Just wanted to let everyone know that I recently joined the ranks of CFI after 6.5 hrs of Q and A and a 1.3 hr flight.
Since I was able to learn a lot from other posts on here about what to expect, I'll go ahead and post my experience for everyone.
The checkride started at 8 am on a Saturday morning. We started by going over the paperwork (passed that part easily!) and then proceeded to prove to him that our aircraft was in fact airworthy to fly that day. I recommend having all the MX logs tagged ahead of time, as it made the whole process go much quicker. Also, I would recommend having a list of all the AD's pertinant to your aircraft with you when you go. (Our airport keeps them all on a database and I wasn't able to print any off beforehand.)
From there, we went over some FOI material and went over the required task of Flight Instructor professionalism. He then gave me a scenario in which I had just gotten my CFI and got hired by my good buddy, who knew nothing about flying, to run a flight school at an FBO he had just bought. I had an airplane, a telephone, and his credit card. The examiner wanted to know where I would begin and what all I would purchase.
The technical subject chosen was on Weight and Balance. I had to show him the W & B I had computed for that day's flight and prove to him that we were within CG limits. I was also quizzed on W & B terms as well as the effects of a forward/aft CG on stability. (Very easily done using a pencil and your fingers as the fulcrum.)
After a short break we got back at it and I was then quizzed on every system in the Piper Arrow that we would be flying that day. He wasn't looking for every little detail, but he did want to see that I could very easily explain each system to a Private and Commercial Pilot. After that I had to teach him a lesson on traffic patterns (entry, guidelines, controlled/uncontrolled, etc.) and he also used this as a good opportunity to cover the "special emphasis" areas located in the front of the PTS.
The maneuver that I would be teaching and demonstrating in the airplane that day was Power-On stalls, so I made out a lesson for that and proceeded to teach him through that. After this, it was time to start the flight.
The flight portion lasted 1.3 hrs as mentioned earlier and commenced with a Shortfield takeoff. From there, we flew to our designated practice area and started with the Power-On stalls. We did a regular Power-On stall and then a Power-On stall in a turn. I did one first and then he did one as "my student" and I had to tell him what he did wrong. He then had me set up the airplane for slow flight and while doing that, I was asked why we use less bank while maneuvering in slow-flight. From there we did a Power-Off stall. Again, he tried the maneuver as a student and I had to critique him. From there I demonstrated a secondary stall and we then proceeded back to the airport where we ended with a short-field landing.
After that, I heard the famous "let's go get your paper-work finished" and my checkride was completed.
Overall the ride was very straight forward, despite being deprived of commercial maneuvers, etc. I felt like I was over-prepared for it and that made it go a little smoother. If anyone has any questions, feel free to reply back. Thanks and I hope this helps!
John Scheidler
Since I was able to learn a lot from other posts on here about what to expect, I'll go ahead and post my experience for everyone.
The checkride started at 8 am on a Saturday morning. We started by going over the paperwork (passed that part easily!) and then proceeded to prove to him that our aircraft was in fact airworthy to fly that day. I recommend having all the MX logs tagged ahead of time, as it made the whole process go much quicker. Also, I would recommend having a list of all the AD's pertinant to your aircraft with you when you go. (Our airport keeps them all on a database and I wasn't able to print any off beforehand.)
From there, we went over some FOI material and went over the required task of Flight Instructor professionalism. He then gave me a scenario in which I had just gotten my CFI and got hired by my good buddy, who knew nothing about flying, to run a flight school at an FBO he had just bought. I had an airplane, a telephone, and his credit card. The examiner wanted to know where I would begin and what all I would purchase.
The technical subject chosen was on Weight and Balance. I had to show him the W & B I had computed for that day's flight and prove to him that we were within CG limits. I was also quizzed on W & B terms as well as the effects of a forward/aft CG on stability. (Very easily done using a pencil and your fingers as the fulcrum.)
After a short break we got back at it and I was then quizzed on every system in the Piper Arrow that we would be flying that day. He wasn't looking for every little detail, but he did want to see that I could very easily explain each system to a Private and Commercial Pilot. After that I had to teach him a lesson on traffic patterns (entry, guidelines, controlled/uncontrolled, etc.) and he also used this as a good opportunity to cover the "special emphasis" areas located in the front of the PTS.
The maneuver that I would be teaching and demonstrating in the airplane that day was Power-On stalls, so I made out a lesson for that and proceeded to teach him through that. After this, it was time to start the flight.
The flight portion lasted 1.3 hrs as mentioned earlier and commenced with a Shortfield takeoff. From there, we flew to our designated practice area and started with the Power-On stalls. We did a regular Power-On stall and then a Power-On stall in a turn. I did one first and then he did one as "my student" and I had to tell him what he did wrong. He then had me set up the airplane for slow flight and while doing that, I was asked why we use less bank while maneuvering in slow-flight. From there we did a Power-Off stall. Again, he tried the maneuver as a student and I had to critique him. From there I demonstrated a secondary stall and we then proceeded back to the airport where we ended with a short-field landing.
After that, I heard the famous "let's go get your paper-work finished" and my checkride was completed.
Overall the ride was very straight forward, despite being deprived of commercial maneuvers, etc. I felt like I was over-prepared for it and that made it go a little smoother. If anyone has any questions, feel free to reply back. Thanks and I hope this helps!
John Scheidler
