Greg Brown in his light airplane, the Flying Carpet, as he searches behind clouds for the real America, experiencing countless aerial adventures along the way.


Listen to “Backstory: Flight Instructor Hall of Fame,” Greg’s Flying Carpet Podcast #20

Every aviator develops mutually rewarding relationships with the flight instructors delivering his or her wings. Well, here’s the backstory of one of those relationships, that led over 22 years to the Flight Instructor Hall of Fame. But while today’s episode formally targets CFIs, it’s a story every pilot will appreciate.

If you enjoy this podcast, please share with friends!

Greg

Podcast music by Hannis Brown.

PS: Find all Greg’s Flying Carpet Podcast episodes here!


Subscribe here to follow Greg’s latest posts, photos, and podcasts!


Listen and subscribe via your favorite podcast directory:

Apple PodcastsSpotifyGoogle PodcastsStitcherTuneInPocketCastsCastroPodchaserPodcast AddictDeezerListen NotesRSSiHeartRadioPandoraAmazon Music

Podcast Episode #20 Photos

Click gallery photos to view at full size.


About Greg

A former National Flight Instructor of the Year, Greg is author of five books, a former Barnes & Noble Arizona Author of the Month, and recently completed twenty years as aviation adventure columnist for AOPA’s Flight Training magazine. Some reviewers have compared his book, “Flying Carpet: The Soul of an Airplane,” to sixties road-trip classics like “On the Road,” and “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.”

“Greg thinks with the mind of a pilot, questions with the curiosity of a philosopher, and sees with the eyes of a poet.”Rod Machado, aviation author and humorist

“You don’t have to be a pilot, or even a frequent flyer, to soar with Greg Brown in [his] Flying Carpet.” — Nina Bell Allen, former Assistant Managing Editor, Readers Digest

So buckle in and join Greg for the ride!


Please support Greg’s Flying Carpet Podcast, Blog, & Student Pilot Pep Talk Facebook Group!

Make a one-time donation, or better yet, subscribe your ongoing support. Thank you! Greg


For more guidance on this topic, download Greg’s The Savvy Flight Instructor 2nd Edition ebook.


Greg’s Aviation Books, Fine Art Aerial Photo Prints, and Pilot Achievement Plaques!


Greg’s Aviation Books

Greg’s “Views from the Flying Carpet” Aerial Fine Art Prints

Greg’s Pilot Achievement Plaques


Should Flight Instructors charge for Ground Instruction?

“We instructors seem to have some deep-seated hesitation about asking our students to invest in anything besides airplane rental.”

“Ground instruction is an important part of pilot training,” observes Pilot Examiner Jason Blair, “and to train effectively in the air, proper ground training must also be completed. I suspect we’d all agree that an aircraft cockpit with the engine running is not the best place to brief new maneuvers. This also means that ground training is an appropriate service for which to properly charge.”

We instructors seem to have some deep-seated hesitation about asking our students to invest in anything besides airplane rental. As a result, we tend to undercharge, or worse yet, not charge at all for ground instruction. That turns out to be a double whammy, because along with not earning any money for your expertise, when you’re teaching for free there’s less incentive for your students to study.

It may feel painful to our customers at times, but paying for ground instruction can actually save them money—by properly preparing for lessons they complete their training more quickly than if we must consume lesson time teaching material they could have learned at home. Unless you somehow incorporate the charges into other aspects of training, you simply must charge for ground instruction. Otherwise you’re demeaning our profession by cheating yourself, your flight school (if relevant), your customers, and other CFIs around you.

Greg


For more guidance on this topic, download Greg’s The Savvy Flight Instructor 2nd Edition ebook.


Download “The Savvy Flight Instructor 2nd Edition” e-book!

The Savvy Flight Instructor – Secrets of the Successful CFI

My book, The Savvy Flight Instructor, has long been the go-to classic for how to succeed in the flight training business. The current Second Edition, introduced in 2016, contains everything a CFI or flight school needs to know about motivating flight students, keeping them flying to earn their ratings, marketing flight training services using modern social media methods, and succeeding financially in this sometimes challenging business. (See more details below.)

The Savvy Flight Instructor 2nd Edition (along with most of my books) is instantly downloadable in multiple ebook formats, including from ASA, Amazon Kindle, and Apple iBook. I mention this both for convenience, and because the publisher has suspended stocking the print edition. However, this popular text will continue to be available in ebook formats.

Be sure to download the up-to-date 2nd Edition with clouds on the cover, which is vastly expanded from the original 1998 edition.

Thanks to all, for your many years of continuing support for this and my other books!

Greg


The Savvy Flight Instructor 2nd Edition

You’ve mastered the CFI study materials, passed your toughest-ever oral exam, and can now talk and fly simultaneously from the right seat. You can write lesson plans, enter mysterious logbook endorsements, and explain the details of a lazy eight. That’s all you need to know to flight instruct…or is it?

THE SAVVY FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR; Secrets of the Successful CFI! is designed to help with all those “other” flight instructing questions, like how to recruit new flight students and keep them flying, conduct successful intro lessons, and optimize your students’ checkride pass rates.

New in the current 2nd Edition

This 2nd Edition edition adds 20 years of additional knowhow to the networking, pilot training, and customer support concepts that made the original edition required CFI reading, plus lots of important new material you won’t want to miss.

A dedicated section for aspiring flight instructors explains why and how to become a CFI, and how to get hired.

Instructors at all levels will learn how to sell today’s pilot prospects via online marketing and social media, and how to outsell competing activities beckoning from a finger-touch or mouse-click away.

Seasoned flight instructors and flight school managers will learn how to systematize customer success and satisfaction, price and structure their services to fit today’s markets, and implement flight instructor professionalism.

The “finer points” from industry experts: Learn how today’s flight training innovators promote their services and serve their customers in Heather Baldwin’s case-studies chapter. Discover how flight school owner and marketing guru Dorothy Schick crafts customer service policies to put clients first. Longtime DPE Jason Blair shares insights on checkrides and CFI specialization opportunities.

Ever wonder how the big private and collegiate fight academies operate so efficiently? Then don’t miss Ben Eichelberger’s flight training standardization chapter. And no one’s better qualified to project future flight training trends than renowned aviation writer and editor Ian Twombly.

In short, this book shows how to use your instructing activities to surpass student expectations, achieve business success, promote general aviation, and advance your personal flying career all at once. (Peek inside the book, here.)

DOWNLOAD YOUR E-BOOK NOW from ASAAmazon Kindle, and Apple iBook!

©2021 Gregory N. Brown

Greg Brown inducted into the Flight Instructor Hall of Fame

We piloted our Flying Carpet to the 2021 National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) Convention in Las Vegas this week, for my induction into the Flight Instructor Hall of Fame. (See Greg’s Hall of Fame credentials.)

Kudos to John Niehaus and the National Association of Flight Instructors for coordinating the judging and execution of this national award. And what an honor to be inducted alongside legendary flight instructors John and Martha King.

Special thanks to my longtime friend, airline Captain Christopher Sis, who nominated me to the Hall of Fame. (Read my 1999 column about how Chris first nominated me as a 16-year-old!)

Thanks also to my friends who provided reference letters and videos supporting me for this honor, and to those who posted messages of support on my web page, which I shared with the judging committee.

Finally, I appreciate your many congratulatory messages! 

Greg


ORDER The Savvy Flight Instructor 2nd Edition eBook via ASAAmazon KindleApple iBook or your favorite pilot supply source.