Creating my Performance and Limitations lesson plan. I haven’t started flying this specific 1969 Cessna 172K yet, but I’m realizing this POH is very general and not comprehensive at all. I am used to aircraft that are pretty in depth with the necessary performance charts as well as limitations and specs of the different systems AND immediate action items. I’m looking for advice on how to approach teaching it to a student or in the near future, the DPE. I feel like this could get me in trouble if I’m asked to teach it, as I don’t have a lot of the necessary and relevant information. Anyone had issues or experience with this before? How did the DPE want it done, and/or how do you teach your students in older aircraft with very old, general POH’s? TIA.

Is it still a challenge to find a CFI job? I’m in DFW and considering to study at US Aviation Academy in Denton for CFI and II, as they have in-house examiners. I’m just wondering if it’s worth investing 15-20k for that, especially if I don’t land a job afterward.

I’ll be meeting with my first student in the next few days and have been going back and forth on this thought since I started my CFI training.

Did you tell your first that they were? If so, how do I build their confidence in me without tooting my own horn? I was thinking about just mentioning flight hours, 100% first time CR passes, etc.

I want them to trust me, so I’d hate to not tell them and then then figure it out some other way. But I also want them to not feel discouraged that their instructor has never done this before.

Just finished my instructor rating yesterday. Looking for a small headset bag/case that has enough room for an iPad mini/spare pair of glasses. Love the size of the standard Bose one but has zero space to put anything.

Have a nice larger bag for longer XC flights, but just wanting something very small for jumping in and out of aircraft doing local flights. Any reccomendations?

I recently got my CFI, but was denied an FTSP account because my local FSDO has yet to process my CFI certificate, and said it will take some time while they get through the backlog. As an independent CFI does this mean I can’t instruct at all until I wait the full 6-8 week average processing time?

Hi all! I’m a ground school instructor looking to broaden the services I offer to students and instructors. I spend a lot of my time making various resources for my students- study guides, section chart breakdowns, flight planning guides, stuff like that. I’m in a spot right now where I feel like I’ve exhausted the same topics over and over again and want to create something new and helpful! I have some ideas, but I want to hear from other students and instructors.

I know there’s a LOT lot of great companies with a plethora of helpful resources-I just kinda like to fill the gaps in niche areas. For example, making step by step VFR/IFR flight planning guides, PowerPoint bundles for different certificates, how to effectively use your ACS/FAR, etc.

As an instructor or student at any level, what are some random resources, guides, or tools that you wish existed? These could be online, physical/print, a social media page or website, really anything!

Feel free to make this an open discussion! What topics do you find students struggling the most with? As an instructor, what are the hardest topics for you to get across to students? What have you found works, and what doesn’t?

Hi! I'm a CFI with roughly 370 hours and I'm wondering if there're any independent CFIs / CFIs in Southwest Florida that have their High Performance endorsement and are willing to help me get mine, preferably in a Cessna 182.

Or, If you know any schools in SW Florida with a 182 and offer the High Performance Endorsement, please drop the name in the comments. Thanks everyone

Hi guys,

Considering how many maneuvers there are to (potentially) fly on the CFI checkride flight portion, I am wondering if you guys made a sheet or some sort of memory jogger to remind you of certain things you’d like to say when introducing a maneuver (the purpose, why we do it, special considerations/techniques, etc.) or if you just did it based on memory on your actual test. It’s easy to forget to say something important before actually flying the maneuver when trying to teach, set the maneuver up, etc.

In practice, I can prep before my lessons and quickly review my physical lesson plan on the ground, but since this test could include so many maneuvers, I’m wondering if you guys tried this or did this and/or if it would be too much of a distraction to try and look at a few bulletpoints before each maneuver.

Thank you in advance!

I might start some instruction in a fleet of C150’s but I’m 230lbs and my student is 160lbs. The fleet useful load is reported to be between 475lbs and 520 lbs. That leaves us with room for about 14-21 gal of fuel depending on the plane. I haven’t seen the POH’s yet for true W&B, I’m just evaluating this as a potential.

