Questions to Ask Your Flight Instructor
For student pilots choosing a flight instructor, and for those already in training who want more out of each lesson. The questions follow the order the decisions come in: the instructor's background and pass rate, their availability and how long they plan to stay, how lessons are briefed and debriefed, progress toward solo and the checkride, what an hour costs, and what to ask after a lesson that went badly. Each has a note on what a good or a worrying answer sounds like and what to do with it.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
Background
How long have you been instructing, and how many students have you taken all the way to a license?
Why ask it
Students finished tells you more than hours logged, because it shows they can carry someone through the whole course and not only the early lessons. A newer instructor can be very good, so judge the honesty of the answer: 'you would be my fourth' said plainly beats a vague 'plenty'.
What share of your students pass the checkride on the first attempt?
Why ask it
An instructor who keeps track answers with a count and can say what went wrong on the ones that did not pass. Be a little wary of 'everyone passes': over enough students somebody has a bad day, and what the instructor changed afterward is the part worth hearing.
Around how many hours do your students have when they solo, and when they take the checkride?
Why ask it
The legal minimum where you train is a floor, and the instructor's own typical figures are what to build your budget on. Ask what the quickest students did differently. If the answer is that they flew often and studied between lessons, that is something you can copy.
How much of your flying has been in the airplane I would train in, and from this airport?
Why ask it
Time in the same model means they know its habits, such as how it handles a crosswind and which checklist items new students skip. Time at the field means they know the practice areas, the busy hours and the local radio shorthand. An instructor new to either can still teach you well, so ask what they did to get familiar.
How would one of your past students describe the way you teach?
Why ask it
Listen for whether the description includes a fault, such as 'they would say I talk too much in the pattern'. Then ask if you can speak to a current student a few lessons ahead of you, who will tell you what the briefings and the scheduling are really like.
Which instructor ratings do you hold, and is there any part of my training you could not sign off yourself?
Why ask it
What an instructor may teach, and whether they can authorize your solo or recommend you for the test, depends on the rules where you train and on what they hold. Ask how it works there. If someone else has to sign you off, find out who that is and when you would fly with them.
Have you had a real emergency or a close call with a student on board, and what did you change afterward?
Why ask it
Ask it with curiosity, the way you would ask any pilot for a story. The telling shows how they think: what they noticed first, what they did, and the briefing or personal limit they added since. If a long-time instructor says nothing has ever come close, ask about the flight they would least like to repeat.
What kind of student do you find hardest to teach?
Why ask it
A thoughtful instructor names a habit and not a type of person: arriving unprepared, going quiet when lost, nodding at things that were not understood. If the habit is one of yours, say so now and watch how they respond.
Availability
Which days and times could you fly with me in a normal week?
Why ask it
Hold the answer against your own calendar before you weigh anything else. If their only openings are slots you will struggle to keep, the best instructor on the field is the wrong one for you.
How long do you expect to keep instructing here, and what happens to my training if you leave?
Why ask it
Many instructors teach while building hours toward another flying job, and there is nothing wrong with that. The good answer is honest about the timeline and names who would take you over and how the handover is done. 'Do not worry about that' is the worrying one.
Do you instruct full time, or around another job?
Why ask it
Neither is the better answer. Full time usually means more openings and someone who teaches every day, while a part-timer often teaches because they enjoy it and may only have weekends. What you are checking is that their hours and yours overlap.
How many students are you teaching at the moment, and how far ahead is your schedule booked?
Why ask it
The headcount means little without the second half. If the next free slot is three weeks out, you will fly less often than you plan to, whatever was promised at the start. Ask whether regulars can hold a standing slot each week.
How many lessons a week would you recommend for my schedule and budget?
Why ask it
A useful answer is fitted to you: a number, the reason for it, and what to do in a week when you cannot fly. Long gaps tend to mean part of each lesson goes on recovering the last one, so if you can only manage one flight every two weeks, ask how they would plan around that.
When weather or maintenance cancels a flight, how do we rebook, and can we do a ground lesson in that slot?
Why ask it
The best instructors turn a scrubbed flight into an hour on charts, systems or emergency drills, so the day still moves you forward. Ask what that hour costs. If a cancellation simply pushes you to the next opening, count how many of those a spell of bad weather could cost you.
If you are away or sick, who can I fly with, and will they know where I am in the course?
Why ask it
This depends on records. Ask to see how your progress is written down: with a training record another instructor can read, a substitute lesson picks up where you stopped, and without one you repeat the last lesson and pay for it.
How should I reach you with questions between lessons, and how quickly do you usually reply?
