Alan Your postage stamp is too small!
$25 an hour only works to earn $100k a year for a 40-hour week if there are 100 weeks in a year. Let's be realistic - a typical "gliding bum" will be lucky to get $40,000 a year because there are only a maximum of 40 weeks a year when he can work 40 hours, and then he has to get paid enough for each hour that is chargeable to the customer so that the waiting, briefing, refuelling the tug and changing over are covered.
If there are only 20 weeks a year when you can charge the customer for 20 hours a week, already that is $100 an hour to the customer so that the poor instructor can take out $40k for the year. Add in the business owner's overheads, and it's unlikely even at that sort of charge-out rate that the full-time gliding instructor can actually make $30,000 a year. That's why there are not more full-time gliding instructors around - or GA or ultralight flying instructors!
Maybe it's a job that would suit a retiree like yourself, who can amuse himself for 50 or 60 hours a week but needs only to claim 15 or 20 of them as "work" that he gets paid for! (Including non-flying days when he doesn't get paid - like most days between April and October). Only someone who can live cheaply and work for the love of it can afford to do it!
Wombat At 18:06 28/02/2006, you wrote:
I think it is all economics. On the back of a postage stamp say the average person is prepared to work 40 hours per week and wants say $100k p.a. so he can pay taxes etc: That is $25 per hour. But do you think you get 40 hours paid instructing in the air per week. So do some basic business case sums. Instruct say 20 hours per week, looks like $50 per hour, and that does not even pay the boss, or the insurance company, the tug pilot or winch driver, or replace gliders. I would like to be able to operate from Tocumwal and lots of other places, but I doubt it will be a commercial place. You make more money picking fruit or .............. So don't think of making a profit from flying until you develop a sound business case [from one on the back of a stamp]. Keep the club structure, instruct for free, tow for the same, and have fun but don't expect to make money. Or operate like someone up river. Alan Wilson -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Robert Hart Sent: Tuesday, 28 February 2006 9:53 AM To: Discussion of issues relating to Soaring in Australia. Subject: Re: [Aus-soaring] sportavia Caleb White wrote: > I don't think that it's fair to analyse the economics of a commercial > full-time training operation on a cost per flight basis (package options also exist). I believe Terry is correct. If you can train uninterrupted for a full week the number of hours/flights to solo would be significantly less than a 'once a week or fortnight' approach in a pure club environment. When you factor in the skills of a full-time instructor it's hard to beat. While the cost per flight is greater, the total cost of training is much less. It's simple; to train for a solid week you have to pay a premium. > Interesting comment. I'd be interested to know what skills a full time instructor has that a part time instructor does not (or cannot) have. I can understand that constant practice helps and a full time instructor certainly will have that over a part time instructor, but against this there are very real issues of burn out, becoming jaded etc which are not problems the part time instructor has. -- Robert Hart [EMAIL PROTECTED] +61 (0)438 385 533 http://www.hart.wattle.id.au _______________________________________________ Aus-soaring mailing list [email protected] To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring _______________________________________________ Aus-soaring mailing list [email protected] To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
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