Studying for CFI

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njboeingfan

Well-Known Member
Hi all,

I am scheduled to attend MN Aviation's CFI class in September, so I am doing my lesson plans and trying to study now.

I am reading the PHAK, AFH, Flight Inst. Handbook and Asa's CFI oral prep. Will reading the materials be sufficient or should I know the stuff cold. I am using Gleim for the written and trying to absorb the info.

I feel like I don't know anything and that I am going to waste my time. Is this normal? Any suggestions? Is 2 months enough time to do this? Thanks.
 
There are new Commercial and Private PTS as of June 2012.
CFI is still the June 2010 standard.

But you need to fly CFI maneuvers to Commercial standards and you should know Private standards too.
 
njboeingfan said:
Hi all,

I am scheduled to attend MN Aviation's CFI class in September, so I am doing my lesson plans and trying to study now.

I am reading the PHAK, AFH, Flight Inst. Handbook and Asa's CFI oral prep. Will reading the materials be sufficient or should I know the stuff cold. I am using Gleim for the written and trying to absorb the info.

I feel like I don't know anything and that I am going to waste my time. Is this normal? Any suggestions? Is 2 months enough time to do this? Thanks.
Click to expand...

I am looking at MN Aviation also. Do you mind telling me the date you are looking at. They tell me that being in a class is advantageous.
 
You need to know the PTS for private and commercial. You need to know the endorsements that students will need for specific things. They know you can fly and are just looking for your ability to teach. DO NOT GIVE ANY WRONG INFORMATION. If you don't know for sure, say "I don't remember, but I know where to find it." Then proceed to find it. Have AC 61 65e in your possession.

The opening question I got (and was later told is a favorite because of how broad it is) was "how does an airplane fly?"

They expect you to teach about lift, then how the airplane balances, and so on.


The best way to teach anything is start simple and build upon that. When somebody asks a question the first few sentences should be simple enough for an 8 year old kid to understand. Simple to complicated.
 
Great info, thanks. I am reading the AFH and PHAK...do I need to know them down cold or where to find the info? thanks.
 
njboeingfan said:
Great info, thanks. I am reading the AFH and PHAK...do I need to know them down cold or where to find the info? thanks.
Click to expand...

If you don't quite know the answer to something, don't guess. Just know where to find the information that is asked of you. Examiners don't expect you to know everything but they do expect you to know where to look for the answer.
 
Add these to your list:

Latest AIH
AC 61-65 (the one with alll of the endorsements)
Quality bedside reading with your FAR/AIM.
 
Yeah, feeling like a 'tard is pretty normal. The most important thing is to practice teaching. All that good info you're trying to regurgitate won't mean squat if you can't effectively communicate it to the student. Simply trying to remember all that stuff is hard enough. Now, apply while trying to teach a lesson... Get some friends/pilots together with all different backgrounds and try your lessons out on them.
 
Even if you dont have an audience just try talking through topics out loud. It helps a lot to have to verbalize these concepts.

You might feel like you understand a topic well, but communicating the ideas in a clear way and building upon concepts (you know the whole building block thing) comes with practice. It can also be illuminating of things you "think" you know but really maybe dont understand all that well... at least not well enough to teach.

My wife wasn't really into listening to my practice flight lessons, but just talking to the wall or yapping while driving helps.... even if you look a little strange.

One thing I learned when preaching was the idea: "say one thing clearly and let people know why it matters"...everything you talk about should be clearly connected to this "main point". This helps as a sanity check to keep one from rambling on and on and adding too many confusing details (I have a tendency to do this, so it's good to have a reminder).
 
njboeingfan said:
Great info, thanks. I am reading the AFH and PHAK...do I need to know them down cold or where to find the info? thanks.
Click to expand...

Well enough to teach it. I think I know it reasonably well, yet still explain something poorly in just about every lesson I give. Even if you do explain everything perfectly, getting a student to absorb it all is a whole other challenge in itself.

You'll be your own worst critic once you start actually teaching, and I can tell you that you'll be looking stuff up after lessons all the time.
 
Ok, OP again. Im working on lesson plans on the topics the school said to prepare. (all manuevers). Im reading the gov't books.aim/far and trying to memorizebthe section numbersvfor easy reference. I am also starting to do lesson plans for everything in the cfi pts. i work/study for 5-7 hours a week and i still feel like a dope. the bat exam was cake compared to this. am i a dope or is this normal? anymore ideas? thanks!
 
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