CFI qualification

[TexNavy]

Hey Gent, I am interested in getting my CFI and MEI ratings this summer and interested in how long something like this might take. Would two months be unrealistic while flying on weekends and some nights? How challenging and time consuming was it? I am mostly doing it to do some "other than military flying" and find a use for my GI bill benefits. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[SunFlyer]

Depends on where you go and what type of student you are...Since you sound ex-military, the training shouldn't be a problem for you. I know ATP has accelerated training programs and learning from them has been quoted as "Drinking from a firehose".....ATP could get those ratings done for you in about
2 weeks, but you might not learn how to teach as much as you would learn the checkride. 2 months should be more than enough time for you, probable more than needed if you work at it......

 

[TexNavy]

Appreciate it, Still currently flying for the Navy in the P-3 looking for some variety and vfr time. I am used to firehose going through military training. Looking forward to doing it this summer. I think I might purchase the books now and start reading up on it since I have some spare time now.

 

[indianboy7]

Make sure you check with the school about your GI Bill benefits...there are only a few schools that meet the requirements for uncle sam to pay the tab for you.

 

[340drvr]

One of the best things you could do in order to streamline the CFI training process, would be to spend lots of time prior to beginning the flight "program" studying and preparing lesson plans, etc. Initial CFI is very much about self-organization and prep, the more ducks you have in a row ahead of time, the better. I've worked with a few CFI students that had already built up their own pile of lesson plans, etc., and had spent time studying and thinking about how to "present" lessons, etc., perhaps even practicing ground or pre-flight briefing lessons with someone, all prior to coming to the airport for any flight training.
With plenty of ahead-of-time self-prep, the flight training portion really doesn't take that long, and theoretically you could be ready in a very short time, maybe a few weeks. Hope this helps, good luck!