Flight Review help
 

I have a couple questions out there for CFI's who have given BFR's.

How many flight hours does it typically take for you to sign someone off for their BFR? Is it pretty typical for hobby pilots to take 2-3 flights before you're comfortable with signing them off?

The reason why I ask is that I tried to give a BFR today (only my second one), we flew for 1.8, and I did not feel at all comfortable with giving my BFR endorsement. The pilot was definitely very upset that I told him we needed at least one more flight before I'd sign him off, he acted like he never had a BFR that lasted more than one 1.5 hour flight. I don't know if he was trying to guilt me into signing him off or what the deal was.

The pilot was a private pilot/weekend warrior type. Before the flight he mentioned not feeling very comfortable talking to air traffic control and agreed that we should go to the nearby class C to practice doing radio work and landings. We also did a couple stalls and slow flight on the way to the class C.

The radio work wasn't pretty, but not terrible. I think he was just intimidated by the controllers, but he seemed to get more comfortable as we went around the pattern. The landings, however, were a different story. Some of them were downright scary. I had to take the controls a couple times and on at least one of them I'm pretty sure the plane wouldn't have been in one piece afterwords if I had not been there to help. I didn't sign him off because I honestly didn't think he was safe to be on his own.

The first BFR I did went really smooth. The pilot I was with seemed on top of everything. Some of the maneuvers weren't necessarily the prettiest, but I felt safe the entire time and she was very proficient with the most critical stuff like take-offs and landings. That flight was 1.5, and I had gone flying with her on a night flight a month or two prior that went well, so I had no problem with signing her off for her BFR.

I feel like I"m not being too over cautious, but he made me feel really bad about the whole situation. I'm not sure if he will call me back about continuing the BFR or not, and I'm not entirely sure if I want to fly with him again (although I really need the flight time). I talked to one of the charter pilots I work with and his only advice was not to do BFR's, the other charter pilot/CFI I talked to said I didn't have enough experience to be giving people BFR's. (I'm a pretty new CFI with only about 35 hours of dual given).

If any CFI's here have any other advice, opinions, and/or tips about giving BFR's in general, I'd really appreciate it :).

I've done a BFR for another CFI that took 2 ground sessions of 2 hrs apiece and 2 flights of about 1.5 apiece. Weekend warriors are always the most difficult because of their typical lack of recency and proficiency. My advice- don't do BFRs. When I get a request for a BFR I suggest the person complete some courses on the FAAs Wings program. After they've done a few courses I'll go fly with them on a fairly typical BFR type flight. After that I sign into Wings and verify I've flown with the person and the FAA issues the sign off. I'm not very comfortable placing my Herby Hancock in someone's logbook after only a flight or two, but as long as the wings requirements are met the FAA will issue the endorsement. BFRs can be tricky. Some pilots do great and others not so much. Don't get all bummed that the guy got annoyed. He obviously doesn't understand the liability involved on the part of the CFI. He's probably used to just flying his old CFI buddy to lunch and getting a sign off. Just remember that there are no FAA requirements on what is covered during a BFR, just that we do at least one hour ground and one hour of flight. The guy is probably used to something a little different. A new CFI is probably going to give the most difficult BFR because you require a little more convincing than an experienced CFI. That doesn't mean, however, that you shouldn't give BFRs. Just be fair.

I have been a CFI for 36 years, and have given countless flight reviews. If you do not feel comfortable signing them off, then don't. NEVER be coerced, guilted into signing someone off. Just give them an honest assessment of their flying qualities and sign their logbook as dual received. If someone can't own up to how bad they fly, then you don't want to be the one to sign them off, and then they go up and kill themselves, or worse yet, someone else. I also gauge the ride by what ratings they hold.

Thanks for the advice.