CFI ground passed

JBrown243

JBrown243

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Sep 6, 2012
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San Jose, CA
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Display name:
Jason
So, I went to take my CFI checkride the other day, after 8 hours of ground the inspector wanted to fly the next day. The next day I showed up at the airport and someone took the plane I was supposed to have. I let him know it would not be possible to fly because the plane I scheduled was taken out of town by the owner with no notice. We decided to do what we could on the ground like going over systems and some extra ground stuff for about 2 hours. Then, he gave me a letter of discontinuance and my ride is supposed to be on the 15th.

Two questions,

1. what should I be doing in the mean time to better use this delay to my advantage.

2. Is the government shutdown going to effect my ride?
 
Congrats! The hard part is over. The CFI oral is probably the toughest one out there.
 
JBrown243 said:
So, I went to take my CFI checkride the other day, after 8 hours of ground the inspector wanted to fly the next day. The next day I showed up at the airport and someone took the plane I was supposed to have. I let him know it would not be possible to fly because the plane I scheduled was taken out of town by the owner with no notice. We decided to do what we could on the ground like going over systems and some extra ground stuff for about 2 hours. Then, he gave me a letter of discontinuance and my ride is supposed to be on the 15th.

Two questions,

1. what should I be doing in the mean time to better use this delay to my advantage.

2. Is the government shutdown going to effect my ride?
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8 hr oral? Wow, but then again my IFR oral was 5 hrs.

Are you using a FSDO examiner or DPE? FSDO you could be delayed, but I would hope we are back to work by the 15th. A DPE is non govt and should not be an issue.

No I am not FSDO, but I am impacted by the shutdown as a govt contractor.
 
I'd be ripping the flight school (and if possible) the owner a new one over that stunt. Aircraft rental is a business, the owner gets in line with (or perhaps even BEHIND) everybody else. What an unprofessional sot.
 
BillTIZ said:
8 hr oral? Wow, but then again my IFR oral was 5 hrs..
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8 hours is understandable for an initial CFI oral (6-8 is the norm...you will spend WAY more time in the oral than you do in the airplane).

I'm shocked at a 5 hour IA oral. :yikes: IIRC, mine was in the area of 2.5


Mike
 
JBrown243 said:
1. what should I be doing in the mean time to better use this delay to my advantage.
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Practice. practice, practice. Even better if you grab some Private Pilot and try teaching him/her the commercial maneuvers, including critiquing his/her mistakes.

2. Is the government shutdown going to effect my ride?
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Information I have is that the FSDO's are off-line, although some Inspectors may be called back on an as-needed basis for safety-critical operations -- and I don't think completing a CFI practical test is "safety-critical." I hope that if it goes over 60 days, they'll give you some relief for the normal discontinuance requirement to complete within 60 days and not make you do the oral over again.

PS: Called the FSDO -- only things they're allowed to do are "aircraft accidents and safety-related issues," and practical tests don't fall in either category.
 
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Good luck being able to take the flying portion, that stinks that the shutdown happened for you :( :(

You've passed the hardest part though, it's a cakewalk from here. My inspector flew about half the flying portion of the checkride which made it pretty fun. He made some mistakes on purpose but did some things downright crappy (eights on pylons). I had to assist his landing a little bit as it was a little flat. But honestly you made it through the worst of it, the flying will be easy... if you have someone available take them up and "teach" them. Someone who has their PPL would be the easiest, but you'll likely be asked to demonstrate at least one thing to someone who has never flown before so you could always take a friend/roommate/parent that hasn't flown before and give it a shot. Good luck!
 
MikeELP said:
8 hours is understandable for an initial CFI oral (6-8 is the norm...you will spend WAY more time in the oral than you do in the airplane).

I'm shocked at a 5 hour IA oral. :yikes: IIRC, mine was in the area of 2.5


Mike
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That's even on the long side. Mine was something like 45 minutes and we didn't miss anything...
 
GCA319 said:
That's even on the long side. Mine was something like 45 minutes
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45 minutes for an initial CFI ground portion? When did you do that -- back when I did in 1973?

and we didn't miss anything...
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Not credible. You can't do all of what's in today's CFI PTS in even twice that time. It would take close to that amount of time to cover just airworthiness.
 
My CFI ground was 2.5-3 hours. We covered everything required by the PTS plus 1 or 2 additional sections that the inspector wanted. It all depends on the inspector, they can make it a reasonable 2-3 hours or they can make your brain do cartwheels for 8.
 
Ron Levy said:
45 minutes for an initial CFI ground portion? When did you do that -- back when I did in 1973?

Not credible. You can't do all of what's in today's CFI PTS in even twice that time. It would take close to that amount of time to cover just airworthiness.
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He was referring to my comment that my oral for Instrument was 2.5 hours.


Mike
 
MikeELP said:
He was referring to my comment that my oral for Instrument was 2.5 hours.
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Thank you for pointing out the thread creep I missed. Having sat through a few dozen IR orals the last few years, my observation is 1+15 to 1+30 is about average. I've only seen one examiner who gets it done in 45 minutes.
 
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