CFI initial questions

AggieMike88

AggieMike88

Touchdown! Greaser!
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The original "I don't know it all" of aviation.
Questions for our CFIs old and new.

  1. When sitting for your oral exams, what lessons were you asked to teach?
  2. How “in depth” were you expected to go?
  3. How did you teach the lesson?
  4. What critiques and feedback did the examiner provide?
  5. What pointers do you have for future candidates to make the teaching part of the oral exam go smoothly?
  6. Does Levy’s #2 pencil still apply to the CFI initial? Or are you expected to go a level or two deeper on the knowledge items?
 
1. Stalls and I forget the other one.
2. In depth to the amount necessary for a student at the level you'd be teaching that lesson to.
3. Using a whiteboard and some props I had (prop props, not propeller props).
4. He really didn't provide much feedback exactly, other than to say I did a good job.
5. Your prep for the CFI oral started the day you became interested in aviation. One of the things he really liked was I wove into the lessons real-life examples, either of my own or from accidents I had read about. For stalls, the obvious one now would be Air France, but there are many others. Since I read about stuff like this, and her on the boards a lot, I didn't have to work hard to try to come up with pertinent examples.
6. The pencil advice doesn't apply, since you're explaining the material, not asking the questions. Explain to the depth you would with a student, but be ready if the "student" has questions. So yes, you have to know a couple more levels than that.

I actually enjoyed the oral. I felt (like I said) that I had been preparing for it my whole life. Get to talk about airplanes and explain stuff? Great!
 
For all of my CFI orals, I got deep enough for the DPE to determine that I knew what I was talking about. He didn’t give me any guidance as to the base knowlege he might have as a “student”, so I made assumptions, told the DPE what those assumptions were, and continued from there.

For my initial CFI, I taught wave flying. For my ASE add-on, I taught short field operations. For my -II, I taught NDB approaches, and I don’t remember what I taught for my MEI. I taught them using blackboards, a model, and for the NDB lesson a piece of paper with a compass rose drawn on it and a pencil for an ADF needle (in real life, I added an oil bottle and a hangar floor for NDBs.)
 
AggieMike88 said:
Questions for our CFIs old and new.

  1. When sitting for your oral exams, what lessons were you asked to teach?
  2. How “in depth” were you expected to go?
  3. How did you teach the lesson?
  4. What critiques and feedback did the examiner provide?
  5. What pointers do you have for future candidates to make the teaching part of the oral exam go smoothly?
  6. Does Levy’s #2 pencil still apply to the CFI initial? Or are you expected to go a level or two deeper on the knowledge items?
Click to expand...

1. I was asked to teach a ground lesson on airspace and chart-reading, and a ground lesson on short- and soft-field takeoffs and landings.
2. I was having too much fun on the airspace lesson; I think my DPE could tell that I could teach ground all day, and had to actually shut me up to move on. He used the flight lesson portion more to grill me about flight technique, rather than to observe my craft.
3. I had brought with me a non-local chart (Oregon and Washington, I think?) because it had all the different kinds of dashed/shaded lines, and all different kinds of SUA, including things like National Security Areas and other unusual things. My local sectional (Anchorage) doesn't have all that; no Class B or Prohibited areas for instance. Find one that has a little bit of everything. For the flight lesson, I had prepared a little "maneuver book" designed to be taken along in the plane, so I flipped to the appropriate page and talked my way through it (like following a cheat sheet).
4. We talked for a LONG time about endorsements. Clearly he could tell that it was my weak spot. (He didn't have to say so explicitly.) On the flight itself, I nearly goofed up a left/right traffic brain fart (caught it in time, fortunately), but he warned me to warn my students to be sure to obey the left-turn/right-turn rules, that pilots have gotten busted for being too cavalier about those rules.
5. If you're not an experienced teacher, get some practice with a low-stakes audience. It doesn't have to be aviation-related; you can go to show-and-tell for the sixth-graders at the middle school and teach them about how to change a tire, or give a talk at the Nature Center about what bears eat... anything really, whatever you know something about. Just to get comfortable being up in front of people, taking questions, all of that. Teaching is the art of formulating your own thoughts into something that's understandable to others, plus overcoming stage fright, and both take practice.
6. I'm not sure... I definitely blew the Pencil Rule completely on my Oral, and volunteered to take the conversation down tangents... see my post about my ride for details: https://www.pilotsofamerica.com/community/threads/tales-of-my-cfi-checkride-long.113102/. ... but I figured the CFI ride *is* a little different in that regard. I'm an uncontrollable chatterbox, and since I'd be bringing that trait to my teaching anyway, I figured I might as well just "be myself" for this ride.

