Hi pearlPilot... That be great you be jumping straight into the right seat right after the commercial.. Sure way to do it... I was told to start flying the Arrow from the right seat but I said Nah.. I wont be doing my CFI in a hurry but I then said let me do it as its fresh .. I was completing the multi all the time but some logisitical problems happend with that.. but I will get it done.. I was soooo psyched up to finish the Multi and get it over with.. but I got to defer it and do the CFI and then come back to tackle the Multi .. Things happen for a good I say and I am enjoying it all

 

Tip: Make sure you review the actual 8710 form, and know the ins and outs of it... Its one that they can get you on.. Good luck on your CFI

 

You believe it is part 61? You might want to plan on a bit longer to complete the CFI if you're still not sure which part you are training under. Sounds like you have some studying to do. Just saying!

 

Congrats Stealth and anyone else getting their CFI. I was a CFI for a few years at a University and absolutely loved it all probably as much as I enjoyed 767 international however the pay didn't compare- they only paid us $6/hr in the late 90s. You couldn't pay any undegrad more than any other so CFII = kid putting books up in the library. But more importantly, you never know how little you know until you have to teach it.

As far as training, I remember my CFI training being around 6 hours. It was mostly ground school. CFII was even less. All Part 61 though. I got most of the CFI's I taught down to those mins as well. It helped to be in a location where you weren't caught waiting for multiple corporate jets to land. We flew a 700' pattern and the practice area was closer than where I learned to fly which was a place where I once logged .7 hours waiting for an F117 and Nasa 737 to do landing approaches.

As they say on the airline side, bid what you want and want what you bid. Same applies to being a CFI, do it because you love to teach. As cool as you thought you were as a pilot and even if deep down you thought you were the best, nothing beats watching your students do better than you. It's great.

BTW, best books are the FAA's. We had these fat jepp books that didn't compare.

 

Forget to bid, thank you for that sound advice.. yes , I come from a family of teachers and for me it be nice to be able to help others with their flying... Its not a matter of hey, im doing this and hoping to get to something greener.

Yes the location I am doing my CFI is in a very quiet airport, away from the insanely busy airports packed with lots of G.A. traffic and corporate jets.

 

There are lots of pre-made lesson plans out there, some for sale, some free. Make sure what ever lesson plan format you choose is the same as one of the examples in the FOI. I tried using lesson plans written by others and found it difficult to match my knowledge with the plan written by someone else. In the end I chose one of the simple lesson plan formats from the FOI and did my own. I'm glad I did because during the CFI checkride oral the examiner had me prepare a lesson plan on a subject for which I didn't have anything prepared, upgrading to high performance aircraft or something. He gave me 30 minutes to prepare for the class including writing a lesson plan. I had lots of practice writing lesson plans so it wasn't much of a problem. I think if I had been using the boiler plate lesson plans I would have been in trouble.

 

Good luck!

I got my CFI 2 months ago after preparing for 4 months. If you don't have an instructor or if you have limited time with an instructor to help you with your CFI, I suggest starting with the CFI PTS and go through the topics and write a lesson plan for each one. Compile them in a binder so you have something to show the examiner and also to use for your first lessons.

Get a pilot friend to sit in front of you while you teach them (if you don't have an instructor), that way, you can get the bugs out of your lecture methods. Don't take a day off, 4-6 weeks is a tough schedule. Even if you need a break, just go to exams4pilots.org and run through a 30 question practice test to stay fresh.

If you get someone else's students, in the case that you are replacing an instructor that is leaving, make sure you emphasize the basics with them: stall recovery, traffic pattern entry, radio communication and from my experience: "go around" means full power.

Have fun!

 

Thanks for the solid advice.. Im doing just that.. Getting my lesson plans all done.

 

Well folks, I am finishing up my CFI.. All the maneuvers so far good and crisp from the R.H. seat... also steep turns to the left, when i roll into it i always climb quite a bit, aircraft is trimmed properly but i just cant keep her level. Steep turns to right, the opposite.. No doubt its a change in the sight picture as compared to flying in the LH seat so Im sure it will come. Im in the Piper Arrow too..



Using visual cues, pegging the horizon as I have always doing steep turns perfectly. I reckon just a bit more time in the Arrow and this will be a no brainer.. First I was losing 100 feet and gaining 100.. NOw its getting better Im still losing 50-70 feet.. I want to peg that altimeter.. Its the standard I was doing all my maneuvers from the LH seat. I want to deliver the same from the RH seat

I got about 7 hours already from the RH seat.

It can simply be a matter of a learning plateau and just spending more time in the RH seat

 

I agree with everything grecoaj said. I got my CFI about 2 months ago. CFII a couple weeks ago. What I did to help with level roll ins on the steep turns is pick two landmarks that will allow a 70-90 degree turn between the two and just roll into steep turns left and right back and forth between the two points. The check ride with the FAA was by far the most difficult I have done, but it was also the most fun. Good luck with it all, it's a lot of work but well worth it!