RE: cost of a flight instructor?
besides finding my club members a enjoyable bunch of guys there help and knowledge has been invaluable , not once has any of them asked for any compensation other than a hand shake and a thanks .
almost all the clubs afilliated with the AMA offer free training as long as you are participating in the clubs program . if someone is looking for a high intensity learning curve then pay away , personally I would rather throw the $$ at a sim and take the slower path, it worked for me.