Why ask it
Small questions pile up between flights. 'Text me and I will answer by evening' is free teaching. If they would prefer to take questions at the start of a lesson, keep a written list so that time is short and useful.
Lessons
What does a typical lesson look like, from when I arrive to when I leave?
Why ask it
You are listening for three parts: a briefing on the ground, the flight, and a debrief. If the description is 'we jump in and go', ask when the explaining happens, because a noisy cockpit with a student busy flying is a poor classroom.
How do you brief a new maneuver before we fly it?
Why ask it
The answer you want happens on the ground, with a whiteboard or a model: what you will see, the common errors, and the standard you are aiming for. If the first explanation comes in the air, you are paying the aircraft rate for a talk.
How do you debrief after a flight?
Why ask it
Strong debriefs start with your own account of the flight, then give two or three specific points and name the next lesson. 'Good job, see you Thursday' is pleasant and teaches nothing, so if that is what you get, ask for one thing you did well and one to fix.
What should I study or prepare before each lesson?
Why ask it
Ask them to name the next lesson at the end of every debrief, so you can read the procedure and walk through it at home before you pay to fly it. If the question gets a shrug, the cheapest part of your training is going unused.
How do you handle ground school: do you teach it, or do I study on my own and bring you questions?
Why ask it
Either can work, provided the theory runs slightly ahead of the flying. Ask which course or books they would have you use and when they want the theory exam done. Exam rules and timing differ by country, so ask how it works where you are.
When I make a mistake in the air, how long do you let it develop before you step in?
Why ask it
You are hoping for an instructor who lets you see your own error unfold where there is room, takes over early where there is not, and can explain the difference. Ask what words they will use to take control, so there is never doubt about who is flying.
How do you want me to tell you when I am overloaded, nervous or starting to feel sick?
Why ask it
Agree on the words before you need them. A good instructor makes it easy to say and has a routine for it, such as taking the controls for a few minutes or heading back early. If the question is brushed off, you will end up hiding it, and no one learns much while hiding something.
How will you teach me to make the go or no-go decision myself?
Why ask it
Early on the instructor decides. Later you should be making the call with them checking it. Hope to hear that before long you will brief them on the weather and say whether you would fly, because that judgment is what you carry on your first solo trip away from the airfield.
What do you expect from me as a student?
Why ask it
This turns the interview around, and most instructors like being asked. 'Show up prepared, say when you do not understand, tell me early if time or money gets tight' is a description of a working partnership. An instructor with no expectations of you may not have much of a plan for you either.
Are you comfortable with me recording audio or video of our lessons to review at home?
Why ask it
Hearing your own radio calls and watching your own landings afterward is a second look at the lesson at no cost. Some instructors and schools do not allow it, so ask before buying anything, and set the camera up so it needs no attention once the engine is running.
Progress
Do you teach from a written syllabus, and can I see it?
Why ask it
A syllabus shows what comes next, what has been signed off and how much is left. 'I adapt to each student' is fine when there is a document being adapted. Without one you cannot tell progress from repetition.
What do I need to show you before you will send me solo?
Why ask it
The useful answer is a list: landings without help, a go-around flown on your own decision, the engine-failure drill, radio calls, and whatever exam, medical or paperwork the rules there require. 'I will just know' leaves you guessing, so ask for the list and tick it off together.
How will I know from one lesson to the next whether I am on track?
Why ask it
Ask whether each exercise gets a grade against a stated standard, and where that is recorded. A student who can see 'steep turns: within limits twice' has something firmer to go on than a general feeling that it went fine.
When a student of yours has plateaued, what have you changed to get them moving again?
Why ask it
Getting stuck for a few lessons is common, and landings are a frequent place for it. Listen for tactics they have used before: a different runway or airfield, a lesson on something unrelated, or the maneuver broken into smaller pieces. If the only plan is to repeat the lesson until it works, ask how many repeats they allow before trying something else.
Would you ever suggest I fly a lesson with another instructor?
Why ask it
A confident instructor says yes, and may already build it in as a stage check. A defensive reaction is worth noting, since a second instructor sometimes spots in one flight what the first has stopped seeing.
What comes after the first solo, and how is that part of the training laid out?
Why ask it
Solo feels like the summit, but a large part of the course comes after it. The outline should cover navigation, trips away from the home airfield with and without the instructor, any night or instrument work the local rules require, and test preparation. Ask roughly how the hours divide either side of solo.
How will you prepare me for the practical test, and do you run a mock checkride first?
Why ask it
Good preparation includes a full mock test to the examiner's standard, oral questions included, ideally flown with an instructor you do not know. Ask what happens if the mock goes badly. You want to hear 'a short plan of lessons and another mock', not 'we book the real one and hope'.
