How and Why to Become a Flight Instructor in the UK

The world of aviation offers many different routes for those looking to make a living flying aircraft. Almost all of those routes require a Commercial Pilot’s License, which require a significant time and financial investment…..except for being a Flight Instructor, where you can have a Private Pilot’s License (PPL) and still make a living flying.

The Routes to Become a Flight Instructor

As flying is a serious undertaking, only those who are competent pilots should be in charge of aircraft and have the privilege of teaching others how to fly.

That’s why to become a flight instructor with a PPL, you will require 200 hours of flight time in total, and 150 hours as Pilot in Command (PIC).

The other way is to get a CPL, this is advantageous because of the additional privileges and abilities you get as an instructor. A CPL also requires at least 150 hours of flight time if you came via an integrated school, or 200 hours (including 100 hours PIC) if you did it via a modular route.

Now, getting a CPL in order to be a flight instructor may not be as expensive you might imagine. That’s because, if you don’t intend to fly under IFR, or a multi-engine aircraft you don’t need to complete those courses as well.

Why Become a Flight Instructor?

For the satisfaction of seeing students who were once in your position, progress.

• Becoming an instructor is truly meant for passionate aviators who enjoy helping others. The ability to help others take their first solo and hit other milestones in their flying career is a great joy that keeps many instructors going.

Get paid to fly quicker and with a lower investment

• As mentioned earlier, you don’t require as many ratings to become a Flight Instructor. You can skip the Full IR, MEP, MEIR, UPRT, MCC, and very expensive Type Rating. All of these courses are mandatory before you can fly for almost any airline. 

Start gaining Pilot-in-Command (PIC) hours fast

• As an instructor, you get valuable PIC time alongside getting paid. So, if you were eventually looking to do other courses and become an airline pilot, you can acquire your full ATPL much quicker.

Work on a flexible schedule

• Very few other pilot jobs give you the flexibility that being an instructor gives, especially those who are starting their careers. This is ideal because it allows you to have another career, take care of family, work on weekends, holidays, or whenever is best. 

High demand for instructors

• Currently the demand for flight instructors has never been higher, and the pay is going up. Many people from around the world highly regard the quality of flight training in the UK and come here to train.

Age is less of a factor

• Airlines often have a mandatory retirement age of around 65, and after a certain age some airlines will be reluctant to hire newly qualified pilots who are of a slightly older age. In the case of flight instruction, it’s not uncommon for many instructors to have started flying very late in life and continue instructing until they’re in their sixties and beyond.

Less stringent medical requirements

• Following up on the topic of age. To be an instructor, you can be one with a Class 2 medical, which has a validity as long as 5 years (dependent on age), whereas pretty much all commercial operations require a Class 1 medical, which is only valid for one year or 6 months depending on the age of the applicant.
• It’s still highly important to be in overall good health, have good eyesight, hearing, and coordination to be a pilot. However, realise that the requirements are more relaxed in the case of Flight Instructors with Class 2 medicals.

Steps to Become a Flight Instructor if Starting From Zero

1. Book an Experience Flight to make sure flying is for you if you haven’t experienced flying in a light aircraft already. 
2. Get a Class 2 Medical exam done to make sure no medical condition will prevent you from completing your course.
3. Start and finish a PPL Course which involves at least 45 hours of flight training alongside a few exams.
4. Time Building. You’ll need to build at least 150 hours as PIC. By the time you’re done with time building you should have around the 200 hours of flight time required.
5. (Optional) – Get an IR (Restricted) rating during your time building phase. It takes as little as 15 hours but is highly beneficial, as the instrument training time can count towards the 10 hours mandatory instrument instruction time needed for a CPL.
6. Begin your Flight Instructor Course which includes ground school time and flight training.
7. Start instructing and acquire more ratings. Who knows, you may even think of becoming an examiner one day.

At Redhill Aviation we have everything, from experienced instructors and examiners, and a large fleet of aircraft to help you on your journey. As of writing, we also have opportunities for promising applicants to go through a sponsored flight instructor program with competitive compensation.

Being a flight instructor is a rewarding career and gives you the chance to do more of what you enjoy and get paid to do so. Please get in touch with us to learn more about becoming a flight instructor and to see if it would be a good fit for you.