CFI - Letter of Discontinuance (sp?)

[PHXAviator]

So, I took my 5 hour ORAL for the CFI checkride and PASSED!

After lunch we get in the airplane and taxi out.

Right as we're approaching the runup area, the examiner suggests that continuing the checkride could be a bad idea. There are these three huge thunderstorm cells closing in on the airport and the surrounding area.

I agree and I get a letter of discontinuance (sp?).

I retake the flying portion in a couple of weeks.

I'm somewhat relieved that the ride is halfway over and it should be a lot better flying without having to fly after 5 hours of talking! At the same time I still have the monkey on my back!
I guess you could call me a 1/2 CFI

By the way, why the hell does the FAA require the oral portion of the test be done first!

PHXAviator

 

[Aeronca]

I had the same thing happen to me. Finished the oral portion and the weather wasn't cooperating so the examiner issued the letter of discontinuance and rescheduled the flight portion. It was about two weeks after that I finally took the flight portion. I thought it was a relief to have the oral out of the way. Don't sweat it. I'd suggest you make sure you fly a couple of times per week to keep it fresh.

Good luck.

 

[FlyDeltasJets]

A better question is why the heck do they put you through a 5 hour oral. Any examiner worth his salt should be able to tell after only a few minutes how sharp someone is. I can see maybe two hours, but 5? That just gets silly and repetitive. Three hours into mine I felt like saying "It's obvious by now that I know what I'm talking about, why are you still wasting my time and yours?!!" Besides, I was so nervous, I couldn't wait to get the flying part done! But I kept quiet, said "sir" a lot, and eventually he wrapped it up!

BTW, congrats on the oral. That's the hardest part, and you should be proud. It must be pretty hard waiting for the flight test, but it's not too bad. You'll be fine. The worst is over.

 

[bobbysamd]

½CFI

Congratulations on making it through halfway, anyway. I never heard of a "Letter of Discontinuance" before.

Long orals are very common for the CFI practical. There is one examiner in Scottsdale who is known to give eight-hour orals. It isn't that she's hard, but goes through every little thing. Three-hour orals are common. Anything less than that and either the examiner is perceptive or easy.

An eight-hour oral on a non-self-examining stage check for any rating is outrageous. I normally don't like to hear about students complaining about stage checks, but this was one time where you should have complained. On the other hand, given flight school politics, you might have cut off your nose to spite your face. I was known to give long orals when I was a stage check pilot, but never, ever, anything that long, for any rating.

Good luck with the flight.

 

[Rush Limbaugh]

My CFI oral was about 3 hours if I remember correctly. I thought even that was ridiculous. I think the FAA pukes just like to harass pilots and that is one way they can do it.

When I went to my CFII checkride, I was the first dude to walk through the examiners door after the FAA had hammered him for an "excessively high" pass rate. Bad luck for me, needless to say, I hooked that one. I think he asked about 30 questions and I got the first 29 right and then BAM, "I'm going to have to pink slip you on this one." He didn't take any money for the first attempt and then when I went back for the retake, there was no ground eval and he still didn't charge me. I guess I had hooked that ride before I even showed up.

And for the smart CFI's here, my CFII has been expired for about 7 years now and I haven't logged a single hour in a civil airplane in 8 years. I would like to renew the CFI and if I remember correctly, since my cert is expired, I have to take another checkride. I don't have to do that with another bloodsucking FAA loser do I? Also, what sort of "syllabus" should I be looking for from a CFI to get prepared for the checkride? I have asked some local CFI's the same question and I got a little tired of the "gee, I don't know" response.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[bobbysamd]

CFI reinstatement

Three hours from the FAA? I think you got off fairly.

Yep, you do have to take another practical. But it can be in any aircraft in which you are qualified to fly. E.g., let's say you are an airplane, instrument and multi-engine instructor. You can take the flight in a 172.

The good news, for you, is you can go to your favorite DE who is a flight instructor examiner. So, you don't have to suffer an ASI who has to get his ticket punched.

You should get ahold of the PTS and use it as your study guide. You probably will be hit with the FOI, signoffs, regs and a lesson plan. I've heard that most examiners are pretty cool about a reinstatement. Just the same, as with any flight test, you have to be prepared.

Alternatively, you can add an instructor rating to your certificate and you will be reinstated for everything.

Hope that helps. Good luck with your reinstatement.

 

[Rush Limbaugh]

Thanks bro

 

[Bluto]

Add a rating?

Bobbysamd,
You're right on with the renewal process except for one thing. You cannot renew a CFI by adding a new instructor rating. You may only renew by passing a practical test for a rating already on your certificate.

§ 61.199 Expired flight instructor certificates and ratings.

(a) Flight instructor certificates. The holder of an expired flight instructor certificate may exchange that certificate for a new certificate with the same ratings by passing a practical test as prescribed in § 61.183(h) of this part for one of the ratings listed on the expired flight instructor certificate.

 

[172driver]

My oral for private was nine hours and stretched over two days. It was given by an official FAA examiner and not a DPE. One reason it was so long is that he did a fair amount of teaching. I since have learned that if you rattle off complete answers to every question and show no weaknesses, the oral becomes much shorter. If you don't, the examiner is forced to dig. A five hour CFI oral doesn't seem excessive. Congratulations.

By the way, the FAA around here wouldn't suggest that the wx was too bad to fly. If you started the airplane with t'storms approaching you would've gotten a little pink card. Remember, you are becoming a CFI and those wx decisions are your responsibility. A large part of the flight is to test your decision making. I have seen commercial pilot applicants receive not only a pink slip but a 709 ride for making the decision to take off with t'storms approaching.

 

[surplus1]

To the maker of the thread --- congratulations on your oral. You'll do just fine on the flight phase. Best wishes.

I agree with FlyDeltasJets on this one. Anything over two hours for an oral is excessive. If the examiner can't determine that you know or don't know enough in a couple of hours, I would argue that he/she doesn't know enough or lacks confidence.

The only thing an eight hour oral tells me is that the examiner is an amatuer. Lesson plans aren't just for "instructors" they're for examiners too. Anyone trying to teach something, present something or learn something (oral) should have a plan of action. The only way it can take the examiner eight hours to find out what you know (or don't know) is if the examiner doesn't know how to do that an has no plan.

A new pilot seeking a first time certificate isn't going to do what I am about to say because there's a "fear factor", but I'll tell you honestly that I would never endure an eight hour oral. The examiner would get a "letter of discontinuance" from me long before we got to that point.

And yes, I've done that. The regs give you the right to discontinue the check ride at any time. Of course it goes without saying that you can't do that to "save the day" when you just blew something. It has to be done while you're ahead.

Flight checks, whether for a new rating or to demonstrate proficiency are not supposed to be an opportunity to intimidate or abuse the applicant. Marathon orals are both intimidating and abusive and should not take place.