This should be based on the pilot's level of experience, knowledge, and what they currently do/did/or will do in the future.. You obviously aren't going to give the same FR to a 10,000 hour pilot as you would to a 400 hour pilot with much less experience. You should review the logbook(s) and from that you will formulate a "game plan" for the oral and flight. Pick the guy's brain and see what area(s) that he would like to work on the most that may be beneficial. It is much more difficult to give the FR to a person who has 20X your flight time and experience level as a relatively newly minted CFI versus giving one to a much less experienced and younger av8or. Most of the high time folks with years and years of experience in this game have pretty much seen it all and the ride is viewed more or less as a minor technicality to stay current by them, you may be the one learning something on a few of these rides!!.. After a couple of these flight checks you will most likely have a better idea of where I am coming from. I have done many in the past and in less than five minutes it was rather easy to know just how easy or difficult the FR would be and what would be covered in detail. It doesn't take long to realize how much a pilot knows.
One area that I was always the same on whether the pilot had 10,000 hours or 400 was making sure I had multiple simulated emergency and abnormal situations thrown at the pilot during the various stages of the flight. Simulated engine failure on the takeoff roll, failure directly after takeoff, around 800agl, simulated flat tire close to VR, etc, etc. Your options are endless and I always asked myself, "what hasn't this pilot experienced"?. Try and hit on the areas that they haven't practiced in recent times as well as knocking the rust off in the more safety critical areas that cause most incidents and accidents. Slow flight, power on/off stalls, cross controlled stalls, trim control stalls, secondary stalls, accelerated stalls, simulated flight control failure(s) using power only to control aircraft, instrument failures, unusual attitudes, flap failure, etc. These are just a few areas that I remember incorporating into the FR's on a regular basis. It really does boil down to the pilot's experience level, no two reviews should be the same. I always believed that it was up to the CFI to also "teach" something on these rides that may be of help and "beneficial" to the pilot at some point down the line.
The ground portion should also be tailored towards the type of flying that the person does on a regular basis, home airport operations, Airspace, wx, aircraft systems, charts, maps, terminology, atc, inop equipment, MEL's, W&B, emergency operations, abnormal situations, checklist usage, fitness for flight, night flying, required instruments, mountain flying (if applicable), 61&91 FAR's, V speeds, vfr procedures, spin recovery, differences between tower controlled fields and uncontrolled fields, runway incursion avoidance procedures, how to minimize risk and vulnerability factors, putting the odds in their favor, go/no go decisions. These were just a few of the subject matter/areas that I would cover more than anything else but once again a l o t depends on the experience and knowledge of the person that you are giving this review to. Try and look at this as opportunity to pass on something a long that they may not know to make them possibly a better and more productive pilot. I always had great satisfaction in hearing a "thank you", "great idea", "that is a pretty good way to do that". Many CFI's do nothing more than what is required by regulation, it is the few and the dedicated that go the extra distance to try and add light or a different perspective to a certain area to help the pilot.
I have seen instructors do nothing more the usual and what is required but try and use these rides to make a difference and show the younger and less experienced guys a little of your knowledge. A good flight instructor is always teaching no matter what. As a CFI or as a training captain, the teaching process never ends and shouldn't. The more that you do the more this will make sense and I am sure you will have a different mindset 30 rides from now than what you currently have.
Do allow input from the pilot as to what they would like to work on, areas that they may be weak in, etc. I see too often the CFI try and use this ride as some sort of "ego-trip", it should be a mutual learning process between two pilots of a close brotherhood for the sole objective of making them the safest possible pilot that they can be.
Some things that you can also do is come up with certain aircraft type specific things to work on through a little research if you are doing a review in owner furnished aircraft that you may not be overly familiar with. It is usually the small things and going the extra distance that will make the difference and it will be noticed, appreciated, and respected by the owner you are flying with. Use these times as opportunity to get your name out there, word travels quickly. If one aircraft owner has a good experience with you then next thing you know is that you will then be flying with his friend, etc, and right on down the line. If you are "sharp" then before long you will have many wanting to fly with you.. Your hard work, dedication, work ethics, ability, etc, will not go undetected.
Have a little fun with these rides, you never know what a little hard work and networking may do for you. Before long you will have a pretty good reputation built up and quite a few will be wanting to fly with you. I have seen many flight instructors move on to bigger and better things thanks to a little hard work in the owner furnished aircraft. I think this is one of the best kept secrets for the lower time flight instructors out there. Once upon a time a simple FR that I did got me a gig flying a brand new A-36 around whenever I wanted it in return for providing a little flight instruction at triple the local school's fee, you never know my friend what you may run into. I always looked forward to the flight reviews that were done in owner furnished aircraft, I think I got more tips in that arena than I ever got while flying well known clients around in the 135 world worth lot's of money. Go figure...
At the conclusion of the FR, you may also want to give them additional insight and leads pertaining to the vast information/data that is currently available to them free of charge via the internet and other sources that they may not be aware of exists. Depending on the age bracket and background of the pilot they may not be up to speed on the different websites, links, etc, that most of us take forgranted. Flying is a never ending learning process so try and give them some information that may spark the learning process and give them some sort of motivation to pursue and spend more time on the safety critical topics and areas of concern. I have also found that some data, knowledge, information, that we have sometimes they do not have easy access to. Make print outs, copies, etc, and give them to the pilot to take home with them to review and to spend time with. Some of your pilots fly only once a month and a handful of times a year, see if you can give them some sort of incentive to spend more time flying versus what they are currently doing. The more motivated that you become then usually the more motivated the student then becomes.
Good luck and report back to us after you do a few,
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