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Student CFI. Base lesson plans off Private ACS tasks or CFI PTS tasks?

Asked by: 3264 views Commercial Pilot, FAA Regulations, Flight Instructor, General Aviation, Private Pilot, Student Pilot

I am studying for CFI-A and working on creating my binder. Should I base my lesson plans around the tasks in the CFI PTS or the Private ACS and commercial PTS? I'm confused about how to deal with the ACS. My plan is to complete my CFI training this fall. 

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2 Answers



  1. Russ Roslewski on Jun 08, 2016

    While there is no “regulatory” answer, the reasonable answer is to base them off the type of students that the checkride is going to have you simulate teaching – in other words, the Private and Commercial ACS/PTS. you should know those documents really, really well, not just for the checkride but for students afterwards.

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  2. Jim MacKay on Jun 08, 2016

    One of my CFI students asked this very question. I would recommend the ACS. In the future the Airman’s Certification Standards are active as of June 15th, for Private and Instrument.
    The technical and flight portions essentially remain unchanged however the Risk Management is an additional component and you may want to include these in your binder. Remember these are currently in the “special emphasis” areas already.
    Commercial ACS is due, or so the FAA says, around December and who knows when the ATP will be changed.
    Best of luck to you on your exam, I really don’t envy you at this time of change and communication with the examiner is never a bad idea.

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