When do you guys think it is time to get a different CFI?

First off, I'm assuming you're getting into flying as a career. If that's not the case, you can disregard all I'm about to say. If you're just trying to get your PPL, shop around for an instructor you get along with, who seems competent, and who you enjoy flying with. Interview them. It's going to make everything more enjoyable, and you're going to glean more from their instruction than when you're frustrated and down-and-out with a new instructor that you "don't get along with." But if you're going into this for a career, then I think you need to consider an alternative course.

I disagree with the call to change flight instructors. You're going to have so many different instructors, check airmen, inspectors, and the like throughout your career. You're not going to get to say "NEW FAA EXAMINER PLEASE!" You're going to get stuck with a captain you disagree with, a crappy flight review, a bad sim evaluator, inspector, etc... You're going to know goddamn certain you're right and be outclassed by someone with the power to check a box "yay or nay" and certify your ass or bust you.

I've flown with a dozen or so instructors in aviation. I've been in air traffic for the better part of a decade and have been in training status for over half of that (not because I'm poor controller/pilot but because I keep seeking out more difficult challenges. I'm a controller at one of the 5 busiest approach controls in the country and a PPL ticket holder with a couple hundred hours of pilot training and admit I'm a more accomplished controller than pilot. But I think what I'm saying is pertinent in both respects. ATC training is hard and very cut-throat. There's no screwing around, you either have it or you don't).

I will begin by saying that I am a terrible student. I butt heads with instructors, I make stupid mistakes, I'm argumentative and I generally am a pain-in-the-ass when it comes to learning. I make a mistake, then I make it again, and then make it a third time thinking "I can do it better and make this work if I just do it a little bit differently. I know what I did wrong last time!" And generally, the instructor puts their palm to their face, shakes their head, and wins the argument.

But I stick with it. And I learn from said mistakes. And I learn how to work with the instructors I'm given. I don't get to chose them. I listen to what they have to say. Almost EVERYONE has something to learn from (I'm sure there are rare cases where this is not true, but I have not come across one personally). It's up to you to figure out what you can learn from this person, their strengths and weaknesses, and apply them to your training plan. You should have 2 instructors. Heck, you should have 3 if you can keep track of them all. Each of them will offer you something different. It's up to you to identify what those differences, strengths, and weaknesses, are. Find their quirks and interrogate them. Some of the greatest insights I've gained in this game have come from unassuming people with opinions on thing that I had never considered important. More often than not, they are the most important things I keep with me down the road. Quiz them, ask their opinions. This game is knowledge transfer and it's up to YOU to figure it out.

Take this as an opportunity to branch out and see how things are done differently, and not focus on how they're inconvenient and don't jive with what you're used to, but why they might hold some truth to them and how you can use their viewpoint to form a more complete picture of flight.

Spell it out to them. "My old instructor did it _____ way. You do it different. Can you clarify how your way is better, or what I'm missing, because the other way made sense to me." I think you'll be surprised by their response.

/r/flying Thread