What kind of pay can a certified glider instructor make?

Question

I am planning on doing some things with glider flight/instruction, and although it will be mainly a side-venture, I am hoping to open up my own business full-time with specialized glider instruction, and am wondering what is the typical pay that glider instructors make, so I could expect what I may make, and what I should pay any employees I later have

Answer 1

sounds like service that nobody needs.

i know that people will say, "do what you love, and the success will come" but people always fail to include practicality into the equation.

if you're still bent on it, good luck.

Answer 2

A CFI-G makes about the same hourly rate as a regular flight instructor, only you won't usually earn as much overall since glider flights are shorter and there is generally less demand for it. That said, at some busy fields, such as Harris Hill, NY, it is not uncommon for a commercial glider pilot to log 6-8 hours per day in 15 to 30 minute flights on a busy weekend during the summer.  Typical instructor rates in the USA are $35 per hour for flight instruction and $25 per hour for ground instruction. The school generally splits that 50/50 with the instructor, although some are more generous. I was lucky where I worked and the split was 90/10.  For what you're planning, check out http://www.wheelchairaviators.org/ and http://www.freedomswings.org/fwi100.htm . Good luck!

Answer 3

Pay?  I think it is pretty much volunteer.  I know we have a soaring school here and the tow pilots are volunteer, the ground staff is volunteer, and the instructors make minimum wage or lower (paid for flying hours, but not paid for ground duties).

If you own your own business you might make more but it is a lot of hard work for not very much and is very weather dependent and seasonal.  You will have to spend years (and lots of money) to get the skills and reputation required for the type of thing you want to do.  Then you will have to buy a towplane (a Citabria or Pawnee most likely) and a dual glider (probably an S 2-33 to start and for ab initio, but you will want more advanced gliders if you are going to attract more than basic instruction business).  These purchases will be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, plus an office/clubhouse, hangar space, etc, etc at a suitable airport close to a good soaring area that isn't already overrun with gliders.

What you are planning to do is wonderful, and I know a pilot who is doing the same thing.  Go with your dreams.  Money isn't everything.