Tag: flight training

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 “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

Greg's piloting tips, Greg's Podcasts, Greg’s flight instructor tips, teen pilots

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!

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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!”

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

Should Flight Instructors charge for Ground Instruction?

Greg’s flight instructor tips

“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.

Video: Greg Brown shares flight instructor tips, philosophy, & stories

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Hear some of my flight instructing tips, philosophy, and stories in this great interview by John Niehaus of the National Association of Flight Instructors (NAFI). Thanks, John!

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

“Ode to Night Currency,” Greg’s Flying Carpet Podcast, Flight #5

flying adventures, Greg's piloting tips, Greg's Podcasts

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 “Ode to Night Currency,” Greg’s Flying Carpet Podcast Flight #5

Even after decades of piloting, night landings remain tough, beautiful, a little scary, and immensely rewarding.

Just 30 minutes aloft displace all the preflight fears and apprehensions with just a single thought: CAN YOU BELIEVE WE GET TO DO THIS?!

Greg

Podcast music by Hannis Brown.

Inbound to Flagstaff at dusk for landing, in the Flying Carpet.

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

Subscribe here to be notified of Greg’s latest posts and podcasts!

Listen and subscribe via your favorite podcast sources:

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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

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

“Sky King & the Old Apache,” Greg’s Cockpit Adventures from the Flying Carpet Podcast, Flight #4

aviation history, flying adventures, Greg's Podcasts, Well, I'll be!

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 “Sky King & the Old Apache,” Greg’s Flying Carpet Podcast Flight #4

“The roaring powerplant and squealing tires soon brought my instructor scrambling from the office.”

Rancher-pilot Sky King of the legendary 1950s TV program played a role in the wackiest checkride of Greg’s piloting career.

Cover photo: “Sky King” (Kirby Grant) and “niece, Penny” (Gloria Winters) with Songbird, the TV show’s Cessna 310.

Podcast music by Hannis Brown.

Greg

Find all Greg’s Flying Carpet Podcast episodes here!

Subscribe here to be notified of Greg’s latest posts and podcasts!

Listen and subscribe via your favorite podcast sources:

Apple PodcastsSpotifyGoogle PodcastsStitcherTuneInPocketCastsCastroPodchaserPodcast AddictDeezerListen NotesRSSiHeartRadioPandoraAmazon Music

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

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

“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.

“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