All this being said, I am a teacher by profession, so my ride experience is maybe not typical. My DPE could size up my teaching immediately, and spent most of the ride finding all my other weaknesses... it was a long day.
 
When sitting for your oral exams, what lessons were you asked to teach?
Just 1: 8's on pylons

How “in depth” were you expected to go?
Enough so the student knew what we were to do and what to expect when we were headed out to the plane

How did you teach the lesson?
Like a CFI

What critiques and feedback did the examiner provide?
"You know how to teach, the golf and martial arts instruction you've given obviously shows."

What pointers do you have for future candidates to make the teaching part of the oral exam go smoothly?
I took control of the oral portion of the exam, rather than being led around like a little puppy. Might not work with other examiners.

Does Levy’s #2 pencil still apply to the CFI initial? Or are you expected to go a level or two deeper on the knowledge items?
He got what I gave him, and never pried for more on anything.

90 minutes after shaking hands we were preflighting.

Oh, and after the check ride and you get a student, don't immediately:
over-explain ****
be patronizing
act like Helpy McHelperton
get into the minutiae.​

You'll lose the student. Figure out what your student wants and needs to hear from you before showing him/her how much you think you know. It's not about you showing them how much you know. Anyone can do that. It's about knowledge transfer and not everyone can do that.
 
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Oh, yeah...while I didn’t have the opportunity to use it, I brought a corkscrew to my ASE oral for teaching prop governors, and I knew the FBO had styrofoam cups for compass errors.
 
1. I had to put together a lesson on the traffic pattern (aka rectangular course). He wanted me to create the lesson plan on the spot to show I could do it, not use a pre-planned one. I actually never even used my "CFI Binder" during the whole checkride.

2. It wasn't overly deep, but detailed enough to cover all the concepts.

3. Started off explaining the basics on paper at the table, then stood up and had the "student" pretend to be an airplane and walk through the pattern while discussing all the concepts (wind-correction, control inputs, etc.)

4. I talked too much during the flight. My mentoring instructor always said I didn't talk enough to the "student", the DPE said I needed to talk less. But overall I didn't have much trouble on the ride.

5. This may be DPE specific, but this DPE didn't like to see the instructor stand up and lecture the student. He liked a more informal sit down and discuss stuff while drawing out concepts as needed, or standing up and role playing. He felt that lecturing lost the connection with the student too much, which I tend to agree. He was surprised I never did it, and made a mention of how I didn't.

6. As a pilot, you need to know what to do. As a CFI you have to understand the why. You have to be able to answer the why when a student asks.
 
I know you are getting started. Hopefully you have compiled your instructional library first including PTS for the CFI and studied all the materials. https://www.faa.gov/training_testing/testing/test_standards/media/FAA-S-8081-6D.pdf

I bring to your attention the phrase "exhibits instructional knowledge" on about every Task in the PTS. This means on every task you are expected to be able to thoroughly explain the Task. When the DPE is satisfied you have instructional knowledge, you will likely end your rambling and move on.

If you don't know the subject, you can expect an interrogation and to fail the oral. It is absolutely critical that you know everything about stalls and spins. If at any time the examiner says you are wrong on any topic, you need to know the FAA materials in detail so you can reference the materials to demonstrate why your answer is correct

For the presented lesson, "Examiner must select at least one maneuver Task from Areas of Operation VII through XIII, and ask the applicant to present a preflight lesson on the selected maneuver as the lesson would be taught to a student." You have to be through, all elements of the maneuver from the purpose, area it can be done, selecting points,altitude, power settings, clearing turns, aerodynamics, errors, tolerances, recoveries, aircraft performance, risk mitigation..... It is important you have lesson plans you prepared, not ones you purchased.

Finally, have some simple teaching aids. A soft foam glider makes a great aid. A legal pad and works for a white board. Get shoulder to shoulder next the examiner when you teach this coach.
 
