Welcome Guest. Sign in or Signup

3 Answers

CFI Ride DOES Count as a Flight Review

Asked by: 7994 views ,
FAA Regulations, Flight Instructor

Not really a question;  information for CFIs and CFI candidates of a recent FAR chaMost of you probably know of the "disconnect" in 61.56, the flight review rule. Under the regulatory language and FAA Chief Counsel interpretations, a CFI Practical Test did not count as a flight review replacement.

As of November 15, that will no longer be the case. In a Final Rule published in the Federal Register September 15, 2013,  day - 61.56 (d) was amended to read:

(d) A person who has, within the period specified in paragraph (c) of this section, passed any of the following need not accomplish the flight review required by this section:

(1) A pilot proficiency check or practical test conducted by an examiner, an approved pilot check airman, or a U.S. Armed Force, for a pilot certificate, rating, or operating privilege.

(2) A practical test conducted by an examiner for the issuance of a flight instructor certificate, an additional rating on a flight instructor certificate, renewal of a flight instructor certificate, or reinstatement of a flight instructor certificate. * * *

Note that to count as a FR, "renewal" must be via a Practical Test. I'm not sure why that needs to be pointed out but in a couple of other discussions it was asked.

You can read the Rule (which covers some other items as well) here: http://goo.gl/fd4ges

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. Wes Beard on Sep 19, 2013

    Great News and it should have been this way a long time ago.

    +2 Votes Thumb up 2 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  2. Sam Dawson on Sep 20, 2013

    The FAA put in an end around for the Chief Counsel opinion for those who have signed up for the FAA Wings program. If you look under the Wings program you receive enough credits for any instructor ride for it to count as a flight review. You still must request the credits.

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  3. Mark Kolber on Sep 20, 2013

    There have always been ways around it. The endorsing instructor would be more than willing to sign a flight review. DPEs would so it separate from the Practical Test.

    The biggest problem has probably been that, even though the Chief Counsel opinion made sense from a regulatorystandpoint, it made none practically, and, except for people who hang around in online forums, way too many simply assumed a CFI ride counted and had no idea what the rule actually was.

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 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.