Hello interested humans only ! I'm writing to be informative and not argumentative ! I am a CFI in my own school due for an inspection and have already been sent an extension ! I'm not a busy school, I'm semi retired and I enjoy teaching, I hold many endorsements and hold a PPL too , I have never been told or given any indication they want to close me down and for that matter I'm probably not worth it to them as I don't bring in enough new members but I'm like a service ! I can train, BFR's, endorsements and keep an eye on this part of the world because if you read the Ops manual CFI's report things back to RAA Ops !
The truth be known as a business it is not viable, owning a hangar, plane and school, maintaining all these things, advertising, cleaning, paperwork, etc ! If I was closed down they probably done me a favour but I didn't start a school and become an instructor to get rich ! And I get very offended by those who think instructors and schools charge too much ! There is a lot to just owning a plane as many of you know but a school adds a lot of responsibility with little renumeration ! Some time ago a lot of damage was done to me and my school by a few big mouth experts, a couple posted on this web site, one has retired from flying as he realised he is not as good as he thought he was ! And another has slowly disappeared after not being as smart as he thought he was ! Raa supports it schools very well in my opinion and will talk to me if I have any questions or if they have any, I have never felt threatened by the system but only by a couple of students would felt they knew everything before they could fly properly !
A CFI has a tough job as he has to recognise if the person is safe to go on their own and they have to have the skill and the passion to get better ! , if they think they are already too good and bagging the system then you get a little worried ! So far I have been able to recognise instant geniuses and those with the passion to get good at stick and rudder flying !
A guy who I thought was a buddy and I got into flying GA many years ago back stabbed me to no end when I went back to ultralight flying, saying things like they are not real planes and just toys, this guy was only interested in his image and had no passion and was one of the worst pilots I have ever known and witnessed several near misses he made including entering a runway when a plane was landing and ignored all radio broadcasts and warnings !
Those who think training is not as good in RAA are very wrong as ultralight are harder to fly than larger GA planes, I hope those who read my post take my opinion seriously as it is very sincere !
Hope the beginners learn to get the passion for aviating and try to get good at it ! Without the passion it's just spending money ! Enjoy !