CFI help

Darrell111

Darrell111

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Darrell111
Well im working on my getting my CFI rating and after some amount of studying i have notcied that their is A LOT to know and i am having a little trouble getting everything organized. In other words i am affraid im studying things i dont need for the CFI and also may be missing things that i will need.

So the question is..

Are there any couses out there such as the King that guide you in this process. In past experience the King courses only prepare you for the written but dont touch so much on what you will experience in the oral.

Any suggestions are appreciated..

Thanks
Darrell
 
I was tempted to suggest the CFI PTS but I don't think that's what Darrell is looking for.

The thing that organized my study was the lesson plans. I started with the Jepp Syllabus and worked them into my own lesson plans, with reading assignments. Lately I've been working more of the PTS into each lesson.

What does your instructor suggest?

Joe
 
You can learn it all here ;)

Seriously, there are some pretty good questions asked on these boards. Look at the initial post, see if you can answer the question. Could you do a ground or flight lesson on it? Read the other responses to see if you can prove what's right and weed out the BS. You'll also get a good idea for how a specific question relates to other areas (correlation, right?).

Take note of the way some people answer with references, too. If you can support what you're saying, it's always better.

In other words i am affraid im studying things i dont need for the CFI and also may be missing things that i will need.
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Don't be afraid of knowing too much :)

Good luck!

David
 
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Darrell111 said:
Well im working on my getting my CFI rating and after some amount of studying i have notcied that their is A LOT to know and i am having a little trouble getting everything organized. In other words i am affraid im studying things i dont need for the CFI and also may be missing things that i will need.

So the question is..

Are there any couses out there such as the King that guide you in this process. In past experience the King courses only prepare you for the written but dont touch so much on what you will experience in the oral.

Any suggestions are appreciated..

Thanks
Darrell
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Darrell,
I am now 12 days away from the ride, the one thing that has helped me the most getting a handle on all the stuff is notecards. I have notecards for everything. I carry the stupid things with me, every chance I get I thumb through them. In regard to the Kings, don't bother unless you are still trying
to get the writtens done, because rote learning is all you will get out of them and you really need to understand the stuff. I am also using the ASA CFI Practical test study guide. It is broken down similar to the PTS, but is a question answer format basically over most if not all of the PTS. Definately print out AC 61-65E (if you haven't already). Print the whole thing, not just the endorsements, there is a lot of good info in the first 20 or so pages as well. As others have said, the lesson plan development really helps you to understand the manuevers and get your head around trying to teach. I had a hell of a time flying and talking at the same time until I had the lesson plans done, it made a huge difference. I know where you are coming from, there is
a lot to know. If there is anything
I can help you with, let me know. Just shoot me a PM.
Don
12 days to CFI
 
Darrell111 said:
Well im working on my getting my CFI rating and after some amount of studying i have notcied that their is A LOT to know and i am having a little trouble getting everything organized. In other words i am affraid im studying things i dont need for the CFI and also may be missing things that i will need.

So the question is..

Are there any couses out there such as the King that guide you in this process. In past experience the King courses only prepare you for the written but dont touch so much on what you will experience in the oral.

Any suggestions are appreciated..

Thanks
Darrell
Click to expand...

What do you think you're studying you don't need for CFI? You should know everything. You should be able to teach some one the complete hows, whys and wherefores of aviation, and you should be able to explain it several different ways and be able to relate it to something the student already has a grip on. The stuff in the applicable PTSs, this is stuff you just have to have cold, that and rules, know em by heart, at least 61 & 91 and the biggies for 135/121 and know where to find everything else.

As far as lesson plans..., you can follow any of the commercially available syllabii, or the one the flight school you go to work for supplies. I'd even go so far as to recommend doing so from a liability standpoint. It's always a safe bet to use a Jeppessen system especially when something happens to a student and you get called to the carpet. At least you can show that you were using known good and even prefered methods and standards. That at least cancels out gross negligence (unless of course you did something really stupid) and most likely the ability to collect punis.

As for organized, well, it pretty much all has to live in your brain. This is all part of why I don't think a 250 hr pilot is ready to be an instructor. There's no way to have the requisite knowledge and decision making skills down cold to the point of being able to teach them to someone. And some of the things I hear instructors say is frighteningly wrong.
 
Henning said:
<snip>
As far as lesson plans..., you can follow any of the commercially available syllabii, or the one the flight school you go to work for supplies. I'd even go so far as to recommend doing so from a liability standpoint. It's always a safe bet to use a Jeppessen system especially when something happens to a student and you get called to the carpet. At least you can show that you were using known good and even prefered methods and standards. That at least cancels out gross negligence (unless of course you did something really stupid) and most likely the ability to collect punis.<snip>
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I'd like to discuss this a bit. I agree that we need to have everything in a commercial syllabus in our lesson plans and if we're working for a school that has their own syllabus we have to use that. However, I believe there is a good benefit to developing your own lesson plans.

