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3 Answers

CFI rating

Asked by: 4826 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?

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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?

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  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.

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  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.

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