1.The inspector asked me to teach purpose and proper use of rudder. Not really what the PTS says since it's not one of the "maneuvers" but I didn't complain and just was glad it wasn't going to be an 8+ hour oral like some people have experienced. I took five minutes to prepare a lesson and probably 10 to teach it, but she stopped me a little before I was completely done (I was going to talk about left turning tendencies but didn't get that far).

2. As in depth as possible, unless the examiner prefaced the question with something like "how would to teach a student pilot on their first lesson about _____?"

3. With explanations and drawings? Not really sure what you're asking.

4. Not a whole lot.

5. Practice.

6. No.
 
For the ground lesson, I basically had to teach a little bit of everything. I prepared PowerPoint presentations, which I was allowed to use. I tried to stay superficial unless he asked for more. I let him talk as much as he wanted to use up time...he did have valuable input/advice, which I appreciated. Wifi CFI had some useful lessons. CFI Notebook has a lot of info.

My flight lesson was a soft field takeoff and landing. I had a word document for just about every maneuver. I also purchased some lesson plans from CFI Bootcamp (no affiliation).

I watched YouTube videos from Pilot Training System, which basically goes through the PHAK.
which

For maneuvers, I watched YouTube videos from ERAUSpecialVFR, The Finer Points, Fly8MA, MZero and UND.

I practiced demonstrating and describing in-flight lessons while flying my Xplane sim at home since I needed to get used to talking about and flying a maneuver at the same time.
 
When you teach the lesson for the examiner, do you know in advance what it will be so you can prepare or do you have to come up with it on the spot??
 
Depends on the DPE. A couple of weeks before the test, my DPE provided me with 2 scenario students (1 private and 1 commercial) with background info on their personalities, maneuver problem areas and flying skills. He then picked the private student for the flight maneuvers part of the exam so I kind of had a general idea of what to expect. He also asked as to how I would adjust my teaching based on their personalities/skills, etc. He gave me about an hour to prepare a soft field takeoff/landing flight maneuver briefing that I went over with him.

We then flew some maneuvers. Sometimes he was on the controls as the student with me explaining, sometimes I was on the controls and explaining. He'd make intentional mistakes to see how I would correct them, including trying to get me "accidentally" into a spin.

He said he flunked a few CFI candidates earlier in the week because they couldn't make the landing site they chose to demonstrate a simulated engine failure....so choose wisely.
 
AggieMike88 said:
Questions for our CFIs old and new.
  1. When sitting for your oral exams, what lessons were you asked to teach?
  2. How “in depth” were you expected to go?
  3. How did you teach the lesson?
  4. What critiques and feedback did the examiner provide?
  5. What pointers do you have for future candidates to make the teaching part of the oral exam go smoothly?
  6. Does Levy’s #2 pencil still apply to the CFI initial? Or are you expected to go a level or two deeper on the knowledge items?
Click to expand...

1. Be prepared to teach anything. But each DPE will have his own favorites. Be absolutely prepared to teach aerodynamics, turns, etc. Something basic that you'll have to do in your first few lessons with a student.
2. Typically but not always, the DPE is a private or Commercial applicant. Sometimes they bounce between. Obviously you probably won't be teaching Chandelles to a private, but you should be able to teach steep turns and stalls to each. Etc.
3. Use whatever you intend to use and are comfortable with. Personally I would have my syllabus for that lesson, the FAA manuals as appropriate and a whiteboard. It is fairly obvious if you've given it thought before that day, as you start into it.
4. None on the Oral. On the Flight, recommended I use the checklist more. Even though the "Student" should be using it, during their lessons.
5. Teach every single lesson, get feedback and practice. A lot. Its free to practice at home, and is the single best thing you can do. Practice teaching people of different skill levels. Teaching a new student about stalls and turns is different than teaching a commercial applicant. YOu need practice relating it to something they know. This applies to everything, even steering with their feet, using toe brakes, everything. once you have a lesson down, get feedback and move on to the next. After the first few do a few at a time, and get feedback and make adjustments.

