Accelerated CFI Ground Schools

Jon Gandy

Jon Gandy

Well-Known Member
Hello all.

So I have been studying for the FOI, FIA and AGI and to be honest its kicking my tail. I have been out of aviation for almost 2 years, and the brief stint I had was preceded by a 10 year laps. That taught me that I need to pursue training to get back to the levels of proficiency I had as a Flight Safety Academy graduate. So I have decided to get my CFI.

That being said I do well with short and intense periods of study. I did quite well with my Instrument written when I took a weekend course, and that was after not doing well at all with a full groundschool course.

So I am looking for suggestions on the accelerated ground school courses that can teach the information for the three tests.

What are your thoughts?
 
I dropped the $279 for the Kings Schools CFI course. I like their presentation. Even if it is corny, you learn the material. I'd say it took me a week to finish the course online. I passed FOI, FIA, AGI, IGI, all 80% or better afterwards. Be sure to call them if you go this route and ask for any deals they have because they gave me the CFI practical test video for free with the knowledge test course. Good Luck!
 
I'm gonna go against the grain and say Dauntless. For the money, they are far more flexible (multiple devices) and easier to use, in my opinion.

Content is roughly the same. Better customer experience with Dauntless for me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
killbilly said:
I'm gonna go against the grain and say Dauntless. For the money, they are far more flexible (multiple devices) and easier to use, in my opinion.

Content is roughly the same. Better customer experience with Dauntless for me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
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Have it. Got it for my phone and now can not transfer to my tablet without a second purchase. It's a bit clumsy on the phone but awesome on the tablet.
 
Jon Gandy said:
So I am looking for suggestions on the accelerated ground school courses that can teach the information for the three tests.

What are your thoughts?
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Cram by reading the FAA PDFs for free and take the exams. They aren't that hard, and you need to know the source of the material anyway for the checkride, so you may as well just read those. No one really cares what score you get on the exams anyway. Most Examiners I have spoken with prefer scores in the 75-85 range if anything. If you get 99 or 100, they assume you memorized the questions from Sheapard Air and didn't really learn the material, which is probably true in most cases.
 
drunkenbeagle said:
Cram by reading the FAA PDFs for free and take the exams. They aren't that hard, and you need to know the source of the material anyway for the checkride, so you may as well just read those. No one really cares what score you get on the exams anyway. Most Examiners I have spoken with prefer scores in the 75-85 range if anything. If you get 99 or 100, they assume you memorized the questions from Sheapard Air and didn't really learn the material, which is probably true in most cases.
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So my (now expired) 70 on the ATP written on 31 July 2014 at 9pm was just the right amount of studying? :P
 
ahw01 said:
So my (now expired) 70 on the ATP written on 31 July 2014 at 9pm was just the right amount of studying? :p
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Exactly. I got exactly a 70 on my CFI written. Perfect! Didn't study a minute longer than necessary. (About 15 minutes flipping through a Gleim book in the parking lot if I remember correctly.)

I somehow got an 87 on my (now expired) ATP written. Not sure how that happened, as I didn't study for it at all.
 
So I'm fresh off of my accelerated Ground School weekend with American Flyers. It was awesome to hear that, while the national pass rate for CFI students on the first try is only 6%, American Flyers National pass rate is 20% and the school I attended has a 100% pass rate.

It was super easy to see why two. Lee instructor Nate did a phenomenal job at relating the information in a way that made it sink in and stick. For all of the pages that are in the flight instructors handbook 4 for they were able to condense down and 240 pages. From there with the notes I took I'm at condensing it even further.

One of the students there happened to have Sheppard Air on his laptop and let me play around with it for a while. I do also really like that software, much more than dauntless, so I will be purchasing that to work with as well.

All in all, if you are looking for an accelerated course then I can highly suggest American Flyers. That suggestion also comes from a CFI in the Bay Bridge area who took her ATP course there.
 
drunkenbeagle said:
Exactly. I got exactly a 70 on my CFI written. Perfect! Didn't study a minute longer than necessary. (About 15 minutes flipping through a Gleim book in the parking lot if I remember correctly.)

I somehow got an 87 on my (now expired) ATP written. Not sure how that happened, as I didn't study for it at all.
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Your a pilot.

If we are more concerned with being prepared pilots then the testing is a cake walk.
 
Jon Gandy said:
Hello all.

So I have been studying for the FOI, FIA and AGI and to be honest its kicking my tail. I have been out of aviation for almost 2 years, and the brief stint I had was preceded by a 10 year laps. That taught me that I need to pursue training to get back to the levels of proficiency I had as a Flight Safety Academy graduate. So I have decided to get my CFI.

That being said I do well with short and intense periods of study. I did quite well with my Instrument written when I took a weekend course, and that was after not doing well at all with a full groundschool course.

So I am looking for suggestions on the accelerated ground school courses that can teach the information for the three tests.

