Everything in One Place
Lesson plans, slides, syllabi, ACS reviews, and live training, all in one place. No hunting, no piecing it together yourself.
CFI CANDIDATES
An Easier Path to CFI
Go from overwhelmed to confident. Turn 200 hours of CFI prep into a two-minute download.
Find My FitCFI IS
HARD
And it should be.
You’re about to be trusted with the next generation of pilots — that’s real responsibility, and earning it is a mountain of work: the ACS cover to cover, writing lessons, building slide decks, long days of oral prep, the feeling you could study forever and still feel unprepared – all while learning to teach & fly from the right seat.
But hard doesn’t have to mean buried.
Watch Nate's CFI success plan
Nate Ehlers
Founder
CFI, CFII, MEI · Airline Pilot · USAF C-17 Instructor Pilot
8,500+Flight Hours
18Year CFI
15Years Building This
Marcus Hewett
Lead Instructor
CFI, CFII, MEI · Airline Pilot · USAF KC-10 Flight Engineer
1,800+Hours Dual Given
175+Pilots Trained
9Year CFI
From Overwhelmed to Instructor
Here’s how it all comes together.
01PREP
Turn two months of writing lessons into a two-minute download.
Ready-to-use lesson plans and slide decks for every CFI, CFII, and MEI task. Customize them or use them as-is.
Plus the full toolkit:
- 90-Day CFI Study Plan
- Live Weekly Instruction
- CFI ACS Review
- backseatpilot.app FOI study tool
02CHECK
Walk in so prepared the checkride feels like a formality.
Present your materials — refined through live practice — and show the examiner you’re organized, ready, and confident.
FAA-APPROVED APPROACH:The Aviation Instructor’s Handbook (pg. 7-9) explicitly states that “commercially developed lesson plans are acceptable for most training situations, including use by flight instructor applicants during their practical tests.”
03TEACH
Start teaching without starting over.
The lessons you customized and mastered for your checkride carry straight into the classroom. Plug them into our syllabi to teach Private, Instrument, and Commercial students from day one.
More than just materials.
Content you can build on.
Free Updates for Life
New regs or updated content? They’re yours, free. Most updates are from your feedback. We listen & improve.
100% Editable
Make the content yours: Word, PowerPoint, Pages, Keynote, and PDFs. Adapt them to your style or use them as-is.
Proven by Thousands
Over a decade helping pilots pass and build their careers. Built by instructors who’ve been exactly where you are.
Here’s what’s inside.
The tools that make CFI prep easier.Lessons & Slides
Everything you need for the checkride — done for you.
The complete set of lesson plans and slide decks for every CFI, CFII, and MEI task — the foundation everything else builds on. Study them, tailor them to your style, and teach straight from them on your checkride and with your students.
Best for: your instructor checkrides · teaching your students
ACS Reviews
The ACS, broken down task by task.
An ACS-ordered breakdown of every task: knowledge, risk management, and skills, straight down the line. Study the CFI ACS for your own checkride, and use the Private, Instrument, and Commercial reviews to focus prep with your students.
Best for: studying for your CFI · prepping your students
Syllabi
Your lessons, turned into a complete course.
Stage-by-stage training programs for Private, Instrument, Commercial, Multi-Engine, and CFI ratings. Apply the lessons you customized for your checkride to teach real students: what to teach and when, structured to cover the FAR requirements, with progress trackers.
Best for: teaching your students · following their progress
CFI Class Pass
Live CFI prep — you’re not doing this alone.
Live, instructor-led classes where you practice teaching out loud and get real feedback from a Gold Seal CFI and fellow candidates. Drop into any class, every week.
Best for: live practice · expert feedback
backseatpilot.app
The Fundamentals of Instruction, finally made simple.
An AI-powered FOI study tool that turns the Aviation Instructor’s Handbook into something clear and application-focused. The newest, most intimidating part of CFI prep, made approachable.
Best for: FOI study · teaching foundations
The proof is in the pilots.
4.8★ from 471 pilots, and counting.
The CFI community spoke
Voted #1. By a landslide.
When a member of one of the largest online CFI communities asked fellow candidates which checkride prep they’d recommend, Backseat Pilot took 71% of the vote — more than double every other option combined.
Source: CFI Study Group community poll, August 2025.
Peter
Several CFI friends recommended BSP. They weren’t wrong. It saved me endless amounts of time!
★★★★★Heather
When I started, the sheer volume of information felt overwhelming. I passed on my first attempt, and the DPE put me in the 90th percentile. I couldn’t have been half as prepared without Backseat Pilot.
★★★★★Bo
Stop reading reviews and just buy it. There is an unbelievable amount of high-quality content in this package.
★★★★★Ready to join them?
Find My FitMore questions?
Here are a few things pilots ask the most.
Still stuck? I read and reply to every email. Reach out anytime.
— Nate, Founder
Can I use the lessons on my checkride?
Definitely! Many pilots have (and passed)! We do, however, recommend that you go through and add/remove/edit the information to ensure you’re well prepared for the checkride and are comfortable with the content’s format and flow.
And the FAA agrees. Straight from the Aviation Instructor’s Handbook (pg. 7-9): “Commercially developed lesson plans are acceptable for most training situations, including use by flight instructor applicants during their practical tests.”
Are the files editable?
Yep! Everything is delivered in Word, PowerPoint, Pages, and Keynote (as well as PDFs), the same formats you already work in. They also work great with Google Docs and Google Slides. And all documents are provided as individual files as well as book versions with full navigation!
However you work (Mac or PC, Word or Google, one lesson at a time or the full binder), there’s a format that fits.
Do I get free updates?
Yes! One price, one time, free updates for life.
As content is added or revised, you’ll get an email summarizing what changed. Log into your account, click the My Digital Content button, and download the latest version. Your work is done!
I’m overwhelmed and don’t know where to start. Can this help?
Definitely! That’s a huge reason BSP exists. CFI is especially hard without reliable guidance. The lesson plans and slides give you a foundation, so no more staring at a blank page. The 90-Day Study Plan gives you structure, laying out what to do and when, and live classes give you support, feedback, and answers to your questions along the way. You don’t have to figure this out alone!
I’m already a CFI, is this still for me?
It is! The lessons and slides are built around the instructor ACS, which means they already cover these topics in more depth than your students need. Pair them with our syllabi and you’ve got a ready-made teaching system: the syllabi tell you which lessons to use and when, and you simply teach to your student’s level. One complete library, every rating.
What if it’s not for me?
We stand behind everything we make. If you’re not happy, we’re not happy. Reach out and we’ll make it right.
