CFI Renewal Course - Opinions

[weirdjim]

Question for my CFI colleagues ...

Since I specialize in retread rides and review rides, I'll never have enough "new student" passes to get me a free renewal, so I'll probably always either have to take a ride or do the paper thing.

Living back in the hills far enough that they have to pipe in sunshine pretty much limits me to what I can get online. I've been using Gleim for the past 10 renewals or so and while inexpensive, I'm pretty tired of getting the same old questions with the same old twisted and controverted answers.

Gleim is a hundred buck$ which ain't bad. Anybody else got something around that number that I could try for ships and gaggles?

Thanks,

Jim

 

[Greg Bockelman]

American Flyers is pay once, renew free forever. I have done that the last 5 or so times.

Yeah, kind of boring and some of the same questions, but the price is right.

 

[James331]

American Flyers is pay once, renew free forever. I have done that the last 5 or so times.

Yeah, kind of boring and some of the same questions, but the price is right.

Yup

Or the king program

 

[Zeldman]

American Flyers is pay once, renew free forever. I have done that the last 5 or so times.

Yeah, kind of boring and some of the same questions, but the price is right.

I have done Gleim for at least 11 years, but thinking of going to American Flyer for the price.

 

[Hawker800]

Gleim.

 

[35B33]

I tried Jepp once long ago but switched to American Flyers. That one time price is great, I think I paid it back in the 90s.

I don't know why the FAA mandates time before taking the section quiz. Should have the quiz first and let you move on if you get a high passing grade.

 

[dillardrg]

Why not use the Wings program to renew your CFI.

I do exclusively tailwheel endorsements, spin training and unusual attitude training. I work in Wings flight activities with my training.

It makes for a good way for my clients to renew their Flight Review and makes it easy to renew my CFI.

 

[Dave Theisen]

I did the AOPA one once, then switched to American Flyers when I heard about the lifetime deal. Starting it for the 4th time now.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[LDJones]

American Flyers is pay once, renew free forever. I have done that the last 5 or so times.

Yeah, kind of boring and some of the same questions, but the price is right.

After a number of Gleim renewals I tried American Flyers. They dropped their price to $75 for their anniversary. Good for life, as mentioned. Seemed a no-brainier.

 

[jnmeade]

I just finished Gleim. Of the 16 lessons, I submitted corrections in about 4-6 of them. The suggestions were to clarify ambiguous or incomplete training. There were what I'd call misleading or partial presentations in Sport Pilot, something inadequate in ground clearance and a couple I don't recall. I provided written comments on them. I had to call for clarification of an administrative question and brought my concerns up to the Gleim rep who said the CFI Renewal was in the process of a major rewrite. I told him I thought that was a good idea.

I don't recall having to submit any changes to the test questions. This is my third time with Gleim. I have to confess I'm thinking of looking around for another venue next time. Online courses work best for me, but I may consider a different source.
I don't do very much formal training any more but like to keep current and keep my hand in.

 

[midlifeflyer]

I'm another that used Gleim for years. Always liked Gleim materials and the materials available for the FIRC were also good.

Last year I figured I'd give the American Flyers one a whirl. After all, lifetime for the same price as once every two years is a pretty good deal.

I was pleased with the material. Not that much different than the Gleim, and probably with the same "special emphasis" topics since special emphasis is driven by the FAA not by the FIRC publisher.

And, as Jim Meade posted, none of them is perfect anyway. I had an interesting discussion with Gleim a few years back about the famous "may a student pilot obtain a special VFR clearance" with the end result being the Gleim rep saying "That's the answer the FAA wanted."

 

[schmookeeg]

I was bored with Gleim and did the ACE CFI renewal.

Price was right (they're all around a C-Note) -- they offer free lifetime renewal also.

They did the iacra for me for a few extra bucks, and got me a temporary emailed over the same day -- on a Sunday!

I was able to zip through the content without annoying timers or minimum time spent surfing the web to add up to 16 hours or whatever it is supposed to be. As a quick reader, this was a godsend.

The material is a bit pedestrian/amateurish, but I suspect they're giving it a good try and will improve over time. I found it value for money.

$0.02

- Mike

 

[Hawker800]

I was bored with Gleim and did the ACE CFI renewal.



Price was right (they're all around a C-Note) -- they offer free lifetime renewal also.



They did the iacra for me for a few extra bucks, and got me a temporary emailed over the same day -- on a Sunday!



I was able to zip through the content without annoying timers or minimum time spent surfing the web to add up to 16 hours or whatever it is supposed to be. As a quick reader, this was a godsend.



The material is a bit pedestrian/amateurish, but I suspect they're giving it a good try and will improve over time. I found it value for money.



$0.02



- Mike

ACE was my 1st post on this forum and nobody replied. I might look into it again. Thanks.

 

[bluesideup]

Hi Jim.
Gleim is my choice and they may match the once / life that others have. Write them an Email or call. Very well organized and up to date. TV

 

[weirdjim]

Hi Jim.
Gleim is my choice and they may match the once / life that others have. Write them an Email or call. Very well organized and up to date. TV

I sorta have a bias against "oh, everybody else is offering xyz, I guess we will too". They could have been first or second twenty years ago with lifetime but didn't until forced to by competition. That sort of irks me.

Jim