Welcome Guest. Sign in or Signup

3 Answers

Back into flying: Self-study

Asked by: 4376 views ,
Aircraft Systems, Airspace, Commercial Pilot, FAA Regulations

I'm a commercially rated pilot, who used to be a CFII. I had a job change 8 years ago that took me out of flying for a while. I'm making plans and saving the money I need to get current again. My goal is to join the CAP, maintain my currency, and network with other pilots. I'd like to eventually transfer back into a pilot career field. In the next few years, I may try to get my CFI/II back to help with that.

In trying to save ground review time (and money) with a CFI, I'm trying to figure out what I can self-study to be prepared for a BFR. I feel completely overwhelmed with all the knowledge I could put back into my head.

I did my initial training at a flight academy, and so we delved deep into almost every aspect of aviation. I'm talking memorizing frequency ranges for different navaids, diagramming aircraft components, and other such things. While knowing these things prepared us to be a professional pilot, I'm confused on what knowledge is required of a non-professional pilot.

What subjects should I be studying, and how indepth do I need to be?

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. Sam Dawson on Sep 25, 2012

    Go to faasafety.gov. They have a wide variety of free courses available that can help you review subjects you might feel you have forgotten, help you with subjects that may have changed (such as GPS), and generally help you review. Some of the courses are through the FAA, but many are through third parties such as AOPA’s ASF. Most are free, some have a cost but you are told upfront and some of those may be worth the cost depending on what you are doing.

    +1 Votes Thumb up 1 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  2. MaggotCFII on Sep 26, 2012

    Take a look here:

    http://www.aopa.org/members/files/guides/getback.html

    AOPA’s Guide for getting back into flying.

    Welcome back!!

    +1 Votes Thumb up 1 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  3. Pilot Mission on Oct 04, 2012

    Hey Jeremiah, we’ve got some great materials that will help you brush up on your piloting knowledge. These products were designed specifically for individuals like you, who desire to return to flying, as well as individuals who are just getting into flying.

    They’re designed to provide a broad, encompassing, overview of the aviation training curricula, and I’ve used them myself for BFRs and IPCs and come out just fine in the end!

    Here’s a special promo for you, and everyone else on this site, to get 25% off the products through our online store: CFI2012

    In light of your current situation, we’d recommend the following package- You can take the hardcopies with you anywhere, and have a digital backup as well!

    http://www.pilotmission.com/physical-products/complete-private-pak

    Check ’em out! Blue skies!

    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.