I come across aviation teachers, holders of AGI and/or IGI, every now and then who either do not have a flight instructor certificate (CFI and/or CFII) yet, or even some who do not even have their Private Pilot certificate yet. Reasons are usually – great passion for aviation, but limited financial means to get to the goal of becoming a certified flight instructor.
One such AGI and IGI recently wrote to me saying that he has been volunteering his “teaching” time to local aviation colleges etc, but still feels that people do not hold much respect for ground instructors without any or low flight time. This may be true, in most cases, but not all. There are a lot of ground instructors who have made their niche in ground training and are highly regarded in the industry. In short, they have done everything that needed to be done to build such reputation for themselves.
One step that can help such literal ground instructors, with no or low flight time is to team up with a busy and reputable flight instructor. Working as a team, and in close coordination can benefit both the instructors and the students as well. The trick here is, working as a team, with well planned teaching sessions and record keeping.
