Flight Instructor - CFI, CFII, MEI

Are you a natural leader?  Are you the patient, mentoring type that always seems to be helping people?  Do you aspire to a career as an airline pilot?  Can you handle the responsibility of creating a new generation of aviators?

If so, you may have what it takes to become a Flight Instructor.  The Certified Flight Instructor (CFI) Certificate allows you to act as an extension of the FAA.  As a CFI, you become responsible for training and certifying pilots who will then go forward and operate within the nation's airspace.  One of the many bonuses of being a CFI is that each hour of flight instruction you give may be logged as pilot-in-command (PIC) time.

Your ground lessons will focus on learning the fundamentals of instruction, creating lesson plans and practicing how to teach.  You will also review all of the responsibilities and privileges of the CFI and perfect your knowledge of all the material needed to work with primary and advanced students.

With a Flight Instructor Certificate, commercial pilots can expand their employment opportunities by teaching others to learn to fly in airplanes or helicopters.  From private pilot to multi-engine students, flight instructors build time and experience while sharing their knowledge with students.

Course Eligibility - Certified Flight Instructor (CFI):

An applicant for the Flight Instructor Certificate must be at least 18 years of age, with the ability to read, speak and converse fluently in English, must hold a Class 2 FAA medical certificate, an Instrument Rating and a Commercial or Airline Transport Pilot License with an aircraft rating appropriate to the CFI rating sought.

Completion Requirements:

• Pass two FAA Written Exams: Fundamentals of Instructing and Flight Instructor Airplane
• Complete an oral and flight test covering items selected by the FAA designated examiner.  These may include the demonstration or instruction of FAA regulations regarding privileges and limitations of a private and commercial pilot, basic and advanced aerodynamics, complex aircraft operations and safety of flight, maximum performance takeoffs and landings, as well as advanced flight maneuvers.

Course Eligibility - Certified Flight Instructor Instrument (CFII):

To become a CFII, you must be at least 18 years of age, with the ability to read, speak and converse fluently in English, must hold a Class 2 FAA medical certificate and a valid CFI certificate.  In addition, you must have at least 15 hours as a pilot in command in the category and class of aircraft appropriate to the rating you are trying to achieve.

Completion Requirements:

•  Pass an FAA Written Exam
• Complete an oral and flight test covering items selected by the FAA designated examiner.  These may include the demonstration or instruction of FAA regulations governing IFR conditions, IFT navigation, weather theory, control and maneuvering the aircraft by reference to the instruments and cross-country flight under simulated or actual IFR conditions, the use of IFR charts and instrument approach procedures, performing instrument approaches, response to emergencies involving instrument malfunctions, lost communications, unusual altitude recovery, and deviation to alternate airports.

Course Eligibility - Multi-Engine Instructor (MEI):

An MEI must be at least 18 years of age, with the ability to read, speak and converse fluently in English, must hold a Class 2 FAA medical certificate and a valid CFI certificate.  In addition, you must have at least 15 hours as pilot in command in the category and class of aircraft appropriate to the rating you are trying to achieve.

Completion Requirements:

• No FAA Written Exam required
• Complete an oral and flight test covering items selected by the FAA designated examiner.  These may include the demonstration or instruction of FAA regulations regarding privileges and limitations of a private and commercial pilot, basic and advanced aerodynamics, multi-engine aircraft operations and safety of flight, maximum performance takeoffs and landings, as well as advanced flight maneuvers.