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CFI Training

Old 02-11-2019, 04:38 AM
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Default CFI Training

I just got my commercial certificate and trying to decide where to get my CFI/CFII. I would love to hear what everyone looks for when pursuing this rating. The school where I got my commercial rating is 10 minutes from me which is very convenient. The issue I have is there is only one instructor who does the CFI. I am not a huge fan and feel that he isn’t very sharp and detailed oriented. Should I not be that concerned with this as it’s largely self study? Or is the instructor really important for this rating?

If I were to goto another school it would be significantly further.

Thank you for the input in advance.


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Old 02-11-2019, 04:59 AM
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I was in your situation back in November. I could have decided to go to a fast track program, or stay at my local school where I’ve done all of my ratings. I decided to stay local because they’ve given me a really great deal that beats any other school. BUT.. my CFI training does not feel fluid. It’s febuary now and I’m still working on it. Some weeks I’m not able to book a 2 year instructor because we only have 2 and they are both very busy. I feel really unmotivated right now. I have both my FIA and FOI completed. But I feel like I’m not accomplishing anything. I bought a white board and lesson plans and try to teach myself but I have no idea what I’m doing. I personally wish I had went to a fast track program like Blue Line. I trapped myself here though until May because I decided to do a semester at college too.....

I’ll just say, if you do decide to stay at your school, make sure you get a detailed plan and timeline before you start..
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Old 02-11-2019, 06:07 AM
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It's been a while since I did my CFI training, but it seemed to me like the flying portion was learning to fly from the right seat, which aside from the first hour or two could be done solo. Then a few hours learning to critique the CFI. In my opinion the CFI was 90% self study, 10% flying.
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Old 02-11-2019, 06:13 AM
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Originally Posted by Macchi30 View Post
I was in your situation back in November. I could have decided to go to a fast track program, or stay at my local school where I’ve done all of my ratings. I decided to stay local because they’ve given me a really great deal that beats any other school. BUT.. my CFI training does not feel fluid. It’s febuary now and I’m still working on it. Some weeks I’m not able to book a 2 year instructor because we only have 2 and they are both very busy. I feel really unmotivated right now. I have both my FIA and FOI completed. But I feel like I’m not accomplishing anything. I bought a white board and lesson plans and try to teach myself but I have no idea what I’m doing. I personally wish I had went to a fast track program like Blue Line. I trapped myself here though until May because I decided to do a semester at college too.....



I’ll just say, if you do decide to stay at your school, make sure you get a detailed plan and timeline before you start..


Yeah I feel that it’s not like any other rating and needs plans laid out. I was looking into CFI bootcamp which seems good as well. I work full time and am a career changer so to have the type of flexibility to spend 2-3 weeks somewhere isn’t entirely feasible.


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Old 02-11-2019, 06:25 AM
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I'm glad you mentioned Blue Line. I can't say enough good them. They are a bit more expensive than the competition but it is well worth it in my opinion (great facility, brand new equipment, all-inclusive approach, good material, one-on-one instructing and mentoring, etc.). They got me done in 10 days, including the checkride. Granted, there was a lot of self study and prep before the class (as it should be for the CFI ticket) but the whole process was well laid out and expectations were very clear.

If you want to add the II while you're at it, they routinely do it in an additional 4 to 5 days...

Originally Posted by Macchi30 View Post
I was in your situation back in November. I could have decided to go to a fast track program, or stay at my local school where I’ve done all of my ratings. I decided to stay local because they’ve given me a really great deal that beats any other school. BUT.. my CFI training does not feel fluid. It’s febuary now and I’m still working on it. Some weeks I’m not able to book a 2 year instructor because we only have 2 and they are both very busy. I feel really unmotivated right now. I have both my FIA and FOI completed. But I feel like I’m not accomplishing anything. I bought a white board and lesson plans and try to teach myself but I have no idea what I’m doing. I personally wish I had went to a fast track program like Blue Line. I trapped myself here though until May because I decided to do a semester at college too.....

I’ll just say, if you do decide to stay at your school, make sure you get a detailed plan and timeline before you start..
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Old 02-11-2019, 06:33 AM
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Originally Posted by Ecotone View Post
I'm glad you mentioned Blue Line. I can't say enough good them. They are a bit more expensive than the competition but it is well worth it in my opinion (great facility, brand new equipment, all-inclusive approach, good material, one-on-one instructing and mentoring, etc.). They got me done in 10 days, including the checkride. Granted, there was a lot of self study and prep before the class (as it should be for the CFI ticket) but the whole process was well laid out and expectations were very clear.



If you want to add the II while you're at it, they routinely do it in an additional 4 to 5 days...