What are your thoughts?
Click to expand...
It depends. Do you want to know the information and be able to apply it in real life, or do you want to pass the tests?
If you just want to pass the tests, just take them. You should get at least a 70. If you can't, you probably shouldn't be aiming to teach yet anyway.
If you want to know a little more, buy the King School prep course.
If you really want to know the info, work with some good instructors at your school. Watch them. Ask them questions. Prepare a course with them and teach it during one of their ground school sessions. Have them debrief you on your session and teaching. Rinse and repeat.
Also, perhaps, ask yourself: Why are you endeavoring to get your CFI ticket? Do you want to teach? Do you enjoy teaching? Do you enjoy learning? Do you strive always to know more and be better? Do you want to be a good example to others? Do you want to be a valuable resource for your future students who, just by the way, will be paying you and counting on you to help them be safe and proficient? Or do you just want to get some hours and move on to the heavy iron? For various reasons, in many areas artificial hoops (barriers to entry) have been put in place. I can understand the impulse to see those hoops for what they often are and try to find the quickest, least painful way to jump through them. Teaching people to fly airplanes is NOT one of these situations. Learning to teach is not a hoop jumping exercise and should not be approached as such. $0.02
 
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Crop Duster said:
It depends. Do you want to know the information and be able to apply it in real life, or do you want to pass the tests?
If you just want to pass the tests, just take them. You should get at least a 70. If you can't, you probably shouldn't be aiming to teach yet anyway.
If you want to know a little more, buy the King School prep course.
If you really want to know the info, work with some good instructors at your school. Watch them. Ask them questions. Prepare a course with them and teach it during one of their ground school sessions. Have them debrief you on your session and teaching. Rinse and repeat.
Also, perhaps, ask yourself: Why are you endeavoring to get your CFI ticket? Do you want to teach? Do you enjoy teaching? Do you enjoy learning? Do you strive always to know more and be better? Do you want to be a good example to others? Do you want to be a valuable resource for your future students who, just by the way, will be paying you and counting on you to help them be safe and proficient? Or do you just want to get some hours and move on to the heavy iron? For various reasons, in many areas artificial hoops (barriers to entry) have been put in place. I can understand the impulse to see those hoops for what they often are and try to find the quickest, least painful way to jump through them. Teaching people to fly airplanes is NOT one of these situations. Learning to teach is not a hoop jumping exercise and should not be approached as such. $0.02
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This is a terrific post - these are questions I'm asking myself on a regular basis. I want to teach because I like teaching, but also because teaching tends to force you to learn material - any material - to a depth that you don't typically get as a student.

I've been using the written prep not just to get ready to take the tests but to identify areas where I am weak in my knowledge and then shoring them up, but I still have this long (and growing) list of things I want to explore/learn/discuss with a mentor CFI while I study for my own. There are some aspects of aerodynamics that I would like to be better on, a few regulatory bits and some weather theory and flight planning components that I'd like to be better on. To those ends, the written prep has been a valuable tool to guide me in those areas.

Still no substitute for hands-on mentor/mentee training. I'm....shopping....right now, for an instructor to do my CFI with.
 
Crop Duster said:
It depends. Do you want to know the information and be able to apply it in real life, or do you want to pass the tests?
If you just want to pass the tests, just take them. You should get at least a 70. If you can't, you probably shouldn't be aiming to teach yet anyway.
If you want to know a little more, buy the King School prep course.
If you really want to know the info, work with some good instructors at your school. Watch them. Ask them questions. Prepare a course with them and teach it during one of their ground school sessions. Have them debrief you on your session and teaching. Rinse and repeat.
Also, perhaps, ask yourself: Why are you endeavoring to get your CFI ticket? Do you want to teach? Do you enjoy teaching? Do you enjoy learning? Do you strive always to know more and be better? Do you want to be a good example to others? Do you want to be a valuable resource for your future students who, just by the way, will be paying you and counting on you to help them be safe and proficient? Or do you just want to get some hours and move on to the heavy iron? For various reasons, in many areas artificial hoops (barriers to entry) have been put in place. I can understand the impulse to see those hoops for what they often are and try to find the quickest, least painful way to jump through them. Teaching people to fly airplanes is NOT one of these situations. Learning to teach is not a hoop jumping exercise and should not be approached as such. $0.02
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Crop Duster.

I totally agree with what you said. So to fire back let me be as up front as possible. As an early pilot I never wanted to be responsible for someone else's flying. I didnt want the responsibility of making them safe.

That has since changed.

A few thi vs are converging for me right now. Schedule needs, financial needs, desire of fulfillment with work and a desire for excellence like I used to achieve as a pilot.

In the last 10 years I have grown to really enjoy seeing people have lightbulb moments and helping them learn. In my last IPC the instructor told me I had a great mentality and patience and would make a good instructor.

I met a Cirrus rep who kept bringing the CFI up as he is helping me find a place in aviation. And a lot of Cirrus owners hire instructors as full time pilots until they feel proficient m. I actually REALLY like the Cirrus product as well. Not to mention the possibility of upgrading to a Vision pilot at some point in the future. Managing one or a small fleet of VLJs and High Performance pistons is easily a job I can stay with until retirement.

Teaching just seems to fit my personality, personal desires and professional goals at this point in my life and career.
 
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