How to become a Certificated Flight Instructor

Few careers are as rewarding as teaching flight training. From sharing the moments of pure joy during a student’s first solo to finally passing the baton, christening a new pilot — the feeling of watching students succeed is incomparable!  Here’s how, you too, can share the joy of teaching others to fly!

Step 1: Earn your Commercial Pilot License

Because flight instructors, or CFI’s, as they are better known, are most often compensated for their services, the FAA has taken the position that persons applying for this certificate must hold, at a minimum, a Commercial Pilot License. For most applicants, this means that before applying for the CFI license, you will need to have 250 hours of flight experience and have taken the appropriate FAA written and practical examinations.

It will also be necessary to obtain an FAA medical certificate. However, while most compensated roles as a Commercial pilot require a 2^nd class medical to exercise privileges, the regulations are surprisingly more relaxed for Flight instructors, requiring only a 3^rd class medical.

Once you have obtained the Commercial Pilot License, few additional requirements stand in the way of you earning the lucrative CFI. While you will need some additional training to hone your teaching skills and practice instructing with a more experienced CFI, the next steps are simply to spend a few weeks preparing for the final examination!

Step 2: CFI Lesson Plans & Practice Instructing

Possibly the most important step in preparing to become a flight instructor is preparing how, exactly, you plan to teach. This is done through creating lessons plans. Complete these with your experienced flight instructor of at-least two years of experience (required by regulations).

Before completing, your instructor should provide a lesson on the Fundamentals of Instructing  (FAR § 61.185) which will give you a solid foundation on how best to develop quality instruction material. This will help you to organize your lessons, ensuring that you are delivering your instruction effectively, concisely, and most important, confidently to future students. Once you have developed a lesson, practice teaching it with your instructor. Have him or her critique the lesson, provide feedback, and reflect on areas improvement. This will provide invaluable insight on your teaching abilities and will greatly prepare you for the oral examination.

Create a “CFI Binder” to keep your lesson plans. You should prepare lessons and practice instructing the following topic areas under each subject category:

Step 3: Practice Maneuvers from the Right Seat

One of the more challenging parts of becoming a CFI can be transiting from flying in the traditional “Captain’s Seat” (left seat) to the instructor’s right seat. Don’t be overwhelmed. While it may be uncomfortable at first, you will find that flying in the right seat can be as intrinsic as the former especially as you progress towards your checkride. The key is practice.

Consider practicing more intuitive maneuvers first with your instructor, start with slow flight and stalls then progressing to more complex maneuvers such as the chandelles and lazy eight. Finally, dial in your skills with the power-off 180 precision approach and landing. This will sharpen your skills in very short order and will help to build your confidence making your transition to instructing seamless and stress free.

Step 4: Spin Awareness Training

As an instructor, it will be your job to ensure your student’s safety. Because student’s have little to no knowledge or experience in stall recovery and loss of control, it is your responsibility to remain vigilant on preventing aircraft upset – namely unintended spins.

The FAA has taken special notice on this area of safety, so much so that they require additional training on the topic. During your private and commercial training, you completed stall awareness training. This likely fell short of spins by a reasonable margin. This; however, is something you need to experience. Having completed a spin, you will have developed a more intuitive awareness of aircraft control and coordination. This will work to improve your situation awareness, sense of the aircraft’s stall characteristics, as well as make you a more competent pilot.

To complete this portion of the training, contact a local aerobatic school or experienced instructor on stall/spin recovery. Remember that this is an aerobatic maneuver, so an appropriately rated aircraft will need to be obtained to safely complete these high-wing load inducing maneuvers.

Step 5: Written Examinations

Like other FAA certifications, you will need to complete FAA knowledge exams within the 24 calendar month period prior to your practical exam. For the CFI, you will actually need to complete two of these: the Fundamentals of Instructing exam and the Flight Instructor Airplane Knowledge Exam. Sheppard Air offers a great study software to prepare for both of these. Remember to complete these tests at least One months prior to your practical test to allow for the FAA’s system to populate your exam information. Taking the written too close to your practical test can generate errors in your IACRA application as your written test records may not yet be in the FAA’s online airman database.

Step 6: Checkride Prep

With a solid preparation regimen, you will be well prepared to take the initial CFI Oral and Practical test. Your final prep should be spent with your experienced CFI administering a mock examination to give you an idea of what to expect for your exam day. You will want to spend some time ensuring your endorsements are in order in addition to completing your IACRA application at least two days or three days ahead of time to prevent last minute issues.

Remember to show up to your exam at least one hour early, be well rested, prepared, and with a convenient plan for lunch as the initial CFI exam can last as long as 8-10 hours.

Most importantly; however, remember not to stress. Think of the examiner just as you would any other potential client. Professionalism is key and don’t forget to let your love of aviation shine through!