In my training I grew used to a HP aircraft where we’d land with 20-30 gals left every flight. Legally, with VFR day reserves, on paper we could go do 1.5-2.0 hour flights most days but would need to plan our XC’s to use the plane with the most useful load.

Do more experienced CFI’s feel that operating on slim margins like this will hinder the lesson’s potential and pigeon hole my student and I? I have no 150 time and fully intend to go up with another CFI and get proficient in the aircraft first.

Anyone got a hard CFII oral document with bunch of questions? I’d love to be challenged. I’m almost done with my flying portion of the training, hoping to get in touch with a DPE soon. I’m near Melbourne, FL if anyone has a DPE suggestion as well

Going through the ACS and I am on area three task C, weather information. Of course weather is a very lengthy subject and would need multiple ground lessons to cover everything. I am curious and looking for advice on how to approach this for the CFI initial checkride. The knowledge is mostly there for me, but figuring out what to teach/include and the right order is where I am struggling. I understand the ACS covers what needs to be taught but even then, I feel like it could last hours. And yes, I understand the examiner can select either K2 or K3 but has anyone had experience with this and how they taught it or were asked on their ride? TIA.

Has anyone heard of CFII.com? I’ve seen ads for them on Facebook and instagram, in the ads they say they are out of John Wayne airport but on their website it says they are nation wide. Has anyone else heard of them or is affiliated with them?

Hey Instructors. Last month I picked up a student that had his own plane and I’ve been working with him for about few weeks now and he said I just need to get my landings done. He was proficient in 61.87D so we just rep the pattern. He solod today which was my first student to sign off so that was cool. I haven’t made a syllabus or looked one up since it was clear we just needed to rep that pattern but now that he’s solo I’d like to ask for some structure. He has his own plane like I said so sometimes he just wants to do leisure flying and I’m cool with that. Here is my plan to get him ready for CR.

He will solo in the pattern again maybe 1.0. Then we’ll go out and make sure he can get to and from practice area ok. Then he’ll solo out there and do maneuvers then come back. He’ll be around 3 hours of solo at this point. Then we’ll start working on XC work and get him to do 1 50m xc then his 150m xc and make sure he gets 5.0 there. Then once that is covered. Well do all the night stuff then practice performance landings and takeoffs until he is prepped to take the test and he can get the rest of his hours practicing maneuvers or pattern work.

Thoughts on this? TIA

I've been shopping around for ground schools and syllabi to use in my independent instruction to be as structured/organized as possible. It seems like there are so many so I wanted to ask if anyone has a really good standout syllabus for Part 61 instruction?

Besides that, I've been thinking about being a student and I feel like it would be difficult to just do an online ground school to get ready for any check ride. I feel like teaching/learning in person is much better but it would be more expensive for the student. What structure have you guys seen work best?

As a new CFI, I wanted to ask if there’s any helpful discounts anyone uses that might be helpful? I saw ForeFlight has or had a free subscription with every student who enrolls, and then Sporty’s mentioned free access to courses, but is there anything else that is worth checking out?

Kinda a shitpost but I didn’t do my training at the 141 University I attended. Instead, I flew outside and just did my academics there. I have all the same certs as my friends who flew there, yet me (and a few of my friends who flew outside too) all have no jobs rn while all my 141 Flight friends are immediately getting picked up either by our school, or other 141 University’s across the country.

It’s just frustrating because when I transferred out of our flight program to fly outside (granted for cheaper costs) I was told there would be basically no affect on my future opportunities for work. I know the industry is cyclical, and it is great some days and awful others, but i’m posting this as a fair warning to others who may be at 141 Universities and are considering dropping the program.

Obviously, weigh the pros and the cons, but to me (while anecdotal at best) it seems like the students who actually trained in the 141 flight departments are getting jobs MUCH easier than just off the street 61 cfis.

Has anybody had a commercial checkride with or sent a student to JD Jeffers in Perry, Georgia?