6. You are expected to be able to either
A. Backup your answers if needed or
B. Know where to look.

Don't make anything up that you don't know. You should be VERY familiar with where to find things.
I wouldn't say the pencil analogy applies. If the DPE is playing the role of a student, then you would be expected to explain to their level of knowledge.
 
dmspilot said:
3. With explanations and drawings? Not really sure what you're asking.
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In addition to talking and creating masterworks of art on the white board or chalk board, were any prepared or improvised props used to illustrate the concepts.
 
AggieMike88 said:
In addition to talking and creating masterworks of art on the white board or chalk board, were any prepared or improvised props used to illustrate the concepts.
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As I went thru constructing everything, I found several thing that were helpful in explaining concepts. Most are documents, and I still use some of them today. The only thing physical I've ever used is a cheap toy airplane, I think its a P51 but the prop has since fallen off. Everything else is a document, or drawn on the board.

I'm happy to share things, as you build things the way you like them.
 
ja_user said:
he only thing physical I've ever used is a cheap toy airplane
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Good to know.... Keeps me from embarrassing myself if I were to show up with a trunk of stuff that rivals the one Carrot Top uses.
 
AggieMike88 said:
In addition to talking and creating masterworks of art on the white board or chalk board, were any prepared or improvised props used to illustrate the concepts.
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You are not teaching a class, you are teaching one student. There is zero reason to draw anything. If you do your notebooks properly , you can put whatever diagrams, advisory circular, or other FAA reference material you want to reference with each lesson plan.

Someone has told you about the need for a notebook?

Do your own power point for each lesson and present it that way if you want.
 
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AggieMike88 said:
Good to know.... Keeps me from embarrassing myself if I were to show up with a trunk of stuff that rivals the one Carrot Top uses.
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Pretty sure I showed up with two backpacks full of stuff, books and papers. Barely used any of it, but I was happy to have it next to me.
 
Clip4 said:
You are not teaching a class, you are teaching one student. There is zero reason to draw anything. If you do your notebooks properly , you can put whatever diagrams, advisory circular, or other FAA reference material you want to reference with each lesson plan.

Someone has told you about the need for a notebook?

Do your own power point for each lesson and present it that way if you want.
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It's bad to draw something for one student? But okay to use a powerpoint for one student? WTF are you talking about?
 
Clip4 said:
There is zero reason to draw anything.
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Oh I very much disagree. Sometimes the process of drawing the topic out step-by-step can lend itself to better understanding and easier learning. Since the completed diagram or whatever doesn't exist yet, the student cannot be distracted by things you haven't covered yet. Heck, I just did this today to explain a concept at my day job. By drawing it "live", I could tailor it exactly to the student's questions and problem areas on the fly. Can't do that with a pre-drawn picture or a Powerpoint slide.
 
I just finished mine about 3 hours ago!

1. We were going to do two pretty basic maneuvers. Level turns and Climbing turns. It sounds easy, but there are a lot of mechanics that go into those maneuvers. She could dive into my knowledge of basic aerodynamics and how everything works together. I screwed up (not really) and said those are easy, thought you'd want to do pylon 8's or something...she smiled and said well lets talk about pylon 8s. I explained pivotal altitude and how to calculate it. How to enter and all that. Two things she asked were:

If this maneuver is used to demonstrate pivotal altitude, why do we do it as an 8 on two pylon and not just around a single point?

Is there a max wind we can do this maneuver in, and if so, why is it limiting?

2. As others have said, to the level that you are teaching it, but also be able to answer questions. In my experience, her follow up questions were not gotchas. They were to make me thing about the exercise from a different perspective, to really see that I understood it to a correlative level. AKA RUAC. If you don't have a firm understanding of it, how can you teach it....

3. Whiteboard.

4. We debriefed the entire thing once it was done. We spend almost 90 minutes talking about everything. She gave me her honest opinion about everything. (How else are we suppose to get better)

5. Just go through the PTS. Look at ever maneuver, and try to think of all the difference forces acting on the airplane. When you can tell me what input you are using, what the airplane is doing, why it is doing it, and why you are having to overcome certain tendencies, you will have a good understanding. Why do we use rudder when we enter a turn. When do we stop having to input rudder in a turn? Why? What changed at that point? At the level of a commercial pilot, a lot of the things you do are muscle memory, but for a new student, you need to break it down to its most basic parts. That was the point of the whole exercise. After the exam, she said you'd be surprised how many candidates tell me we use aileron in the turn, then use opposite aileron to exit the turn. The next question is, well where is the yoke IN the turn. It takes a minute for some people to figure it out. They have done it a million times, but never really thing about it. Do some chair flying and really thing about EVERY INPUT...what you are doing and why.

