Welcome Guest. Sign in or Signup

3 Answers

CFI rating

Asked by: 4769 views FAA Regulations, Flight Instructor

What is the minimum ground school time for the initial CFI rating under part 141 and can I self-study or I must attend a formal ground school?

Ace Any FAA Written Test!
Actual FAA Questions / Free Lifetime Updates
The best explanations in the business
Fast, efficient study.
Pass Your Checkride With Confidence!
FAA Practical Test prep that reflects actual checkrides.
Any checkride: Airplane, Helicopter, Glider, etc.
Written and maintained by actual pilot examiners and master CFIs.
The World's Most Trusted eLogbook
Be Organized, Current, Professional, and Safe.
Highly customizable - for student pilots through pros.
Free Transition Service for users of other eLogs.
Our sincere thanks to pilots such as yourself who support AskACFI while helping themselves by using the awesome PC, Mac, iPhone/iPad, and Android aviation apps of our sponsors.

3 Answers



  1. Kris Kortokrax on Sep 11, 2013

    Appendix F to Part 141 lists 40 hours of ground training as a minimum for an initial CFI.
    The ground training covers FOI and the aeronautical knowledge areas required for recreational, private and commercial.

    Even though there is no hour requirement under Part 61, you still need to receive and log ground training covering all the areas of aeronautical knowledge.

    No, you can’t self study. How would you expect to be able to teach yourself how to teach others to fly?

    +1 Votes Thumb up 1 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  2. Lion on Sep 15, 2013

    Kris, thank you for your comment. you said “No, you can’t self study. How would you expect to be able to teach yourself how to teach others to fly?”, do you have a reference for this. I have contacted some part 141 flight schools and they told me guided self-study is an acceptable method of ground school beside the traditional class room instruction and the computer based instruction. They claim that the ground training means the aeronautical knowledge gained by any means but verified by a CFI that the knowledge required is acquired.

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  3. Kris Kortokrax on Sep 16, 2013

    I would ask your 141 schools where they get the idea that guided self-study is an acceptable method of ground school. Computer based instruction may be part of an approved training course, however the computer course must first be approved. It must contain periodic tests.

    61.3(b) states:
    Ground training means that training, other than flight training, received from an authorized instructor.

    I states received, not verified.

    141.55 requires that ground training for a TCO meet the minimums specified in the appropriate appendix.

    Appendix F requires 40 hours of ground training for an initial CFI.

    The 141 curriculum would be a formal training course, not self-study.

    The objective of ground training for a CFI is not to learn the subject matter required to obtain a pilot certificate, it is to teach you how to create and deliver lesson plans on all the ground and flight subjects for recreational, private and commercial pilot certificates. Additionally, the instructor who gives you the training can pass along insights to teaching and common errors that students make. He will teach you how to evaluate your student’s performance.

    You can’t go to Barnes & Nobel, buy a book called “Flight Instruction for Dummies”, read it and have a flight instructor note in your training record that you have read a book about becoming a flight instructor and have that suffice as ground training.

    +1 Votes Thumb up 1 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes


The following terms have been auto-detected the question above and any answers or discussion provided. Click on a term to see its definition from the Dauntless Aviation JargonBuster Glossary.

Answer Question

Our sincere thanks to all who contribute constructively to this forum in answering flight training questions. If you are a flight instructor or represent a flight school / FBO offering flight instruction, you are welcome to include links to your site and related contact information as it pertains to offering local flight instruction in a specific geographic area. Additionally, direct links to FAA and related official government sources of information are welcome. However we thank you for your understanding that links to other sites or text that may be construed as explicit or implicit advertising of other business, sites, or goods/services are not permitted even if such links nominally are relevant to the question asked.