Certified Flight Instructor Course
Being a certified flight instructor is a challenging and rewarding career that utilizes all you have learned during your flight training. Flight instructors aim to be role models in the aviation community, sharing knowledge and experience with their students, and for many people, it is the first job in aviation that earns them a paycheck. Our 30-Day CFI Academy is designed to build fundamental knowledge and develop teaching skills. The FAA has already certified that you are a competent commercial and instrument-rated pilot; our job is to ensure that you become a well-prepared aviation instructor to teach those lessons.
Frequently Asked Questions:
What is a flight instructor rating?
How to get a flight instructor rating?
How long does flight instructor rating take?
Getting your Certified Flight Instructor (CFI) rating is an awesome way to build flight hours and experience while getting paid to fly. It’s a big step if you want to turn flying into a career, and while it’s challenging, it’s also really rewarding. Here’s what to expect:
What You’ll Learn:
Teaching Skills: As a CFI, you’ll be teaching others how to fly. So, you’ll need to learn how to explain complicated concepts clearly, create lesson plans, and communicate well with your students.
Advanced Maneuvers: You’ll need to master advanced maneuvers (like stalls, steep turns, and emergency procedures) and be able to demonstrate them perfectly for your students.
Safety and Risk Management: You’ll also focus a lot on teaching students how to make safe decisions, handle emergencies, and assess risks during flights.
Flight Planning: You’ll get experience in planning lessons and giving students feedback to help them improve, which is a huge part of the teaching process.
Requirements and Training:
Flight Hours: To become a CFI, you need at least 250 total flight hours (including hours for your private and commercial licenses). You also have to pass a written test that covers everything from aviation regulations to aerodynamics and flight instruction methods.
Checkride: The checkride is similar to what you’ve done before but includes both a flight test and an oral exam where you’ll demonstrate your teaching ability and knowledge of the maneuvers.
Training Time: How long it takes depends on how often you’re able to train. If you’re doing it full-time, it could take a few months to finish, but a lot of people do it part-time while working.
Time and Cost:
We estimate the cost to obtain your CFI (initial rating) as $9,480. If you decided to add the additional CFII (instrument instructor) certificate, it will cost an additional $5,800. This cost depends on where you train and how many hours you need. The timeline can vary, but most people finish in a couple of months if they’re training full-time.
Why Get It?
The CFI rating is a great way to build hours while getting paid. Plus, it opens doors to other flying jobs, like working for regional airlines or corporate aviation. And honestly, teaching other people how to fly is pretty rewarding — you get to share your passion for aviation while solidifying your own skills.
Eligibility
Requirements for becoming a Certified Flight Instructor are:
Be 18 years of age.
Read, speak, write, and understand the English language.
Hold either a commercial pilot certificate or airline transport pilot certificate and an instrument rating.
Have logged at least 250 hours of flight time.
Hold a valid FAA 3rd Class Medical Certificate (or higher).
Receive a logbook endorsement from an authorized instructor on the fundamentals of instructing.
Pass a knowledge test on the aeronautical knowledge areas appropriate to the flight instructor rating sought.
Syllabus
104 hours of Classroom Instruction
To help you find the help you need and build a network of fellow CFIs to collaborate during your CFI training, most lectures are conducted in a class setting as a group.
10 Hours Individual Ground Instruction
Some skills require one-on-one teachings, but this segment of your CFI training is for you to teach your instructors in select areas to get you more comfortable speaking in front of a group as well as help you find your teaching style.
14 Hours of Flight Time
From lazy eights and steep spirals to spin endorsements, your flight training takes on new meanings as you advance your skills are sharpened using lower minimums and acceptable levels of performance.
6 Hours Dual Simulator Time
Get a real feel with an instructor acting as your student. Teach as you go and stop to ask all the questions you need to refine your teaching techniques.
Unlimited Solo Simulator Access
Use the simulators as much as you need to practice your maneuvers, procedures, and teaching techniques to feel comfortable on the airplane.
The Certified Flight Instructor Course is a perfect way to build a foundation of crew resource management and flight experience. You will learn to master the art of teaching others how to fly.
Some examples of topics that you will need to teach include:
Aerodynamics
Navigation & Meteorology
Radio communication
Situational awareness & Safety
Workload management
Go-arounds
Wake turbulence &Terrain avoidance