How do you decide a student is ready for the test, and what if you and I disagree?
Why ask it
In many places the instructor has to recommend you or sign you off for the test, so expect them to hold a line. What you are after is the line itself, stated as tolerances and tasks you can practice toward. If you feel ready and they do not, a check flight with another instructor settles it better than an argument.
How far ahead do we need to book the practical test, and who arranges it?
Why ask it
Waiting times for an examiner vary by place and season, so ask how booking works where you train and at what point in the course to start. Then ask what the plan is if you are ready weeks before the date. A short flight now and then to stay sharp costs less than relearning in the final week.
What trips your students up most often on the test?
Why ask it
A specific reply, such as diversions, short-field landings or explaining airspace from the chart, shows they debrief their students after each test. Follow with 'when do we start working on that?' and hope to hear that it begins well before the last week.
What is a realistic finish date for me if I fly as often as I plan to?
Why ask it
Have them do the arithmetic with you: the hours they expect you to need, lessons per week, and an allowance for weather and maintenance. A date that comes with its assumptions is honest. Treat 'a few months' as a cue to ask for the working.
Cost
What is your hourly rate, and when does the clock start and stop?
Why ask it
Some instructors bill engine time only, some bill from the booked start, and some bill briefing and debrief as well. None of these is wrong, but they produce quite different invoices for the same flight. Have it stated before the first lesson.
Are ground briefings and debriefs charged at the same rate as time in the air?
Why ask it
Paying for ground instruction is common and is often the best value in the lesson. The thing to guard against is an instructor who skips briefings because students resent the charge, so say outright that you want them and expect to pay.
What does a typical lesson cost all in, aircraft and instructor together?
Why ask it
Ask for a real example from the past week: aircraft time, instructor time and any landing or fuel charges. Multiply it by the number of lessons they expect you to need and compare that with the quoted course total. If the two are far apart, ask what the quote assumed.
What is your policy if I have to cancel, or if I arrive late?
Why ask it
An instructor paid by the lesson loses income when a student does not show, so a notice period and a fee are reasonable. Find out how much notice, whether weather cancellations are free and who makes the weather call. If the school has it in writing, read that too.
What can I do on my own, on the ground, to bring the total cost down?
Why ask it
There is a real list here, and an instructor who cares about your budget can recite it: rehearsing checklists in a chair, memorizing emergency drills, listening to live radio, reading ahead. If all you hear is 'fly more often', ask again. Time in the air spent relearning what could have been learned at a desk is the most expensive kind.
What equipment do I need to buy now, and what can wait?
Why ask it
Your instructor knows which items you need in the first week and which ones students buy and never use. Ask whether you can borrow a headset for the first few lessons, since it is often the largest purchase and easier to choose once you have worn one.
If money gets tight partway through, how would you suggest we adjust the plan?
Why ask it
Better asked before it happens than after. Useful answers include pausing at a natural break in the course, flying in a concentrated block when funds allow, and ground-only weeks. Expect them to be honest that a long pause has a cost in lessons repeated.
After a bad lesson
What exactly went wrong today, and what was I doing just before it did?
Why ask it
Ask for the sequence, not the verdict. A flying error often starts earlier than the place it shows, so a landing that fell apart may have begun with a rushed or unstable approach. Write the answer down the same day, while you can still picture it.
Is this a normal place to struggle, or am I behind where you would expect me to be?
Why ask it
'Most students hit this about now' is reassuring only if it comes with what gets them through. If the answer is that you are behind, ask on what and by how many lessons. A breezy 'you are fine' after a flight you both know went badly is the reply to push on.
What is the one thing you want me to work on before next time?
Why ask it
After a rough flight a list of ten faults is no use to anyone. Press for a single priority and something to do at home with it: a flow to rehearse, a diagram to draw, a chapter to reread.
Can we spend the next lesson on what went wrong today, instead of moving on in the syllabus?
Why ask it
The syllabus is a plan and can bend. Some instructors will agree, and some will deliberately move to another exercise for a lesson, because a change of subject can free up a stuck skill. Either is defensible, so ask for the reasoning.
Would you fly that maneuver once more while I just watch and say what I see?
Why ask it
Students tend to ask for fewer demonstrations than they need, because they want to be the one flying. Watching with your hands in your lap and describing the picture aloud separates knowing what it should look like from making the airplane do it. It takes a few minutes of one lesson.
Was there a moment today when you were worried, and what would you have done if it had gone further?