I was just on there website and it shows 10k for the CFI. that is significantly more than most. Is that the price you paid?


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Old 02-11-2019, 07:18 AM
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Assuming you are fresh from your commercial, you shouldn't be spending more than 8 hours in a plane for your CFI. You already know the maneuvers, you just need to practice them in the right seat (it's really no that different). The only thing new you are learning is teaching and that can be done on the ground. As stated before, CFI is 90% self study.

Look at a few free private pilot syllabuses online and then make your own. It will take a lot of work, but designing your own syllabus is a great way to learn how to be a good instructor. Once you have done that, then make your own syllabus for your CFI training. Try to find a student pilot and practice explaining maneuvers to the on the ground. Once you are comfortable with all that, then you are ready to get into a plane. I spent $4,000 (2008) for CFI, CFI-I, and MEI.
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Old 02-11-2019, 07:23 AM
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Originally Posted by viper548 View Post
It's been a while since I did my CFI training, but it seemed to me like the flying portion was learning to fly from the right seat, which aside from the first hour or two could be done solo. Then a few hours learning to critique the CFI. In my opinion the CFI was 90% self study, 10% flying.
I’m sorry but that reads like nails on a chalkboard to me.
I think the instructor is hugely important in CFI.
You need to be very proficient in all your groundschool and you need a good instructor to connect all the little dots that you have missed or weren’t taught during your own training.
As far as flying you need to learn to walk, talk and chew gum at the same time.

What is your MOST important job as an instructor?
To provide a safe environment for the student to practice and learn.

In order for that you’ll need to be responsible for the area you’re practicing over, airspace, maintaining VFR conditions, look-out for traffic and all this while you are demonstrating and explaining maneuvers.

For your checkride you have two possibilities: an examiner that glances over things as he doesn’t know little airplanes from a hole in the ground or somebody who’s got half a million hours in GA and will take you to the nuts and bolts of everything.

I’ve gotten every single initial CFI student of mine on emergency landings, cloud clearance and attempting a take off on one magneto. That’s a clean kill for an examiner, any of them.
And that is after I tell them about it and warn them about it.
There’s no substitute for experience and the only way to get experience is to practice with somebody who knows what they’re looking for.

....teaching yourself....(shivers)

, find yourself an instructor that you are comfortable with.
Take him or her out to lunch and take some time to find out if their skill set meets your needs.

Last edited by TiredSoul; 02-11-2019 at 07:40 AM.
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Old 02-11-2019, 07:56 AM
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Originally Posted by mikeinflight View Post
I was just on there website and it shows 10k for the CFI. that is significantly more than most. Is that the price you paid?


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$10k is the full price if you book last minute. If you book early enough, you should get a $2k discount. $8k is still pretty steep but again, if you want a good program that will help you achieve your goal quickly and efficiently, this is it... Like others have mentioned, you can absolutely get your CFI for relatively cheap while taking your time. It all depends on what your goal and timeline is, as well as what resources are available near you.

When I did the program last year, the price was a bit less. They just added brand new 172 JT-As to their fleet and they now use them for the CFI Academy program so the price went up a bit. I also did my Commercial with them last year and received an additional discount for that.

Any questions on specifics, feel free to pm me.
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Old 02-11-2019, 07:59 AM
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Originally Posted by TiredSoul View Post
I’m sorry but that reads like nails on a chalkboard to me.

I think the instructor is hugely important in CFI.

You need to be very proficient in all your groundschool and you need a good instructor to connect all the little dots that you have missed or weren’t taught during your own training.

As far as flying you need to learn to walk, talk and chew gum at the same time.



What is your MOST important job as an instructor?

To provide a safe environment for the student to practice and learn.



In order for that you’ll need to be responsible for the area you’re practicing over, airspace, maintaining VFR conditions, look-out for traffic and all this while you are demonstrating and explaining maneuvers.



For your checkride you have two possibilities: an examiner that glances over things as he doesn’t know little airplanes from a hole in the ground or somebody who’s got half a million hours in GA and will take you to the nuts and bolts of everything.



I’ve gotten every single initial CFI student of mine on emergency landings, cloud clearance and attempting a take off on one magneto. That’s a clean kill for an examiner, any of them.

And that is after I tell them about it and warn them about it.

There’s no substitute for experience and the only way to get experience is to practice with somebody who knows what they’re looking for.



....teaching yourself....(shivers)


, find yourself an instructor that you are comfortable with.

Take him or her out to lunch and take some time to find out if their skill set meets your needs.


Thank you for this write up. I do believe I would like an instructor who is detail oriented and someone who is really sharp. Not super easy to find from what I have seen. I have a handful of instructors through my training who I would like to give me my CFI training.


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