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Hello all. This is my first post on APC. I'm glad I found it since there's a lot of info on these forums.

Anyway, my title says it all. I received my initial CFI back in January of 2001. After 9/11, I was not building any decent amount of hours and the future of the aviation industry looked really bad at the item. Thus, I stopped instructing/flying to pursue another career. My CFI expired in 2003. Now, 6 years later, I have an enjoyable and successful career. However, I really miss flying, but more importantly, I miss instructing.

I've spoken to a few friends that are still flying, and have read the FARs, however, I'm very confused. The FARs state that your initial CFI checkride must be taken with an FAA FSDO. The FSDO may allow you to take the checkride with a DE, but it's totally up to them. OK, understood.

However, my situation is that this CFI checkride would not be my initial as I already took my intial CFI checkride with the FAA back in 2001. I don't want to have to go through that again if I can avoid it. My friends tell me that since I took my initial CFI ride with the FAA, I've met that requirement already. Thus, if I decide to take another CFI ride(or CFII, MEI), I can choose to take it with a DE....what do you guys think?

Will I have to take my CFI checkride with the FAA or not?


Thanks for any advice.
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