Passed my CFI Initial!!!!!

[Aaron Harrington]

Although I am not going for an airline career (I have a full time job as an aerospace engineer) I have been interested in teaching for a long time. I taught ground school last spring as part of prepping for the CFI checkride and now i'm teaching the fall class. I want to pass on my passion to others and help those looking to advance in their aviation careers or those just interested in recreational flying, so I became a CFI. Well, after a straight forward (6hr long) oral exam and 1.6 hrs in the air and no surprises, I passed my CFI initial first try this past Monday Oct. 27! Was it the hardest checkride i've taken so far? Yes, but at the same time, it was pretty easy because I was so overprepared. Thank you Mark Fischer, my awesome CFI, airplane co-owner, and friend, and Mike DeRugierro, expert DPE. I have learned so much already and i know the learning is just beginning. I am so excited about being able to share my passion with others in this way.

 

[doog]

Congrats! Can you recall any stumpers from the oral?

 

[SteveC]

Congrats!

 

[Aaron Harrington]

The examiner asked me the question (almost word for word) "If during pre-flight, a piece of equipment is found inoperative that does not affect the airworthiness of the aircraft. The piece of equipment is not listed on the MEL, is the airplane airworthy" I said yes because it 1) doesn't affect the airworthiness of the airplane and 2) because it is not on the MEL. He said I was wrong because if a piece of equipment isn't even ON the MEL, then the airplane is unairworthy automatically. Then he proceeded to grill me about MELs for the next 30 min. Oops!

 

[🦈💜]

Absolutely true, but so inapplicable to most flight training that it's almost a red herring. If you fly 135/121 for a while, the answer to that question is so completely obvious that you'd think someone was a moron for answering it incorrectly... but if you've never flown in an environment like that, then yeah, the question can be a real stumper.

The thing to take away from that is: try never to assume a common base of experience, no matter how obvious things seem to you. ~.^

-Fox

 

[ScorpioStinger]

Congratulations! Keep inspiring!

 

[Aaron Harrington]

Yeah, I felt dumb because I should have known the answer. I really shot myself in the foot when I said "I've never even seen what an MEL looks like" and then laughed. But it got offset when he looked at me disapprovingly, then I said seriously "of course, that would be the defense mechanism of rationalization" which made him laugh so... Doesn't matter though, because I passed! He wasn't worried. His only comment to me (for the oral portion) was "just make sure you brush up on MEL" the rest of the oral and the flying portion went fantastic! He made me come up with some lessons off the "top of my head" on weight and balance calculation, V-G diagram, and left turning tendency, but I'm an aerospace engineer and had ZERO issues with that.

 

[nosehair]

Congratulations, and welcome to the other side.
To follow up on the worthiness question, sounds like the Examiner was filling in on one of the continuous gaps in our "typical" GA training, since we typically fly with some small stuff broken, and it seems most people think the 91.205 list is sufficient knowledge.
I try to focus the student on 91.213(d), which also includes reference to 91.205.
91.213(d) refers to us light airplanes operating under part 91 with no MEL and prescribes the procedure for determining worthiness when anything is not working.
Pass it on.

 

[Aaron Harrington]

I couldn't agree more! In fact I made a nice little flow chart for determining airworthiness for any plane MEL or none based upon 91.213 and sent it to the examiner a few days after the test. He liked it and in fact, my local flight school liked it too and have started using it for training purposes. You better believe I understand it all now!

 

[Markf64]

Congrats...Welcome to the world of CFI.

 

[flyslow_va]

AC 91-67 MINIMUM EQUIPMENT REQUIREMENTS FOR GENERAL AVIATION OPERATIONS UNDER FAR PART 91
has an excellent flowchart and explanation of the deferral process for GA aircraft. The chart is Chapter 2, Figure 2.

http://rgl.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_G...penDocument&Highlight=minimum equipment lists

 

[moxiepilot]

way to go, that's no easy task

 

[USAviationRecruiter]

Congratulations. It's a huge accomplishment. Plan to start teaching soon?

 

[Sosee]

Congrats!
Lemme tell you about my CFI initial. lol
I show up at 6:30am for a 7 am showtime
The DPE (yes DPE) a former Marine from I think World War One says "I have to leave at 11am for a meeting about my 135 Operation, is that okay?"
In my head I am going "WTF am I supposed to say here, No? lol"
My mouth says "Yes sir, no problem whatsoever"
At 7:05PM PST we takeoff for the flight.
All the maneuvers go great.
We go out over the water and he pulls the power and says "throttle is stuck"
He also slides my POH down between the door of the 172RG and his left leg so I can't reach it.

Calmly, I reach behind him and pluck the real POH serialized to the plane out of the pocket where I had put it and flip to the supplemental water ditching procedure that the 172RG has.
He looks at me like he wants to choke me. "how did you know I would take the POH?" he asks
"You looked shifty, sir" comes my answer
He then asks me if I am going to go through the procedure and I say "Nope, we aren't ditching in the water...we are doing an Emergency engine out landing in that golf course over there, so please be ready to unlatch your door when I tell you to"
"How the F did you make the land?" he mutters

"I am a good pilot and I never let my attention stray from that golf course from the moment this started...plus the wind is at my back hehe"

I passed and our last landing was a short field into the sunset with a awfully grazed window on a rnwy heading of 250.
"Do you have the runway?" he says noticing we both can't see a damn thing out the windshield due to the sunset light on the grazed window.
I poke my head out the window "Got my side, how does your's look" I answer followed a second later by the chirp of our base wheels touching down.

It was 9:30pm
I was tired.
I said to him "did I pass or what?"

"Congratulations, even though you beat my tricks, you did great!"

I flew back to my home airport and never retracted the landing gear because I was so tired I was afraid I might forget to lower it before landing.

CFI Initials are some of the most feared checkrides there are. I believe that most folks go into them vastly over prepared and come out the other side exhausted. I also believe that is exactly how it should always be. In our jobs, the responsibility to know the material inside out, upside down and backwards is crucial. Only then can we properly teach others that which we over prepared to teach.

I love that Examiner like a Private loves his Drill Sergeant. Outwardly I think he is a real SOB. Inwardly, I will always respect his opinion above that of many others I have encountered. I spent over 15 hours on my CFI initial, including waiting through his 135 meeting to continue the oral. The flight was 1.5 The rest minus 2 hours for the 135 meeting was oral exam. I was beat, but I knew my stuff and I knew that plane well. Going in prepared made each trick he tried on me something I could deal with easily. It was fun just as much as it was grueling.

Congrats again.