6. Don't get too far in the weeds, but you are asked to teach it. This isn't a "what is the answer to x" type of exam. Know your material, know what the standards are, then know as much extra as you can. My DPE was an acclaimed aerobatic pilot who wanted to know that I had a strong understand of the forces acting on the plane.

We talked about W&B. I went into the performance aspects of the whole thing. Fwd vs Aft CG. How the airplane performs in regards to each.

The whole thing was very laid back. I had to know the materials, but I didn't feel like I was trying to be tricked. You can tell someone is a great teacher when you learn just from them asking you questions. She did that. Overall it was a great experience with the oral. She said I had an above avg understanding of the material.

The flight was a different story. I just felt behind the airplane the whole time. We flew for about 1.5, and coming back into the airport it was 5pm and I had the sun in my eyes, had never been to that airport, and was basically worn out. I got confused as to which side of airport I was on. I thought I needed to cross midfield to enter a down wind. I got about 3 miles from the airport when I realized I was on the correct side and needed to enter a downwind. Well I was high and fast, and came in too high, did a go around, and was flustered, so took too long getting the flaps up. We taxied back in and I got a disapproval. I felt horrible about the whole flight. That was a week ago. Today I went back and did .5 worth of flying, and she said it was night and day difference. She said I was eyes out, talking through everything, and most importantly I proved to her that I have the knowledge and ability to be a great instructor. Finished the paperwork, she endorsed my AGI stuff and then shot the bull for 45 minutes or so and flew home. I left today with two new licenses and renewed confidence.
 
MauleSkinner said:
Why is there a need for that? Bring the FAA materials and write lesson plans on the spot.
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I recently had this discussion with a group of CFIs reference a CFI who applied for employment with grossly substandard teaching skills. All of us were required to construct a notebook as part of CFI training.

A notebook is an proven training tool and it sure makes the oral on the ride an easy event because you have comprehensive lesson plans prepared in advance. Of course there are several sources that will sell you their notebook, but it is not the same as studying the material and writing your own.

On the oral, it shouldn’t take the applicant longer to be ready to present the lesson than it takes for the DPE to take a restroom break and get a cup of coffee.
 
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Clip4 said:
were required to construct a notebook as part of CFI training.
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You say notebook, I say binder.

Tay-toh, Tah-toh, let's call the whole thing Olaf.
 
AggieMike88 said:
You say notebook, I say binder.

Tay-toh, Tah-toh, let's call the whole thing Olaf.
Click to expand...

I will go with binder, which can be a computer file. The important part is you have done complete lesson plan preparation and are prepared for both the test and to teach students at the end of your training,
 
Clip4 said:
I recently had this discussion with a group of CFIs reference a CFI who applied for employment with grossly substandard teaching skills. All of us were required to construct a notebook as part of CFI training.

A notebook is an proven training tool and it sure makes the oral on the ride an easy event because you have comprehensive lesson plans prepared in advance. Of course there are several sources that will sell you their notebook, but it is not the same as studying the material and writing your own.

On the oral, it shouldn’t take the applicant longer to be ready to present the lesson than it takes for the DPE to take a restroom break and get a cup of coffee.
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It may be a proven training tool, but it’s a technique...as with any technique, there are others that are equally valid.

My DPE had his cup of coffee when we started, and had apparently used the restroom already, as he never had to leave the room.
 
MauleSkinner said:
It may be a proven training tool, but it’s a technique...as with any technique, there are others that are equally valid.

My DPE had his cup of coffee when we started, and had apparently used the restroom already, as he never had to leave the room.
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Considering I just worked with a “CFI” who had never performed a full power on or power off stall from private to CFI, you may be correct in 2019.
 
Clip4 said:
Considering I just worked with a “CFI” who had never performed a full power on or power off stall from private to CFI, you may be correct in 2019.
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So those maneuvers are only found in notebooks, not any FAA pubs?
 
