Tag: flight instructor

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

Greg's Podcasts, Greg’s flight instructor tips

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!
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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!

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

Greg's Podcasts, Greg’s flight instructor tips

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.

And order Greg’s book, Job Hunting for Pilots 2nd Edition; Networking your way to a Flying Job.

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

flying adventures, Greg's Podcasts, Greg’s flight instructor tips

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

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

flying adventures, Greg's photographs, Greg's Podcasts, Greg’s flight instructor tips, life & love

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:

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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

“Mentoring and Marketing for CFIs,” Greg’s webinar with NAFI Chairman Bob Meder

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SFI-2 FrontCover_shadow1200I had the pleasure of being Bob Meder’s guest on this month’s NAFI Chairman’s Webinar. (National Association of Flight Instructors)

As you’d expect, we spoke primarily on flight training and flight instructor topics, with emphasis on key marketing, motivational, and pricing ideas and insights from my new book, The Savvy Flight Instructor Second Edition.

CFIs and flight school operators should find this material particularly relevant.

So if those topics interest you, please have a listen by clicking below! (Also available as MP3.)

Thanks to Bob and NAFI for inviting me to participate!

Greg

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

“Checkride!” Greg’s April, 2016 Flying Carpet column

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On weddings and flight tests…

GregBrownFT416_0401eSmw1200Flight tests are a bit like weddings. Everyone wants theirs to go perfectly, but sometimes problems or distractions, when successfully resolved, add richness to the experience.

Although each of these life events usually goes smoothly, you’ll occasionally hear horror stories. Jean and I once attended a wedding reception where the restaurant caught fire, forcing the bridal party and guests onto the lawn with firefighters.

As with weddings, you can never know whether pilot checkrides are “good,” or “bad,” until afterward. The obvious measure is whether you pass or fail. Common wisdom says that sooner or later every pilot fails a flight test – fortunately that’s not the blot on one’s record pilots often worry about. But it’s not always that simple. Sometimes a failed test teaches valuable lessons. My own worst flight test was not the one I failed, but one I passed.

On my instrument practical years ago, I confused my position on an instrument approach, turned, and started down at the wrong fix. The examiner’s questioning helped me figure it out, but afterward I pondered if and when I’d have caught the error on my own. Although I learned the relevant lesson, it seemed at the time I should have failed so there was little joy in taking the new rating home. The experience haunted me until I got more instrument flying under my belt.

Colorado pilot Tom Fuller is well qualified to contemplate good checkrides versus bad. A 10-year Air Force veteran, Tom earned his private three years ago and is working toward a pro-pilot career.

GregBrownFT416_0169eSmw1200“I passed the oral portion of my initial Flight Instructor Practical Test last month, but did horribly on the flight portion. This came down to being at an unfamiliar airport, having little recent time in the Cessna 182RG I tested in, general checkride jitters, and fatigue. Any one of those I’d have probably been able to deal with, but all three was too much. Live and learn. So I rescheduled the flight portion for two weeks out, and committed to flying the RG as much as possible until then, which ended up approaching 20 hours…”

**READ THIS MONTH’S ENTIRE COLUMN, “CHECKRIDE!“** (Mobile version HERE.)

Top photo: CFI Tom Fuller at Telluride Airport, Colorado. (KTEX)

Lower photo: Tom’s checkride airplane at Denver’s Centennial Airport. (KAPA)

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

Greg

©2016 Gregory N.Brown

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

“Making the Most of your Flight Instructor Team,” Greg’s AOPA webinar

Greg’s flight instructor tips

sfi_stdRecently I was invited by Shannon Yeager and Brittney Miculka of AOPA’s Center to Advance the Pilot Community, to present a webinar for the professional flight training community.

View my archived 1-hour presentation, “Making the Most of your Flight Instructor Team.”

Those who’d like to learn about succeeding as a flight instructor and in the flight training business as a whole, please consider my book, The Savvy Flight Instructor, available in both print and ebook versions.

Sincerely, Greg

©2013 Gregory N. Brown