Learn to Teach by Teaching

Knowing aviation and knowing how to teach aviation are two different skills.

Many CFI courses focus primarily on developing lesson plans, memorizing endorsements, preparing for the oral examination, and learning to fly from the right seat. Those elements are necessary, but they do not fully prepare a new instructor to work with an actual student.

Every FalKor CFI candidate completes a 20-hour supervised teaching practicum with real students.

During the practicum, candidates may:

• Present assigned ground lessons
• Conduct preflight briefings
• Explain aircraft systems and procedures
• Introduce maneuvers and lesson objectives
• Observe student performance
• Identify common student errors
• Practice delivering corrective instruction
• Conduct postflight critiques
• Review lesson grades and training standards
• Develop recommendations for the student’s next lesson

An experienced CFI directly supervises each activity, provides feedback to the candidate, and remains the instructor of record.

Candidates are billed for only 10 of the 20 practicum hours. The remaining 10 hours are included as part of FalKor’s commitment to developing capable and confident aviation educators.

The CFI Initial Instructor Development Program includes:

• 10 hours of dual flight instruction
• 10 hours of one-on-one classroom instruction
• Preflight and postflight briefing with every flight event
• 20 hours of supervised teaching with real students
• Only 10 billed hours during the supervised teaching practicum
• One three-hour end-of-course oral evaluation
• One 1.5-hour end-of-course flight evaluation
• Training in our glass-equipped Cessna 172S

Stage I — Instructional Foundations

Stage I develops the knowledge, communication skills, and teaching methods needed to become an effective aviation instructor.

Training includes:

• The learning process
• Human behavior and motivation
• Effective communication
• Barriers to learning
• Teaching methods
• Lesson planning and organization
• Student assessment and testing
• Effective critiques
• Scenario-based training
• Risk-management instruction
• Instructor professionalism and ethics
• Instructor responsibilities and limitations
• Logbook entries, endorsements, and training records

Candidates will develop, organize, and present lessons based on the current FAA Flight Instructor–Airplane Airman Certification Standards.

Stage II — Right-Seat Flight Instruction

Stage II develops the candidate’s ability to simultaneously demonstrate, explain, evaluate, and correct flight maneuvers from the right seat.

Training includes:

• Positive exchange of flight controls
• Right-seat aircraft control
• Preflight instruction
• Normal, short-field, and soft-field operations
• Slow flight
• Power-on and power-off stalls
• Accelerated stalls
• Stall and spin awareness
• Steep turns
• Commercial performance maneuvers
• Ground-reference maneuvers
• Basic instrument instruction
• Emergency procedures
• Recognition and correction of common student errors
• Postflight evaluation and critique

The FAA practical test evaluates more than the candidate’s ability to fly. The applicant must teach while demonstrating commercial-pilot-level proficiency, apply the fundamentals of instruction, and recognize and correct common errors.

Stage III — Supervised Teaching Practicum

During Stage III, candidates apply their knowledge by teaching real FalKor students under the direct supervision of an experienced CFI.

Candidates are evaluated on:

• Preparation and lesson organization
• Technical accuracy
• Communication
• Professionalism
• Risk management
• Student engagement
• Error recognition
• Corrective instruction
• Quality of critiques
• Ability to adapt instruction to the learner

Stage III concludes with the end-of-course oral and flight evaluation

Three-Hour Oral Evaluation

The end-of-course oral evaluation prepares the candidate for the depth and instructional nature of the FAA practical test.

The evaluation may cover:

• Fundamentals of instructing
• Instructor privileges and limitations
• Endorsements and training records
• Student and pilot qualifications
• Airworthiness requirements
• Aerodynamics and principles of flight
• Aircraft systems
• Aircraft performance and limitations
• Weather
• Airspace and regulations
• Cross-country planning
• Risk management
• Lesson-plan presentation
• Teaching assigned technical subjects
• Recognition and correction of common errors

The candidate must do more than provide the correct answer. They must demonstrate the ability to organize, explain, apply, and teach the material effectively.

1.5-Hour Flight Evaluation

The end-of-course flight evaluates the candidate’s ability to safely operate the Cessna 172S from the right seat while providing clear and accurate instruction.