MauleSkinner said:
So those maneuvers are only found in notebooks, not any FAA pubs?
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No, just people who can’t teach, taught by people who don’t know how to teach and passed by people who don’t test and do a great job of cashing checks.

But to answer your question directly, the is no FAA publication that has lesson plans for the maneuvers. Either the applicant has to complete these or use someone else’s. But showing up on test day and doing the lesson plans on test day is poor preparation.
 
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Clip4 said:
No, just people who can’t teach, taught by people who don’t know how to teach and passed by people who don’t test and do a great job of cashing checks.

But to answer your question directly, the is no FAA publication that has lesson plans for the maneuvers. Either the applicant has to complete these or use someone else’s. But showing up on test day and doing the lesson plans on test day is poor preparation.
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I disagree...a couple minutes to write a lesson plan vs a couple minutes to find it and study it is a negligible difference.

But then, I didn’t memorize answers for the written tests, either.
 
You’ll need to tailor each lesson differently for each student. During my oral, I was told to teach basic aerodynamics to a brand new PPL candidate. I was then taught to teach the electrical system to a commercial pilot candidate. Good luck!
 
He asked me to teach Ground Reference Maneuvers and to pick my favorite.

I used a chalkboard and paper and pencil and got really into the weeds to the point where he had to tell me to stop... He knew I was enjoying it...

I showed up with a folder full of lesson plans and only looked at the chosen one for long enough to prove to him I had one for the subject I taught. I did the lesson from memory and was very confident of the material. The rest of the oral was a blur of regulations and endorsements and he would stop me after a short discussion on each subject.

Perhaps I was over-prepared, if there is such a thing, but he was thankful he didn't need to pull answers out. His feedback was to make sure I didn't overwhelm the student and to adjust the pace of the training session to each individual's ability to consume the material. That left a permanent impression on my teaching style...

Just show lots of confidence and enthusiasm in your presentation and know your stuff cold.
 
RussR said:
Oh I very much disagree. Sometimes the process of drawing the topic out step-by-step can lend itself to better understanding and easier learning. Since the completed diagram or whatever doesn't exist yet, the student cannot be distracted by things you haven't covered yet. Heck, I just did this today to explain a concept at my day job. By drawing it "live", I could tailor it exactly to the student's questions and problem areas on the fly. Can't do that with a pre-drawn picture or a Powerpoint slide.
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As stated, you don’t need to draw anything - especially if you are artistically challenged. Take an FAA diagram, explain it and make notations as you go.
 
I can't draw to save my life either. So I found a 3 sided drawing of a 172 and broke it down into parts in Photoshop and blew them up to 24". I figure eventually I may print them large and laminate them to use dry erase markers on. Until them, I just printed them out on notebook paper and drew on them with a pen. My DPE liked them enough that she made copies of them to keep.

cessna-172 - 24in Side View.jpg cessna-172 - 24in Tall - Front View.jpg
 
AggieMike88 said:
Questions for our CFIs old and new.

  1. When sitting for your oral exams, what lessons were you asked to teach?
  2. How “in depth” were you expected to go?
  3. How did you teach the lesson?
  4. What critiques and feedback did the examiner provide?
  5. What pointers do you have for future candidates to make the teaching part of the oral exam go smoothly?
  6. Does Levy’s #2 pencil still apply to the CFI initial? Or are you expected to go a level or two deeper on the knowledge items?
Click to expand...

1. A number of them. As Jordan mentioned, the task given is accompanied by what level / certificate you’re teaching to also. Occasionally my DPE would say “Yeah this is a Commercial candidate and they know that already...” and I would smile and say I had to make sure... :)

Example scenarios were “First flight ever, this airport, tell me what you do from meet up to flying...” asked a couple of questions about what I could assume the student knew from ground work and plowed in. That was stopped at takeoff.

Another was “Commercial Student, constant speed prop. Go.” When I got a bit too “engineer
-ish” the examiner joked, “Student is from Boulder and doesn’t even know where his oil cap is on his car. Continue.” :)

Short subjects were a commercial maneuver Ir two, and discussion of flight controls with a simulated primary student.