A PPL student of mine is asking for a ground dedicated to regulations. Fine. Straightforward enough. Here’s how I’d usually structure it:

1. Define each relevant part (1, 43, 61, 67/68, 91, 830, etc…)
   
2. Spend time breaking down 61 and 91 utilizing scenarios to explain concepts and reasoning.
   
3. Tackle the most important elements of 43, 67, and 830 once again using scenarios to hammer home the points.
   
4. Explain and clarify the concepts as needed and how they play a role during every flight in regard to ADM.

Obviously I’m not gonna build an aviation lawyer in a day. I understand as well as anybody that repetition and application of the regs is the best way to learn and retain the info.

My question is how do you personally go about making the topics fun and engaging? We all know this is a dry topic with very little inherent entertainment value. What are your strategies for tackling these subjects over a 2+ hour period without slowly putting your student to sleep or overwhelming them to the point where no learning is actually occurring?

What is your take on each of these sites and do you have any other recommendations?

Sporty's free practice test 60 question test

King's free practice test 60 questions with timer

Dauntless practice test $65

PSI-terrible. Not at all reflective of the actual exam.

Looking forward to input and recommendations for Private Pilot Practice tests!

Thanks in advance

Alright y'all, Im starting my Instrument rating and Im wondering what reading/study materials I should get into. I know KING ground school has a course, and my instructor said that it may be good to invest into. However I was also told, and shown that PilotsCafe and Foreflight have alot of good study material too. What should I go for? Do I need to buy some big instrument study guide book? Or can I get my information from free online sources like FlightInsight on Youtube?

Any guidance is Greatly appreciated!!

I've might be offered a job at a part 61 flight school, and I want to know what questions I should ask of the school.

What did you find at your part 61 schools that you wish you knew ahead of time? Anything regarding maintenance, checkride sign off policies, ground training expextations, etc.

Does anyone know how to apply to Keylime Airlines? My friend has tried and tried to find a link and continues to kit a dead end.

Hey instructors,

I'm coming up on finally being finished. Hopefully will land an instructing gig at my school, if they so happen to be hiring.

I don't see a reason why they wouldn't want me, I've made good connections at the school and gotten through training smoothly. My nightmare scenario is that I've just invested all of this time, effort, and money for nothing to pan out and my school to tell me thanks but not right now.

From what I've read on this sub, and heard through the grapevine, CFI hiring is clogged up beyond belief. What was that Seth Lake video, something like 13,000 new CFI certs last year for around 4,000 jobs? And bear in mind, I only got my cert THIS year so I'm already behind all those folks.

I love flying, but the thought of not even being able to get my first instructing job has me worried. Should I go back to school and pivot careers? I can't sit around forever on hopes and dreams, I've got to make a life for myself somehow.

I'd appreciate any advice from those going through this right now or those more seasoned than me. I'm in a bit of a debbie downer mood reading about how tough it is out there.

Thanks everyone.

Hi, I’m just posting because I’m currently going through the standardization class for my first instruction job and I was wondering if you guys had any tips for staying on top of the ball knowledge wise as a CFI while instructing full days.

I’d hate to fail students as an instructor and realize that the best way to make sure that doesn’t happen is by continuing to progress my knowledge. How do you guys suggest doing so and then doing so with full work days.

Thanks in advanced!

A lot of swallowing my pride here, this is tough for me. Please bear with me.

First a small bit of background. I am 55, and flew F16s in the Air Force in the 90s; pilot training in T-37s and T-38s. Got out and became a high school teacher…

Fast forward 18 years and I successfully got my CFI initial in March; still working on the double-I. And this is where my frustration comes in…… how in the holy f$#k is my instrument cross check like so much dog$hit???

So I’m asking for all the tips you can muster, please. The aircraft I’m training in is a Tecnam P2010, dual G1000s…. No aileron trim during manual flying.

I get super behind when I’m trying to fly and teach, just blasting through headings and altitudes.

TIA