CFI during UPT

M

mountainwaves

New Member
Search came up with no results. I leave for UPT in nov. and my cfi expires in march. I'm assuming I will not have enough time to renew it because the fars allow completion of the course three months in advance. I have enrolled in the american flyers online renewal but I do not plan on having enough time to complete it during upt.

It is my understanding if I were to let it expire I would only have to take one cfi test to reinstate my cfi, mei, cfii.

Any suggestions?
 
mountainwaves said:
Search came up with no results. I leave for UPT in nov. and my cfi expires in march. I'm assuming I will not have enough time to renew it because the fars allow completion of the course three months in advance. I have enrolled in the american flyers online renewal but I do not plan on having enough time to complete it during upt.

It is my understanding if I were to let it expire I would only have to take one cfi test to reinstate my cfi, mei, cfii.

Any suggestions?
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Thats correct on the one test to renew.

Doing outside flying while in UPT will be frowned upon most likely (was when I was there), mostly for the risk factor. Then again, I was a county firefighter/EMT while in UPT and it still was no problem. So your mileage may vary. Don't do anything off the reservation in that sense until you have an accurate feel for your situation there.

Active duty or ARC?
 
I defer to others for the CFI stuff, but my UPT class was specifically told, "You will NOT engage in any flying activities outside of Air Force pilot training." It's not like they have someone at the local dirt strip checking ID's. They're just very adamant that you learn to fly the "Air Force" way. I went through UPT with a guy that already flew for the airlines, and often told me that he's glad he wasn't flying anything civilian during that time simply because you needed to do things exactly as you were taught.
 
I'm guessing you're not planning on flying, just talking about renewing.

You can renew whenever you want, you just can't keep the same expiration date unless it was done within 3 months of expiration.

I would suggest renewing right before you go to upt. Your new expiration date will just be 2 years from november (11/2013) instead of march (03/2014). At least that's what I'd do.
 
To answer your other question: if you let it lapse, yes you only need to do one checkride to get all ratings within the category back.

BUT keep in mind...

-You may be required to do the checkride with an faa inspector depending on fsdo and faa directions at the time.

-It will be a full checking event, including the very real possibility of failure (see above referencing faa).

-You will be required to do a full oral including FOI topics, this last point alone makes me sick just thinking about it.

So yes, one ride gets 'em all back, but I'd rather just do american fliers ahead of time and not worry about it later.
 
Unless you are a super dork you will have plenty of time to take the online course to renew. Just take it easy one Saturday so your brain will function in time on Sunday to take care of that and study for UPT stuff too.
 
American flyers wouldn't let me do it ahead of time with their online system. Thanks CrazyJ I didn't realize I could do it ahead of time with a different expiration. Called them and said no problem.
 
mountainwaves said:
American flyers wouldn't let me do it ahead of time with their online system. Thanks CrazyJ I didn't realize I could do it ahead of time with a different expiration. Called them and said no problem.
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If I understood what you wrote, you are saying American Flyers would not let you renew early. My guess is that because they are a one time fee for continual renewals they don't want people renewing too frequently on that one fee. However, there are other online FIRCs you can take (Gleim is one). You can do any of the many classroom FIRCs around the country if you are willing to travel. You can add another rating onto your CFI and that will start the clock over again. Or, you can just take a practical test (check ride) with an examiner and renew it that way. There are a lot of options. You could also let it expire and then take a reinstatement ride with an examiner. It's the same test you would take for a renewal.
 
You will easily have time to accomplish the American Flyers online course on a weekend day, even during Phase II when you are the busiest.
 
DO NOT let your CFI expire. I renewed mine during UPT without any problems; you'll have plenty of time. Plus, you'll get almost two weeks off for the Christmas holidays when the rest of AETC shuts down. Depending on the date you start, you might not even be on the flightline yet by Christmas. Slackademics is a joke and you'll definitely have the 16 hours it takes to renew (do take Phase I seriously though; we had a couple of people wash out on test busts). With few exceptions, the weekends are yours to do what you want--I don't think I cracked open a book on any Saturday throughout the program (except for the 2-3 Saturdays they made us fly).
 
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