A Love Letter TO FLIGHT INSTRUCTING

By Cameron Van

For so many young pilots, like myself, flying a jet is the ultimate dream. The premise of a jet captures the imagination with promises of speed and adventure amidst distant skies. In aviation, flight instructors are the miracle workers who make these dreams a reality, starting with small training planes and their expertise. Eventually, most students will become instructors too and take on the responsibility of preparing the next generation of pilots. It’s one of the most important jobs in the sky, as well as one of the most accessible paths for new commercial pilots to build the experience needed for a jet. Nevertheless, many reluctantly accept the role of flight instructor, in part due to a common sentiment that true excitement only comes from piloting a jet– not small training planes. Because of this, the chapter of flight instructing preceding a pilot’s jet career is sometimes seen merely as an unavoidable rite of passage. But I couldn’t disagree more. As my days as an instructor dwindle to single digits, I can’t help but reflect on how fulfilling this job has been. For me, the true excitement of being a pilot didn’t begin with fast jets. It began with small airplanes and the responsibility of teaching my first students.

Hello! My name is Cameron Van. I’m a check instructor for LIFT Academy in Myrtle Beach and a returning feature from AviNation’s Winter 2022 issue. In my last article, I described my journey from a small town in Louisiana to France and, eventually, to the skies. It was a story about discovering my drive for adventure and reviving it in a post-pandemic world at the lowest point in my flight training. Since my last update, I finally returned to France, graduated college as a flight instructor, and moved to South Carolina to work for LIFT Academy. Today, I’m only weeks away from starting at an airline, but rather than studying, I instead find myself reflecting on the past year as an instructor.

In the beginning of my flight training, all I could focus on was one day having travels and two jet engines at my fingertips. However, once I became a flight instructor, I quickly fell in love with the ability to work with and encourage young student pilots who reminded me so much of myself. Suddenly, it was as if the spotlight of my story shifted from me to my students, and I was no longer absorbed in the excitement of just my own journey but in theirs too.

My enthusiasm for instructing developed rapidly. There was a magic to watching students succeed that always reinvigorated my motivation. Yet, I recognized that the job wasn’t perfect. Flight instructors spend long days teaching in hot airplanes. There is anxiety about letting your students down. There is impatience about reaching a bigger aircraft. But beneath all the lesson plans about VORs, eights on pylons, and dead reckoning, it never escaped me that we were still doing something that mattered. Every student has important aspirations that instructors help make a reality. Some part ways with their careers or even their families just to train with us. Over time, I realized how special it was to be able to welcome students and act as an encouraging voice against their waves of doubt. After all, every instructor has felt that same uncertainty when we were in their shoes.

Sometimes, we as instructors are so fixated on reaching the next most impressive airplane that we miss the opportunity in this role to make a lasting impression on students. Flight instructing isn’t just about passing on flying techniques. It’s also about spreading a love and appreciation for what we do every day. If I could go back to my first days as an instructor, I would tell myself: Don’t dream so hard about the next chapter that you waste this one. Pour your heart into this. This job, which may seem forced upon us, won’t last forever, but the way you shape your students’ view of aviation will. Make them excited to learn every day. Make them excited for their futures. Leave this chapter knowing you did your very best for the next generation of pilots, whose dreams are worth every ounce of our effort. All too well, I understand what it’s like to have someone else show me a new, colorful way to see the world. Give that same experience to others.

Part of me wishes I could bottle up a day of my instructor life to revisit until the end of time. Nevertheless, as the sun sets over this little beach town, I recognize that I have my own aspirations to chase. My work as a flight instructor was always meant to be another stepping stone. Still, I’m glad that I embraced every moment of this opportunity. Flight instructing may never be as romanticized as flying a jet. For most aspiring pilots, it’s only a necessary hurdle in the way of their true goals. Regardless, I hope instructors still pour their hearts into their students and discover the fulfillment in doing so, as I have. This period of our careers won’t last forever, so make it count.

To all the students in my life, this article is dedicated to you. You’ll be jet pilots sooner than I can comprehend. Until then, as instructors, I hope you see your past selves in the faces of students who look up to you;

I hope you fight for their dreams as earnestly as others did for yours; and lastly, before I walk away into the next chapter, I hope I inspired you anywhere near as much as you inspired me with your endless curiosity and resolve. By the time anyone reads this article, I’ll have unlimited travels and two jet engines at my fingertips, but no amount of adventures will ever erase the memories of the students who made this last year so special.

Good luck. I’m proud of you all. You have made every moment of my skybound journey worth it.