CFI Checkride Requirements: Your Guide to Pilot Certification

The CFI checkride is aviation's ultimate test, dubbed the "doctoral exam" of flying. This evaluation isn't about your stick-and-rudder skills; it's about your ability to teach the next generation of pilots. You're not just demonstrating that you can fly; you're proving you can create safe, competent aviators.

For many commercial pilots, the CFI checkride requirements can feel overwhelming. A mountain of regulations, technical subjects, lesson plans, and teaching methodologies is impossible to conquer. The scope is vast, the standards are high, and the pressure is real. Where do you begin?

This guide will serve as your roadmap through the CFI practical test. We'll cover the eligibility requirements, oral examination, flight portion, and provide a clear action plan. You'll know what's expected and how to prepare effectively.

At Backseat Pilot, we understand this challenge. Our resources are developed by experienced CFIs with extensive airline and military instructor backgrounds - instructors who have passed their own CFI checkrides and guided hundreds through theirs. We’re here to guide you through this pivotal moment in your aviation career.

Understanding The CFI Checkride

You must shift your thinking. The Designated Pilot Examiner (DPE) is not evaluating you as a pilot; they're evaluating you as an instructor. Throughout your checkride, the core question is: "Can this applicant safely and effectively teach someone else to fly?" This changes everything about your preparation and performance.

The CFI checkride consists of two components. The Oral Examination is a 4-6 hour ground session where you'll teach lessons on various aeronautical subjects. The DPE will role-play as students of different experience levels, asking questions and simulating real mistakes. The Flight Examination follows, where you'll demonstrate flight maneuvers from the right seat while teaching, identifying student errors, and providing effective instruction in real time.

The Flight Instructor Practical Test Standards (PTS) or Airman Certification Standards (ACS) govern both portions, depending on your rating. These documents serve as the official "playbook" for your checkride, outlining every task you must teach and demonstrate. Consider them your bible throughout the preparation process.

Before scheduling your checkride, ensure you meet the FAA's strict eligibility criteria.

Step 1: Confirm Your Eligibility (The 14 CFR § 61.183 Checklist)

Consider this section your foundational "gate check." All FAA CFI eligibility requirements are outlined in federal regulations, but the legal language can be dense and confusing. Let's translate 14 CFR § 61.183 into a straightforward checklist.

Age and Language Requirements

The basic prerequisites are straightforward:

• Be at least 18 years old

• Be able to read, speak, write, and understand English.

Required Pilot Certificates and Ratings

Your pilot credentials must meet specific standards - Hold a commercial pilot or airline transport pilot (ATP) certificate with:

• An appropriate aircraft category and class rating for the sought flight instructor rating (e.g., Airplane Single-Engine Land)

• An instrument rating appropriate to the instructor rating sought

Understanding the instrument rating requirement is crucial. You'll need to teach instrument concepts like basic attitude instrument flying, radio navigation, and weather interpretation, even if you're only planning to teach private pilot students. The FAA recognizes that effective flight instruction requires this broader knowledge.

The Knowledge Tests: FOI and FIA

Before you take your practical test, you must pass two FAA knowledge tests:

• Fundamentals of Instructing (FOI): This 50-question exam covers teaching and learning principles. Topics include learning theory, instructor responsibilities, teaching methods, and student evaluation techniques. Don't underestimate this test; the concepts form the foundation for your instructor role. You need to understand the Fundamentals of Instructing (FOI) to apply these principles during your checkride.

• Flight Instructor Airplane (FIA): This 100-question test covers the same technical subjects as the commercial pilot knowledge test, but to a higher standard. You'll face questions on aerodynamics, aircraft systems, weather, regulations, performance, and more. The passing score is 70%, but aim higher; your knowledge test performance sets the tone for your oral exam.

Both test results are valid for 24 months, so plan your timing accordingly.