The candidate must:

• Demonstrate and simultaneously explain assigned maneuvers
• Maintain commercial-level flight proficiency
• Identify and correct common errors
• Manage risk and distractions
• Maintain situational awareness
• Use positive exchange-of-controls procedures
• Provide effective corrective instruction
• Conduct a meaningful postflight critique

The FAA CFI practical test includes both a ground and flight portion. The ground portion must be completed successfully before proceeding to the flight, and oral questioning may continue throughout the entire evaluation.

Before completing the CFI Initial program, applicants must:

• Be at least 18 years old
• Be able to read, speak, write, and understand English
• Hold a Commercial Pilot or Airline Transport Pilot Certificate
• Hold an airplane single-engine land rating
• Hold an Instrument–Airplane Rating
• Have logged at least 15 hours as pilot in command in airplane single-engine aircraft
• Complete the required ground and flight training
• Pass the applicable FAA knowledge tests
• Receive the required stall-awareness and spin-training endorsement
• Receive an instructor endorsement for the FAA practical test
• Maintain the medical qualification appropriate to the flights being conducted

The FAA requires an initial airplane CFI applicant to hold the appropriate commercial or airline transport pilot qualifications, hold the associated instrument privileges, complete the applicable knowledge tests, receive the required endorsements, complete spin training, and pass the practical test.

Spin Training

Applicants will receive flight training and an endorsement demonstrating instructional proficiency in:

• Stall awareness
• Spin entry
• Spins
• Spin-recovery procedures

The training must be completed in an airplane certificated for intentional spins (Cessna 172/152). Spin training is included in the standard Cessna 172S course .

Most initial airplane CFI applicants must complete two FAA knowledge tests:

Applicants who already hold a qualifying flight instructor or ground instructor certificate—or meet certain professional-teacher qualifications—may be exempt from the Fundamentals of Instructing knowledge test.

The practical test evaluates instructional ability throughout the applicable areas of operation, including:

• Fundamentals of instructing
• Technical subject areas
• Preflight preparation
• Preflight procedures
• Airport and seaplane-base operations, as applicable
• Takeoffs, landings, and go-arounds
• Fundamentals of flight
• Performance and ground-reference maneuvers
• Slow flight, stalls, and spin awareness
• Basic instrument maneuvers
• Emergency operations
• Postflight procedures

The evaluator assesses the candidate’s aeronautical knowledge, risk management, teaching ability, flight proficiency, and ability to identify and correct common errors.

Unlike the Private, Instrument, and Commercial Pilot certificates, the FAA does not establish a fixed minimum number of classroom or flight-training hours for an initial CFI applicant.

The applicant must receive the required training and demonstrate instructional proficiency in every applicable area before receiving an endorsement for the practical test.

The following estimate assumes:

• Approximately five dual flight-training events totaling 10 hours
• One 1.5-hour end-of-course flight evaluation
• Six total flight events
• A 0.5-hour briefing with every flight event
• 10 hours of one-on-one classroom instruction
• 20 hours of supervised teaching, with only 10 hours billed
• One three-hour end-of-course oral evaluation

Glass-Equipped Cessna 172S

Aircraft and evaluator time for the 1.5-hour end-of-course flight are included in the estimate.

Included at No Additional Charge

Estimated Course Investment: $4,787

Includes 10 hours of dual flight instruction, 10 hours of one-on-one classroom instruction, preflight and postflight briefings, end-of-course oral and flight evaluations, and 20 hours of supervised teaching experience with real students.

As part of the FalKor difference, candidates are billed for only 10 of the 20 supervised teaching hours.

Students are billed only for the aircraft and instruction they use.

Applicants who have passed both applicable FAA knowledge tests, arrive with completed lesson plans, and train consistently can typically complete the CFI Initial program in approximately four to eight weeks.

The supervised teaching practicum requires coordination with active student lessons, so completion time may vary based on student schedules, weather, and aircraft availability.

For the best results, candidates should plan to participate in three to six classroom, flight, or supervised-teaching sessions each week.

• Pay as you go (pay for each lesson as you complete them.)
• Discount "block time": Purchase 10 hours of flight time for a 10% discount. As long as you have hours on your contract, you just pay for the instructional time. 
• Program Financing. Finance up to 100% of your flight training, including deferred funding options via:
  • Stratus Financial. (Coming soon)
  • Affirm (Coming soon)
  • AOPA Financing https://finance.aopa.org/flight-training-finance 
  • Grant and Scholarship Programs: Click here