I have a couple of problems with the Jepp private syllabus. For example they do the solo phase check after the first solo and I really like to have it done before. It's sort of like the old joke:

Inst: Your landings are much better today, what's the secret.
Stud: You were right, they're easy. I just come in like I normally do and when I see you grit your teeth and clench your fist I pull back real hard.

There is always a possiblity of non-verbal communication. I know some CFIs think a phase check is a set back for many students and don't feel they need a second opinion.

Be that as it may, the organizational thought process that goes into dividing a course into bite sized pieces and providing the references and reading assignments is much better than reading someone elses lesson plans.

JMHO.

Joe
 
First off thank you all for your replys..

Im going to use the Jepp program.

Just to clarify.. i have all the FAA books, i am aware of part 61 sub h and i will be asking A LOT of questions :)

Im just a very systematic thinker which is why im asking this.

Thanks again
Darrell

P.S. Good Luck Djones on your checkride.. let us know how it goes :)
 
The weakest area for nearly all initial CFI applicants seems not to be what they know, but rather their ability to teach what they know. For that reason, do anything you can do to improve your teaching skills, whether it be taking a basic teaching course in the Ed department at the local college, or getting some teacher friend to help you, or going to the library and getting some basic books on teaching or educational psychology. Try teaching anything to anyone who doesn't know that material -- it doesn't have to be aviation-oriented, just an opportunity to practice teaching. Get both objective (i.e., testing to determine how much was learned) and subjective (what the student thought of your teaching) feedback, and use that to improve your technique.
 
Darrell,

I think I understand your frustration. I am generally a very organized guy, and for the longest time I felt like I had all this material to study and no real way to organize it. I spent a lot of time jumping from one thing to another, trying to get my head around what I needed to know a) to be a good instructor; b) to pass the check ride.

The best thing for me was the morning my instructor and I spent several hours just talking about all of the material and organizing my study schedule. I had piles of books and A/C's on the floor. Finally, with his help, I got a better mental picture of the process and got things organized. It took time for me to feel like I had a plan. After that things got easier. I took a suitcase full of reference material with me to the check ride, but I knew where to find whatever I was looking for.

As for the check ride, Ron is right about the examiner wanting to know if you can teach. On my oral there were several items like: "I'm a new student in my third hour of lessons. Explain to me how the little flappy things on the wings make the airplane turn." "I'm a 200 hour pilot with all of my time in a C172. I'm working on my complex endorsement. Explain how a constant speed prop works. Feel free to draw me a picture." And, "I'm just about ready to solo, explain weight and balance and show me how to do the math for this airplane." My CFI encouraged me to take a little airplane on a stick and use it during the oral as I explained things. It was a great idea.

In addition to all the reg questions, the FOI questions, and the aerodynamics questions, there were lots of general questions too. My favorite was: "This is a temporary registration for an airplane." (slides the pink copy across the table) "How long is it valid, what are the limitations if you have one in your airplane, and can I give you a check ride if this is all you have?" (90 days, operations outside the U.S. are prohibited, and yes). At another time he slid a blank piece of paper across the table and said, "I'm ready for my first solo. Here's my log book. Please make the appropriate endorsement." I took AC 61-65E and made the endorsement, then asked him for his student pilot certificate so I could endorse that too. He smiled and told me to just use the same paper.

My CFI had me well prepared for the check ride, and I'd say we spent about 5:1 ground time to flying time. Mostly we talked about instructing, did role playing exercises, and he made suggestions. I can't over emphasize the importance of having a good instructor if you're working on your CFI. Best of luck to you!

Chip
 
Darrell111 said:
First off thank you all for your replys..

Im going to use the Jepp program.

Just to clarify.. i have all the FAA books, i am aware of part 61 sub h and i will be asking A LOT of questions :)

Im just a very systematic thinker which is why im asking this.

Thanks again
Darrell

P.S. Good Luck Djones on your checkride.. let us know how it goes :)
Click to expand...

Recall all of your considerable experience (BOTH good and bad) in what all CFIs and DEs have taught, trained and asked of you for every certificate, rateing, and endorsement you've done so far, as well as any opinions of other pilots' experiences you've encountered, including written, oral, and practical tests and common observation of piloting. Throw out the bad stuff that you don't care to emulate as a CFI and what's left over, combined with what you will continue to learn, should be close to the stuff of a good CFI... -do those things for your tests and in practice.
 
Great thread. Reading this gives me some additional insight and will make me a better student for the next CFI I work with.
 
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