Paramotor instructor course
Paramotor Instructor Training, Victoria Australia
You are good, now, we will make you better
Instructing
Our industry is growing. It’s time for us to evolve and provide Paramotor Instructor Training in line with the best practice of the rest of the aviation world.
Traditionally, we have been a pretty niche market however with the sport being ever more visible via YouTube, social media, and just more pilots out there doing it confidently and safely, the demand for pilot training is growing exponentially. We cannnot keep up with demand.
Our biggest challenge to the growth of our sport is that we are pretty much a closed industry. Unless you know the right people, getting an Instructor rating is not really a reality. It’s not a fair system, it should not be up to us to decide if you can be an instructor. You should be the one who decides to give it a go and find out if you like it and have what it takes.
It’s time to change that. At Knowsley Airpark we believe that more schools with more instructors will mean we teach more pilots each year. More pilots will raise the profile of the sport, which will result in us needing more schools and more Instructors. Simples.
Everyone benefits, a stronger membership base means we will have more recognition and support for our members from the Aviation Industry at large.
a new approach to ParAmotor Instructor training
Currently, if you are lucky enough to secure a Level 1 Instructor rating you get thrown in the deep end. Working with students from day 1.
We don’t believe this results in the best outcome for the new instructor or the students they are working with, so we are introducing a new training course specifically designed for pilots who want to be instructors.
You will work one on one with either a Chief Flying Instructor or Level 2 Instructor during your Instructor training to gain your Level 1 Instructors rating. We will teach you how to teach before we put you with students.
As a qualified Level 1 instructor you will then be prepared, confident, and knowledgeable. Ready to work with students while we continue to mentor and develop your skills and knowledge, instructional techniques, and training methods.
The paramotor instructor course
Ground handling
Ground handling is easy, you’ve got it nailed, right? Try doing it in reverse when you are facing a student. It’s not that it is particularly difficult, it’s just different.
You will become super confident working with students hooking them up to ground handle, any noticeable hesitancy from an instructor during this crucial first stage is very unnerving for the student.
ab-initio Tandem flights
Tandem flights are the next stage of a new pilot’s journey. SAFA has recognized the crucial nature of this stage of training and dual seat experience is now required and mandatory for your Level 1 Instructor rating.
During your Instructor course, you will obtain your Tandem rating and the required dual flight hours.
Towing
You have taught the student to ground handle, you have taught the student to fly in the tandem. It’s now time to teach them to launch and land.
On to tow they go.
Towing is a double-edged sword. There are risks but the benefits are immeasurable to pilot development. The towing system we have developed in the last 5 years takes nearly all of the stress out of tows by reducing to a minimum the potential problems associated with towing.
As part of your Paramotor Instructor training, you will obtain your Tow qualification and become proficient and comfortable with towing students up.
Paramotor flights
From here it’s all gravy. You have taught the student nearly every component of Paramotor flight. Just add thrust and they are airborne on their first solo Paramotor flight.
Theory
There is nothing difficult in our theory, if you can obtain a car license you can pass the SAFA theory. We will teach you theory up to roughly what is required for a CASA PPL. This may sound a bit onerous, but if your knowledge is at a PPL level you will be able to teach very effectively and confidently at a SAFA level.
CTAF procedures
One area that is most undertaught in existing pilot training is how to operate at a CTAF. Unfortunately, this makes a lot of Paramotor pilots afraid of taking off from an airport.
Even worse it makes us unwelcome when preceding pilots have used the airport with absolutely no idea how to operate professionally, and we all get tarred with the same brush.
On our annual expeditions, we use airports all the time, after all, where is the most logical place to operate an aircraft from?
We want to reverse the current trend and show the larger aviation community we can do it properly. To achieve this, we will have you operating at a CTAF, making your VHF calls and flying perfect circuits. It’s not difficult, it just takes a bit of knowledge and a good bit of practice.
instructors Cross country endorsement
Finally, we will round out your Paramotor Instructor course with your Cross Country Endorsement.
We teach you to do it old school. You will learn how to check NOTAM’s, calculate the track and ground speed by checking the weather the proper way and do your calculations on the good old E6B.
After the flight planning is the fun bit. The 25 km flight required in the syllabus doesn’t really cut it. It’s not far enough to do any real navigation, so we jump in a plane and go for a good 2-3 hour cross-country flight. You navigate and, one of our RAAus instructors flies.
ppg instructor aeronautical experience
There is no requirement to start your Instructor training. Other than obviously holding a PPG certificate and being a current financial member of SAFA. The syllabus does require 75 hours of flying and you have to have held your PPG certificate for at least 12 months before applying for your Level 1 Instructor rating.
level 1 instructor rating
So, what now?
You have learned to be an instructor and how to pass your knowledge onto students. It’s time to get out in the paddock and put it all into action while we provide you with continuous mentoring and professional development.
We do not take on extra students while you are a Level 1 Instructor, we stick within our strict student number caps so we have plenty of time to work with you while you work with the student.
During your Level 1 Instructor training you will be working on –
- Obtaining your Principlea and Methods of Instruction certificate.
- Passing you CASA PPL theory.
- Building dual place tandem instructional time.
- Delivering ground theory to meet the syllabus theory time requirements.
- Administrative duties. Yep, it’s an unavoidable part of what we do, but if you are organised, it’s pretty easy to keep on top of.
- Developing your instructional techniques.
- Getting three students to Solo as required by the syllabus for your Level 2
Level 2 instructor rating
And finally, as a Level 2 Instructor for the right candidate, there are a few options.
Employment as an instructor in our school.
Continue to work with you to achieve your Chief Flying Instructor rating.
Assist you in developing your own school running it as a Level 2 Instructor while we oversee operations.
Paramotor instructor training syllabus
You can find the requirements for each rating in the SAFA Qualifications & Training Manual.