CFI checkride approaching

[Cessna172heavy]

Hey everyone. I've got my CFI checkride coming up in just a couple of weeks. Just curious to know the format of the CFI checkride any of you may have had. I'm sure it will no doubt be THE most challenging checkride I will have had to date. I know generally what to expect (meaning: be ready for anything), but was anyone surprised at the level of difficulty (easier or harder than you expected)? I'm sure when it comes down to crunch time I'm gonna wish for more time to prepare, but hey - I have wanted that for the past 4 checkrides I've been on, and I've done just fine. But the CFI..... thats been my goal for the past year, and here it is looming in front of me. I would enjoy and appreciate any related advice or stories. Thanks!

 

[SinglePliot135]

Be ready for a long oral, I've heard horror stories of them being like 8 hr!! Mine was only about 90 min though. The flight is not bad, just talk your way thru everything and pretend he is the student. Try to find someone who had the same examiner previously, then you'll know what he will ask- most do the same thing every time. Good luck and don't get too worried!

 

[flyer172r]

During the flight portion, you must, I repeat: must, describe what you are doing as you're doing it for each maneuver. If you say what you're going to do, then stay quiet while you do it, then you're gonna be in trouble. According to the examiner I went with, that's a very common mistake that leads to a lot of failures.

On the oral, first of all, going through it pretty much sucks. Even if you pass, you'll probably walk out of the room thinking "dang, I don't know crap." The best advice I can give is that if you look in the CFI PTS, for each maneuver it'll say "Must demonstrate instructional knowledge of:" and then list a whole bunch of elements for each maneuver. Make sure your lesson plans address each of those elements, as well as all the listed common errors.

Good luck!

 

[User546]

Also, one area that the majority of CFI applicants are weak on is understanding and explaining endorsements. Examiners like to throw you different situations you might find yourself in as an instructor, and you need to tell and explain what endorsements a student might need.

Same with understanding the regulations. DE's like to give you various scenarios of students that might come to you with certain certificates, and they want to get a new rating. They'll expect you to explain CONFIDENTLY, while referencing the FAR's, what additional training and various hours the student will need.

FOI is a huge one if this'll be your initial CFI checkride. I had a nice enough examiner that he let me teach him the FOI using my notes. I just stood there confidently reading my notes as if I knew them by heart, giving examples for each.

Those are three particular "ground" areas that most DE's like to hit hard on your first CFI ride.

 

[kneeshoe]

I busted my initial CFI checkride because I wasn't able simplify things enough. My check pilot said, "teach this stuff as if you were teaching it to a four year old." Another big thing that the check pilot was looking for is confidence. Just be extremely confident and use the KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) method.

Like people mentioned earlier, check pilots like to ask a lot of questions about the FOI and endorsements (esp. student pilot endorsements). The orals are generally lengthy, so be patient. Use the blackboard/whiteboard as much as possible and know where to find information if you don't know something off hand. Make sure you bring ALL of your reference materials and have current charts. It also might be a good idea to bookmark the important sections in your FAR/AIM. Also, bring a set of good lesson plans.

It is a very difficult checkride for many people, but I think you've taken enough checkrides to know about what to expect. Good luck and let us know how it goes!

 

[unreal]

Also, keep in mind that some examiners like to try to rattle your cage throughout the checkride in order to see how you handle it. I had such a DPE on mine. After my 4.5 hour oral and 2.1 flight, I wanted to dropkick him out of the airplane.

Just remember: Nothing that's worth doing is easy.

 

[Doozer]

I'll second the advice on knowing student endorsements and operating privileges.

In addition, if you've got access to a camcorder, I'd recommend recording a few of your ground lessons and critiquing the recordings.

After seeing a few of your lessons on tape, you'll know where you need to polish your delivery, you'll realize there may be better explanations and analogies, you'll see any weird or distracting mannerisms you have, etc. -- and you'll be able to correct them before you get in front of the examiner.

Good luck.