Required Logbook Endorsements

An authorized instructor must provide specific endorsements in your logbook, certifying that you've received the required training and are ready for the practical test. According to 14 CFR § 61.183 and § 61.39, these endorsements must certify that you've received training on:

• Fundamentals of Instructing

• Required aeronautical knowledge areas

• Knowledge test deficiencies

• Spin awareness, entry/recovery

• Required prerequisites for a practical test

Your instructor must endorse that you're prepared for the practical test. Don't rush this step. These endorsements represent your instructor's judgment about your readiness.

Step 2: Master the Oral Exam - The Art of Aeronautical Knowledge

The CFI oral exam is the heart of your checkride and often determines its outcome. This session can extend 4-6 hours or longer, testing your knowledge and teaching effectiveness. The critical mindset shift is moving from reciting to teaching. The DPE will role-play as students with varying experience levels, and you must adapt your teaching style.

The Foundation: Fundamentals of Instructing (FOI)

The FOI isn't just for the written test, it's the framework for your checkride. You must apply concepts like the Levels of Learning (rote, understanding, application, correlation), Laws of Learning (readiness, exercise, effect, primacy, intensity, recency), Defense Mechanisms students use and effective Critique techniques in real-time during your exam.

The DPE might say, "I'm a student pilot, and I keep making the same mistake on my landings. I'm getting frustrated and starting to think I'll never get it right. What's happening here, and how would you help me?" Your answer might demonstrate understanding of learning plateaus, the emotional aspects of learning, and specific teaching techniques to help students break through barriers. This is FOI in action.

Core Content: Technical Subject Areas

Be ready to teach a comprehensive lesson on any task from the CFI ACS. The DPE might select any area of operation and say, "Teach me as if I'm a private pilot student." You need to organize your thoughts quickly and deliver clear, logical instruction on any topic.

The DPE can draw from the entire ACS, including:

• Area I: Fundamentals of Instructing - Learning theory, teaching methods, assessment techniques, risk management

• Area II: Technical Subject Areas - Aeromedical factors, visual scanning, principles of flight, aircraft systems, weather, regulations, navigation, airport operations, emergency procedures

• Area III through XII: Flight Lessons - Preflight procedures, airport operations, takeoffs and landings, fundamentals of flight, performance maneuvers, ground reference maneuvers, slow flight and stalls, basic instrument maneuvers, emergency operations, postflight procedures

Each area contains multiple tasks with subtopics. For instance, if asked to teach about weather, you might need to cover thunderstorms, icing conditions, density altitude, or interpreting aviation weather reports. If asked about performance maneuvers, you might teach steep turns, chandelles, or lazy eights. The required knowledge depth across all areas is substantial.

Well-Organized Lesson Plans

Walking into the oral exam without organized lesson plans is professional suicide. The DPE will expect to see them and verify you have comprehensive lesson plans prepared, but the real evaluation of your instructional quality comes from watching you teach. These aren't just notes for your reference; they are teaching tools that demonstrate your professionalism and organizational skills.

Creating comprehensive lesson plans from scratch is a massive undertaking that can consume hundreds of hours. Many candidates underestimate this task and find themselves overwhelmed as their checkride approaches. While you can tackle creating your own lesson plans, there's a more efficient path.

Backseat Pilot provides editable lesson plans for CFI, CFII, and MEI standards, helping instructor candidates prepare efficiently for their checkrides. These resources, developed to integrate AIH concepts, save you hundreds of hours, allowing you to focus on becoming a master teacher, not just a document creator.

Step 3: Ace the Flight - Proficiency from the Right Seat

The flight portion of your CFI checkride tests your ability to maintain aircraft control and situational awareness from the right seat while teaching and managing a "student." This unique challenge requires extensive practice. Your focus must be external, on the DPE (acting as your student) and on the aircraft.

