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3 Answers

Flight Review and CFI renewal

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FAA Regulations, Flight Instructor

FIRC courses can take the place of the flight review oral...question: timeframe--is the BFR considered complete when the last thing is done? for example, could the FIRC be completed a month after the flight portion of the BFR? ...and vice versa...

there seems to be little in the way of wording regarding simultaneousness...

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3 Answers



  1. Wes Beard on Sep 14, 2012

    The CFI doing the flight review has to make sure you are up to speed on the flying part and non-flying part of aviation. If you attended a FIRC before the flight review (it’s no longer called a BFR), I, as the instructor, would ask questions throughout the flight portion to ensure you are able to recall and apply what you need to know to be a safe pilot.

    If you attended the FIRC after the flight review and insisted that the ground portion will be covered once the FIRC is complete, I would not sign you off for your flight review. The regulations are pretty clear… at least one hour ground or FIRC (for a CFI) and at least one hour flight. I couldn’t legally or morally give you my signature until I know that you will be a safe pilot. If you came back to me after attending the FIRC looking for my signature I would have to sit down with you and make sure you can recall the regulations and other safety of flight issues and apply them to a situation you may encounter. Most likely take around one hour.

    This is what I would do… other instructors may be more lenient than I am.

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  2. Matthew Waugh on Sep 14, 2012

    There is, as far as I could find, nothing that really specifies. But as you can read in Wes’s response – eventually a CFI has to put their name to an endorsement – and that’s where the rubber meets the road.

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  3. Bob Watson on Sep 14, 2012

    I’ve gone up for my flight review after passing a FIRC for my last couple of flight reviews. Typically, they have gone something like this: “I see you have a FIRC certificate, let’s go flying.” Then throughout the flight the CFI will be asking questions about regs as different situations present themselves just as Wes describes. I suspect that if I’d given the CFI any cause to be concerned, we would have spent some time on the ground after the flight to review those concerns.

    Even with a FIRC cert. there’s nothing to say the CFI couldn’t spend 20,30, or 40 minutes reviewing your knowledge. The reg just says you don’t need an hour.

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