My second oral was pretty long. I had flopped the first attempt because frankly, I showed up not really ready to teach. I tried pointing at diagrams and not really explaining them from the ground up. Building blocks. Common engineer pilot mistake per the examiner. Whether I was just tired or distracted or whatever, the first go at it was a total disaster and I knew it. He knew it. And he let me go a while.

I came back ready to TEACH.

All the blather about notebooks, lesson plans, documents whatever didn’t matter at all on the day I showed up in the teaching attitude. You could have handed me a brick for a teaching aid; I would have shown how to make that brick fly. Haha. Whiteboard and FAA pubs and go. Teach.

Personally I like 3x5 cards and have a box of them. It’s not common but I like it. Each card has the ESSENTIALS for anybb CB particular topic on the front and EXTRAS on the back. If it’s a flight maneuver it also has the FAA requirements for each rating on the back. This helps me stay focused.

But whatever works for you to TEACH, that’s the thing to use. And FAA pubs. They really do have everything needed.

When I wrote down long form lesson plans per the FOI I struggled to keep them concise and short. I get how to do that NOW but I wanted to type up everything I knew about it. Y’all know my post length here. C’mon. Ha.

Cards work great for me. Examiner liked the results. Just keep them organized if you go that route.

In flight I really enjoy. Remember a student is 90% saturated at engine start at first. They won’t hear a damn thing you say unless it’s concise, consistent, and builds upon what they already know.

My DPE for my initial is a stickler on two things. Wording of things... no slang. Use FAA terminology. It’s a language we all know. And systems. He says if you can explain an aircraft system in a concise, simple, way... to someone who doesn’t know how to put air in their tires... you know how to teach.

Every examiner will have their own quirks. My ME was my initial and there’s a lot more safety items to cover. My SE was my second and it was heavy on primary student simulations. Done “backward” for landing gear reasons that now don’t exist for some aircraft. :)

Oh yeah. Simulated problems and such on the ME is of course, huge. How to simulate things without trying to kill both of you and when to simulate things. Heh.

For me, ground is slightly more difficult because of the engineer brain. Both flight portions were easy and relaxed. I like teaching in flight. You may also find one or the other feels more intuitive to you. Work hard on the opposite one. But just to cover the flight stuff...

Learn to demonstrate a maneuver while taking the exact FAA terminology through it and then a SHORT recap with “You ready to try it?” Build off of the student’s prior experience. If they can do a left turn, they can do a right turn. If they can climb, they can descend. Now let’s combine the two. Simple. Building blocks.

They’re likely overwhelmed. Handle the “other stuff” for them but show them that you’re following the checklist always. Have them follow along. Later when you say “What’s next on the checklist?” guess where the eyeballs go? Tell them exactly where to put their eyes. Etc. Stuff we do almost “instinctively” once wasn’t. If you break down in your head everything you’re doing to the basic pieces, then you can teach them.

Safety safety safety along with all of it, and situational awareness. There’s another airplane in our area, let’s make sure we know where they are and what they’re doing and maneuver appropriately so we aren’t in each other’s way. Lesson is important, safety is paramount.

There ya go. If I had to boil this down to a card for myself it would be teach, teach, teach and teach some more. Ground covers what we will do. Flight is reinforcing what we talked about on the ground and allowing muscles to integrate it.

Have fun studying — but also really study hard WHERE to find things in FAA pubs. Oh and don’t rule out things like advisory circulars and such. Examiner liked that I pulled up the traffic pattern stuff from a recent FAA online safety doc for example. Nice graphics, good bullets on it, easy to email a link to the student for further study, etc.

Examiner said he’s seen instructor candidates come in with all sorts of stuff. And teach in different ways. But he pushes hard for consistent terminology and simplicity.

And most will simulate some fairly big mistakes in flight. They’re seeing if you’re REALLY watching the student and ready to correct and teach what was wrong. Mine also related a few student mistakes that couldn’t be safely simulated. Like ME candidates getting the aircraft nearly inverted.

Multiple old CFIs and my DPE all said the same thing... “Always be watchful. Even a student with a pile of certificates will eventually try to kill you.” :) They showed some techniques for being ready while not looking like you’re hovering over the student. They have no idea you’re ready to catch the mistake and recover. Sly is a good word for it.

Think to your own instruction. Ever said to your instructor, “You knew I was going to do that, didn’t you?” :)
 
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