Air Operations Areas

The flight portion covers numerous operational areas, each with specific tasks to demonstrate, teach, or apply in the aircraft:

• Area I: Fundamentals of Instructing

• Area II: Technical Subject Areas

• Area III: Preflight Preparation

• Area IV: Preflight Lesson on a Maneuver to be Performed in Flight

• Area V: Preflight Procedures

• Area VI: Airport and Seaplane Base Operations

• Area VII: Takeoffs, Landings, and Go-Arounds

• Area VIII: Fundamentals of Flight

• Area IX: Performance and Ground Reference Maneuvers

• Area X: Slow Flight, Stalls, and Spins

• Area XI: Basic Instrument Maneuvers

• Area XII: Emergency Operations

• Area XIII: Multiengine Operations (AMEL, AMES only)

• Area XIV: Postflight Procedures

You won't necessarily teach all tasks. The ACS specifies which tasks are mandatory and gives the DPE discretion to select others. For example, in the Performance and Ground Reference Maneuvers section for ASEL or ASES, the evaluator must select at least four tasks including Task A or B, Task C or D, and Tasks E and F. For AMEL or AMES, the evaluator must select at least Tasks A and E.

Some tasks may be taught only on the ground, while others will be taught both on the ground and in the air. Each task has defined standards. You must demonstrate flight maneuvers to commercial pilot standards while providing clear, effective instruction.

The Art of Evaluation: Identifying and Correcting Errors

This skill separates successful CFI candidates from those struggling. Throughout the flight, the DPE will intentionally make common student mistakes, such as improper rudder coordination, incorrect pitch attitudes, poor airspeed control, navigation errors, or unsafe practices. Your job as the instructor is to follow a systematic process:

1. Identify the error immediately and prioritize safety.

2. Explain why it's an error, including the aerodynamic or procedural reasoning.

3. Clearly and concisely demonstrate the correct technique.

Under your guidance, have the "student" perform it correctly.

If the DPE allows airspeed to decay during a steep turn, you need to recognize this, explain how the increased load factor affects stall speed and power management, demonstrate the correct technique, and coach them through it, while maintaining situational awareness from the right seat.

Assembling Your Checkride Day Binder

Organization and professionalism create powerful first impressions. A well-structured binder shows the DPE that you're serious, prepared, and ready to represent the flight training industry. Scrambling to find documents during your checkride sends the opposite message.

Create a comprehensive binder containing clearly labeled sections with:

Pilot Documents:

• Current pilot and medical certificates

• Photo ID issued by the government

• Pilot logbook with all required endorsements marked with tabs

• Original knowledge test reports (FOI and FIA)

Aircraft Documents:

• Airworthiness certificate, registration certificate, operating limitations, and current weight & balance data (AROW)

Any required maintenance records and inspections (AV1ATE - as required):

• Annual inspection

• VOR (if used for IFR)

• 100-hour (if aircraft used for hire)

• Altimeter/Pitot Static

• Transponder

• ELT

Note: Not all inspections are necessarily required, depending on the aircraft's operational use and equipment

• Compliance with any pertinent Airworthiness Directives

• Current flight manual or pilot operating handbook

Application and Planning Materials:

• Completed FAA Form 8710-1, submitted through IACRA.

• Copy of the current PTS or ACS for your rating

• Cross-country planning materials if needed.

• Current chart supplement, sectional charts, and approach plates/TPPs (as required)

Teaching Materials:

• Your complete set of organized CFI lesson plans

• Set of pertinent Advisory Circulars (samples of Advisory Circulars)

• FAA publications: Aviation Instructor's Handbook, Airplane Flying Handbook, Risk Management Handbook, Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge, Aviation Weather Handbook, FAR/AIM, etc.

• Visual aids, models, or supplementary materials you plan to use

• A backup plan for technology failures

Conclusion

The path to flight instructor certification demands mastery across multiple dimensions. These dimensions include meeting strict eligibility requirements, deep aeronautical knowledge, effective teaching skills, precise flight skills from the right seat, and professional organization. It's challenging by design, as the FAA recognizes that flight instructors shape aviation safety culture.

The CFI checkride represents more than another certificate; it's your entry into aviation's most rewarding roles. As a flight instructor, you'll introduce people to flight, help them achieve their aviation dreams, and maintain the high standards that keep our industry safe. The responsibility and satisfaction are significant.

Success in your CFI checkride depends on thorough preparation, professional presentation, and confident teaching ability. Resources from Backseat Pilot provide the structure, content, and confidence to excel as a flight instructor for years. The investment in quality preparation today will benefit your instructing career.