CFI Checkride Passed! (Your experiences?)

aviator147

Picks Trips
Just passed my CFI Stage Check Flight, I'm doing it at a 141 school out in the northern prairie which some of you may be familiar with. The oral was last week, took about 3 hours, nothing to outlandish, pretty fair and straight forward by the PTS. Flight was today, was able to complete my whole Plan of Action in 1.2 Was wondering how long other people's flights and orals have been?
 
I did my CFI ride at the same place in 2008, and the oral was quite a bit longer. A couple of days before I did my CFI oral, the FSDO had noticed that the orals were only running about 3 hours, which they said wasn't long enough.

My oral was with a guy who primarily instructed in helicopters and ran about 6 hours, but it was probably the most useful oral I've ever done. After going through a subject area, the examiner would spend a few minutes talking about how absurd some of the policies and procedures at the school regarding that area were, and he spent quite a bit of time making sure I understood how things worked in the real world as opposed to the "141 bubble". Having since quit an instructing job there and started instructing under part 61, I completely agree with everything he told me.

The flight was pretty straightforward, until I somehow managed to screw up pylon 8's (first time I'd ever messed up that maneuver), which meant I busted the flight. I completed the flight a couple of days later, and the whole thing probably ran about 1.5-1.7.

I think I did my CFII flight in something like 1.1, largely because we ended up flying the entire ILS at around 130kts (I think the standardization manual called for 90kt after the FAF) to stay out of the way of a KC-135.
 
Congrats on passing the stage check! I did my initial instructor in a multi, and my oral was about 4 hours long. My flight was 1.4, but the run up took some time (throttles are touchy and the gauges are too accurate on the Twin Star). Also, tower switched runways on me right as I was cleared for the option so I did a touch n go runway 18 and did a 180 and did a touch n go 36 before I finally did my single engine pattern so that added some time.
 
Heh. Did it with the FSDO back when dinosaurs roamed the earth and the years started with "19". 7 hour oral, pink slip, 3 hour oral, 2 hour flight, ticket. Far and away the most difficult rating I've ever done...the ATP was child's play.
 
Heh. Did it with the FSDO back when dinosaurs roamed the earth and the years started with "19". 7 hour oral, pink slip, 3 hour oral, 2 hour flight, ticket. Far and away the most difficult rating I've ever done...the ATP was child's play.

OMG you are old:D That was way back when airplanes wer made from dried teradactyl wings and mammoth hides!





I remember those days!


.
 
4.5 hr oral 1.6 flight

Inspector told me no books during the ground before we even started o_O
 
Did mine with a DPE because Feds were too busy. 6 hour oral and 1.5 flight. Wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be
 
I got off pretty easy with a DPE. 2.5 oral and 1.5 flight :cool:. He seemed to like the fact that I had about 100 more hours than the "average Bear" and knew what an Avionics cooling vent was (if you had seen the look on his face, you would've thought the second coming of Jesus had come to save him or something).
 
The key is to be prepared for the worst and hope for the best. I managed to impress him on the super easy checkride (comparatively speaking) by preparing for a more typical CFI ride.
 
4.5 hr oral 1.6 flight

Inspector told me no books during the ground before we even started o_O

Isn't this counter intuitive to the kind of attitude that the FAA wants CFIs to have? Obviously you need to demonstrate an overwhelming knowledge of the material, but by saying no books the inspector is encouraging a macho attitude where the CFI is being encouraged to rely on his memory rather than prudent research when in doubt.

Where does it say in the PTS / FARs that everything has to be memorized?
 
Heh. Did it with the FSDO back when dinosaurs roamed the earth and the years started with "19". 7 hour oral, pink slip, 3 hour oral, 2 hour flight, ticket. Far and away the most difficult rating I've ever done...the ATP was child's play.
Did my initial CFI in a helicopter at a FSDO in 1988. The inspector was the biggest ass on God's green earth. We argued back and forth for almost seven hours and my ride was through when he said "I don't like you one domn bit but I have no reason to fail you!" Worked for me although I felt inferior to the world for about a week.
 
Isn't this counter intuitive to the kind of attitude that the FAA wants CFIs to have? Obviously you need to demonstrate an overwhelming knowledge of the material, but by saying no books the inspector is encouraging a macho attitude where the CFI is being encouraged to rely on his memory rather than prudent research when in doubt.

Where does it say in the PTS / FARs that everything has to be memorized?
To my knowledge, it doesn't. But as A150K said, prepare for the worst and hope for the best.
 
My Fed was peculiar, to say the least, but I don't think he was a jerk. I guess I got lucky.

My first instructor failed his three times with the same inspector, after each time he made him call his chief flight instructor on speaker phone and recite the question and his answer that he failed on. It could be pretty rough if you got him, my first assigned Fed was the same guy...thank God I got someone else
 
Oh, mine wasn't a jerk, either. Extraordinarily Tough, but Fair. As you point out, though, They're Out There.
 
My examiner told me this: "I'm not at all impressed by CFI's who can recite reg numbers in their sleep, I'm impressed by CFI's who know how to help their students find important information and can explain the "why" behind the information sought"

Made alot of sense to me.
 
4.5 hour oral 2.5 hour flight. He told me to think of my books as a library and look up anything that I didn't know. It was actually a pleasant experience.
 
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