RC Aviation Instructor

RC Aviation Instructor — Build and Fly, Part-Time (Jersey City)

Company: Flight & Aerospace Academy

Location: 118 Ferry Street, Jersey City, NJ 07307 (on-site)

Job type: Part-time, hourly, school year

Pay: $40 to $60 per hour

Schedule: Monday to Friday, 3:45 PM to 7:00 PM · Saturday, 10:30 AM to 12:00 PM. Additional weekday slots available as we grow.

Get paid to do the thing you already do in your garage

If you build RC planes, cars, or boats for fun, this is a job where that hobby is the entire curriculum.

Flight & Aerospace Academy is a fast-growing aviation and engineering academy in Jersey City. Our students learn to fly on a Cessna simulator, build drones from CAD to first flight, and engineer robotic arms from scratch. We are hiring an instructor to run our RC track, where students go from a blank sketch to an airplane they designed, built, and flew themselves.

Classes are small, hands-on, and run after school and Saturday mornings during the school year.

What you'll teach

Our RC course takes students from sketch to first flight. Over a semester, they:

• Learn the aerodynamics behind why a wing works, and what happens when you change it
• Design an airframe and make real engineering tradeoffs on weight, wing loading, and control surface sizing
• Cut, build, and finish the airframe using foam, balsa, carbon, and 3D-printed parts
• Wire the electronics: motor, ESC, servos, receiver, battery, and how to not let the magic smoke out
• Set up, trim, and range-check the aircraft before it ever leaves the bench
• Fly it, crash it, diagnose what failed, and fix it

The last part is the point. A student who repairs their own wing after a hard landing has learned more than one who never crashed.

What you'll actually do

• Run 90-minute classes with small groups (1:5 max instructor-to-student ratio) for students ages 8 and up
• Prep builds, kits, and bench stations so class time is spent building, not unpacking
• Teach shop safety and enforce it: soldering irons, hobby knives, LiPo handling, prop safety
• Help students debug their own builds instead of fixing it for them
• Shape where the track goes next. RC Aerial Combat is on our 2027 roadmap and we want the person who builds it

What we're looking for

Required

• Real hands-on RC experience. You have built and flown your own aircraft or vehicles, not just bought ready-to-fly
• Comfortable with soldering, basic electronics, and LiPo battery safety
• Good with kids and teens. Patient, calm around mistakes, and able to explain a concept three different ways
• Available Thursday, Friday, and Saturday during the school year
• Able to get to Jersey City reliably

Nice to have

• CAD experience (Fusion 360, Onshape, or similar) and 3D printing
• AMA membership or club flying experience
• Background in aerospace or mechanical engineering, or a student currently studying it
• Part 107, drone building, or FPV experience
• Teaching, coaching, camp, or tutoring experience

You do not need a teaching certificate. You need to know how to build things and how to get a twelve-year-old to want to build them too.

Why this role is worth your time

• A real workshop. 3D printers, CAD software, bench tools, and a materials budget. You are not teaching this off a worksheet
• Ownership. We are early and growing fast. The person in this role writes the curriculum, picks the platforms, and decides what students build
• Predictable part-time hours that fit around classes, another job, or your own projects
• Students who stay. Our RC track connects into flight training, drones, and engineering, so you keep working with the same kids as they progress

How to apply

Apply through Indeed with your resume. We review applications as they come in and move quickly.

Flight & Aerospace Academy is an equal opportunity employer.

Pay: $40.00 - $60.00 per hour

Expected hours: 10.0 – 20.0 per week

Work Location: In person