Why ask it
Knowing where the instructor's own limit sat resets your sense of how bad the flight was, and it was often less bad than it felt. If they were truly concerned, you need to hear it, and their answer doubles as a lesson in the recovery.
Is there something in how I prepare, or how I act in the airplane, that is getting in my way?
Why ask it
This invites the feedback instructors tend to hold back: a tight grip on the controls, going silent under pressure, turning up tired. It can sting, and it is far cheaper to fix than a flying fault. Thank them and think it over at home; do not argue it on the ramp.
Could you explain this a different way? The way we have been doing it is not clicking for me.
Why ask it
Said calmly, this is information the instructor needs, and a good one has more than one way to teach a flare or a crosswind correction. Help them by saying what has worked for you before: a sketch, a model airplane in the hand, numbers to aim for, or watching first. The same words repeated louder tell you something about fit.
Do you honestly think I can do this?
Why ask it
Most students ask themselves this on the drive home and few ask the person best placed to answer. One bad lesson is thin evidence, and an instructor who has watched many students will either say so or tell you plainly what has to change. Both are steadier than your own verdict that evening.
How to get straight answers from a flight instructor
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before you choose an instructor
Ask around a trial lesson, not across a counter
Book an introductory flight with the instructor you would be assigned, and ask the Background and Availability questions before and after it. You learn as much from how they brief a first-timer and how they talk in the debrief as from the answers themselves. Paying for an hour of their time also makes it fair to take twenty minutes of it for questions.
Meet two instructors if you can
Asking the same six or seven questions of two people gives you a comparison, and without one almost any instructor sounds good. Where a school assigns instructors, ask whether you can request one after flying with both. How that works differs between schools, so ask.
Put availability ahead of personality
A likeable instructor you can fly with once every three weeks will take you longer to finish with than a less charming one you can fly with twice a week. Settle the Availability questions first, then choose among the instructors whose calendars fit yours.
Separate the instructor's answers from the school's
Aircraft, insurance, refunds and the course price are usually the school's to answer, and they belong in a different conversation. What only the instructor can tell you is how they teach, how they judge readiness and how long they intend to stay. Rules on licensing, medicals and exams vary by country, so for each of those ask how it works where you are training and do not rely on what you read elsewhere.
Through training
Ask one or two at a time
Nobody wants a page of questions in a debrief. Bring one from Lessons or Progress to a flight when it is about to matter: the solo question a few lessons before you expect it, the mock test question when the navigation flights begin.
Use the debrief, not the cockpit
In the air the instructor is watching the traffic, the radio and you. Save anything that is not about the next thirty seconds for the ground. A card clipped to your kneeboard keeps the question from evaporating on the walk back.
Keep your own record
After every lesson write down what you flew, what the instructor said and what the next lesson is. It makes the Progress questions specific ('we have done slow flight three times, what are you waiting to see?'), and it is the handover document if your instructor leaves.
Raise money and time early
Instructors plan differently for a student who can fly three times a week and for one with a fixed sum to spend. Tell them your limits at the start, and again when they change, so the plan is built around them and not discovered halfway.
After a lesson that went badly
Wait until the engine is off
Frustration in the airplane comes out as an accusation or an apology, and neither gets you information. Tie down, walk in, sit down, then ask. If you are too rattled for that, say you would like to go through it by phone that evening.
Ask about the flight, not about yourself
'What went wrong on the third approach?' gets you a fix. 'Why am I so bad at this?' gets you reassurance. Start with the questions about what happened and keep the larger ones, such as whether you are behind, for the end or for another day.
Leave with one task
A bad lesson is only wasted if nothing changes before the next one. Stay in the debrief until you have a single thing to practice at home and an agreed plan for the next flight.
Look for a pattern, not a day
One poor flight says little about you or about the instructor. Three in a row with the same unexplained problem is the point to ask for a flight with someone else, and a good instructor will arrange it without taking offense.
Reading the answers
Counts and examples over reassurance
An instructor who answers with counts, dates and the story of a particular student has thought about how they teach. 'You will be fine' is kind and tells you nothing, so ask for the example behind it.
'It depends' can be the honest answer
Hours to solo, total cost and the finish date all depend on how often you fly and how you prepare. An instructor who says so and then lists what it depends on is more use to you than one who quotes the minimum.
Watch how they take the awkward ones
Asking about pass rates, about leaving for another job or about flying with a second instructor will not offend a professional. Irritation at those questions tells you what raising a problem in lesson twenty will be like.
Check what you can
A syllabus can be shown, a training record can be opened and a past student can be called. Where an answer is this easy to check, reluctance to let you check it matters more than the answer.