CFI Rating Experience

dell30rb said:
Any books/ test prep recommended beyond the FAA's handbook?
Click to expand...
At least for the practical test, any basic teacher training you can get will be of great value. Check your local college to see if their Education Department has a "Teaching 101" course you can take.

Also, am I correct in remembering that you do not need a signoff to take the FOI.
Click to expand...
Correct, but you do need an FOI endorsement to take the practical test. Ref: 61.183(d).

And any recommendations for prep on that test.
Click to expand...
The FOI written? Memorize the Aviation Instructor's Handbook.
 
dell30rb said:
Does this fall into the same category as "that'll buff right out" ?
Click to expand...
My personal experience is that it seemed really dumb when I read that book (well, it's predecessor called "The Fundamentals of Instruction") back in 1972, but over the last 40 years as a CFI, I've learned more and more how valuable its lessons are. The problem is it's more a handbook/reference manual than a teaching device, so you need a teacher to guide you through it if you want it to have value in teaching you how to teach. OTOH, if all you want to do is pass the FOI test, just memorize the book -- you can come back to learning how to apply it when you start your practical training.
 
dell30rb said:
Also, am I correct in remembering that you do not need a signoff to take the FOI. And any recommendations for prep on that test.
Click to expand...

You are correct. However, the woman who ran the test center where I took it never got that memo, and showing her the reg wouldn't convince her. So my instructor just gave me a sign off anyway to make her happy. The sign off could've been "Ted is the world's greatest pilot" for all she cared.
 
NineThreeKilo said:
So just chalk it up to busting your ass, and it woundnt be a checkride if he didnt!

And honestly, I wouldnt have been as happy with my (at that time) newly minted CFI ticket if I merely had a 2hr oral with that happy "no child left behind" type DPE.

Feels good to be run through the gauntlet, to have to EARN that ticket from a experienced INSPECTOR who honestly knows his chit.

I really like to bust my students asses when it comes to flying and some ground subjects, power offs, slips, REAL stalls, spins, dead rec, pilotage and off field work, to name a few. I've had a number of them say the checkride was easier then they expected.

... WELL on one hand that's great, they got their ticket and I got another knotch on my belt, ON THE OTHER HAND, I feel it cheats them of both a feeling of accomplishment and humbleness.

The CFI ride, IMHO, should be what its known for, the most failed FSDO ONLY ride in a pilots career. After all you are being given the authority to let someone who never flew (before meeting you) fly SOLO.
Click to expand...

Cheats them of a feeling of accomplishment?
Sounds like they were already accomplished from your training and just proved it on the practical exam as a formality. That's the same status my flight students are at before being signed off for any position of authority from first solo to any check ride.
 
Took the ride with over 1200 TT, passed first time with the FSDO. I had a three and a half hour oral, and about 2 hours in the airplane teaching, on two different days. I credit my success to the fact that my trainer understood that the rating is about teaching, and constantly stressed that during the preparation, more so than flying perfectly.

The big challenge I (and apparently most others find) is getting into the teaching mode - where the flying part of the demonstration is really getting the least bit of your attention. You're having to verbalize what your doing and why while you're doing it, all in the hope of getting the "light bulb" to go on in your student's head. Then when the student is flying you're coaching, constantly evaluating and deciding when and where to offer corrective advice, at the same time looking for traffic and other safety stuff.

I can't stress this enough - you need to have the commercial pilot skills so thoroughly internalized that you don't think about them - because the CFI ticket isn't about the flying, it's about the teaching. What I've heard about Jesse (to use him as an example) is that he's a natural pilot (Dear Jesse You Suck Love Tim) so he was able to focus on learning to teach without spending much if any attention on ensuring he was flying to standards while demonstrating. Others may require some extra time to get that polish on, but (yes I'm saying it again) you get evaluated on your ability to get the key concepts across to your student, not by remaining within 10 feet of your target altitude in the middle of a steep turn.

Once I had the rating, giving intro rides really helped internalize the instructional toolset. The Chief CFI at the school felt that a really good instructor would not have to take the controls, even on an intro flight. I wasn't that good, and would have to make the final portions of the landing usually, but I got better and better at it.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
You are correct. However, the woman who ran the test center where I took it never got that memo, and showing her the reg wouldn't convince her. So my instructor just gave me a sign off anyway to make her happy. The sign off could've been "Ted is the world's greatest pilot" for all she cared.
Click to expand...
I think I would have let their POI and their corporate sponsor (CATS or Lasergrade) know about that.
 
Ron Levy said:
I think I would have let their POI and their corporate sponsor (CATS or Lasergrade) know about that.
Click to expand...

I'm sure you would've. In this case, it was easier to just go with it since it wasn't a big deal and the woman who administered the tests was also the manager of the FBO where I kept the Aztec. It was best to stay on her good side as much as possible.
 
jesse said:
BTDT with regards to electrical systems on a checkride.
Click to expand...

That is fun, I didn't tell the DPE I was an A&P student and he decided to pick on my knowledge of the aircraft systems. I glazed his eyes over when I started discussing the mechanical details on the different instruments.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
I'm sure you would've. In this case, it was easier to just go with it since it wasn't a big deal and the woman who administered the tests was also the manager of the FBO where I kept the Aztec. It was best to stay on her good side as much as possible.
Click to expand...
I'm only thinking of the next person.
 
Skylane81E said:
That is fun, I didn't tell the DPE I was an A&P student and he decided to pick on my knowledge of the aircraft systems. I glazed his eyes over when I started discussing the mechanical details on the different instruments.
Click to expand...

ROFL.
 
So we've established the FOI does not need an instructor's sign off in order to take it. What about the initial CFI written? Someone told me you didn't need a sign off for that one either.
 
Thank you. Hope to have them both knocked out by the end of next week. Maybe a little ambitious but i'm making 80's on the FOI practice tests and the CFI written looks a lot like the commercial written - from a glance anyway.
 
dell30rb said:
Thank you. Hope to have them both knocked out by the end of next week. Maybe a little ambitious but i'm making 80's on the FOI practice tests and the CFI written looks a lot like the commercial written - from a glance anyway.
Click to expand...

They are quite similar, however the flight instructor airplane written also has questions on maneuvers and instructional techniques -- lazy eights, 8s on pylons, turns around a point, what is the purpose of distractions, etc. I missed a few of those because I hadn't studied those topics.
 
dmspilot said:
They are quite similar, however the flight instructor airplane written also has questions on maneuvers and instructional techniques -- lazy eights, 8s on pylons, turns around a point, what is the purpose of distractions, etc. I missed a few of those because I hadn't studied those topics.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Yep I noticed a few questions on maneuvers. Fortunately I just got my commercial last week and i'm up to speed on that stuff. I'm trying to get right on this and not need to re-learn a bunch of stuff.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top