On October 25, I finally got my CFI rating.  Well, almost …I got my CFI-Sport Pilot instructor rating.  My motivation for this particular newsletter story is threefold: First, to express my thanks to the people who helped my get it. Second, to explain what’s involved in case anyone else wants to do it. And last, I’m really bored and want to make some sort of contribution to the newsletter, since Brian is eternally and justifiably decrying the lack of submissions.

             I've had my sights set on the instructor rating for a while. Unfortunately, I have been repeatedly hampered by the inability to have both time and money simultaneously. Then, when the twins were born, I had neither for a while. When, the Sport Pilot rule finally passed, it provided me a way to work toward CFI incrementally.  Beyond that, there were several advantages to getting the CFI-SP rating rather than going for a regular CFI.  I knew a really good ground instructor, I didn’t need to shell out big bucks to train in a complex airplane, I didn’t have to take my check ride with the FDSO, and 80% of everything will transfer to toward a “regular” CFI ticket later on.

            The initial failure rate for any type of CFI is high, and most candidates fail during the long, open-ended oral exam.  To get qualified to pass the ground part of the exam, I called someone who specializes in training CFIs.  The CFI who trained my as a private pilot student, Susan Corrigan, is now working at Lewis University as an MEII and training students for their CFI checkrides. If the name Corrigan sounds familiar, it may be because Susan is related to the famous aviation pioneer “Wrongway” Corrigan, who flew from New York to Ireland claiming he was trying to fly to California.

            Susan and I did about thirty hours of ground school, in which I would have to “teach” her about various subjects in the Gleim Sport Pilot syllabus and the PTS.  The sessions involved learning how to teach maneuvers and concepts, and how to evaluate whether the lesson was going well using lots of questions.  There is no requirement for ground school, but that’s how long it took to cover the material we decided to cover. I certainly feel like it helped me polish up my presentations skills.  My patient wife, Brenda, also graciously sat through many lectures on topics like weather, weight and balance, and navigation.  If I’d asked her to sit through one more lecture, I’d have been a patient.

            I also spoke on the phone at length with Dave Schadle, a Designated Examiner, who I’m sure is familiar to most of you.  Dave’s advice revolved around reading the PTS thoroughly.  The PTS has lots of bits of information buried in it, and you need to read it carefully several times.  The instructor check ride is really a test of instructional knowledge, and the PTS defines exactly what instructional knowledge is.  It also provides a list of all publications that the candidate should know. Also, I learned from Dave that a new version of the PTS had been published (ASA had sent me the older version).  The new version is available on the FAA website, and the introduction contains a list of the changes.

By the time I was done with the ground school.   I ended up with eight binders full of material: lesson plans, handouts, advisory circulars, and articles, anything I might want to give to a student.  The oral exam is an open book test, and it’s perfectly acceptable (expected in fact) to use supporting publications.  When I added up the weight of all the stuff I was bringing to the exam, it ended up weighing 50 lbs, meaning it was too heavy for the Thorp’s baggage compartment.

            For flight training, I had help from several people. Bud graciously gave me some dual, but Don Berk, who teaches out of Aurora, was my primary instructor and the one who signed me off to take the practical test.  Larry Gehrig also flew with me several times, pretending to be a student.

            The examiner I picked was Sean Curry, who lives in Wautoma, WI (30 miles W. of OSH).  Larry had introduced me to him at Oshkosh. At the time, I did not know Jim Bair was giving CFI-SP checkrides at Big Foot, WI, and by the time I learned of that fact, I thought it would be unprofessional of me to cancel.

            As is normal for me, I couldn’t sleep the night before the checkride.  I kept thinking things like “How do I explain X, Y, or Z to a student?”. Since I didn't sleep, I can't exactly say I woke up early, but I left the house at 5:00am.Larry met me at Cushing Field at 7:00 am and helped me get the Thorp started, since it doesn’t like cold weather (Thanks again, Larry).    The flight to Wautoma (Y50) is two hours by Thorp, but since I don’t own a GPS, and had to navigate by map, plotter, and E6-B, I had plenty to keep me busy.  Fortunately, I had one of the few beautiful days in October, to take my check ride, so I had no trouble finding my way. Besides, I really enjoy "old school" navigation.

            When I landed at Y50, I called Sean, and he met me a few minutes later.  Since his hangar is unheated, we went to his business and conducted the oral exam there.  The exam was straightforward, right from the PTS.  Among other things, I had to teach Sean a ground lesson on how to fly S-turns. The whole process took over 3 hours.

            After a break for lunch, we did the flight portion of the test, which lasted just over an hour.  During the maneuvers, Sean made various attempts to distract me with questions (as he is required to do), and quizzed me on things like system failures, and lost procedures. I also had to “teach” Sean the flying part of the S-Turn lesson we had done on the ground.  After one of the landings, Sean said “congratulations, you passed”.  Sean then asked if he could fly the Thorp around the pattern.  I obliged, and he seemed to enjoy the aircraft.

            After filling out the paper work back at Sean’s office, he dropped me off at the airport. I didn’t have a lot of time to waste, since I didn’t want to get caught out at night, in a plane with no radio navigation gear (especially in an area with few towns to use as landmarks).  

               On the way back, I kicked myself for not bringing my camera.  Then, I realized I still had the camera in my phone, so I managed to take some fuzzy, UFO hoax grade photos of the sun set on the way back:
 

A beautiful Sunset on the Ride Home

            After landing back at Cushing, I learned that Don Berk had another student, pass a checkride with Jim Bair at Bigfoot. That makes Don one of the few instructors to have to two students pass their checkrides simultaneously!

            The goofy thing about getting a flight instructor certificate is that, unlike any other rating, it doesn’t count as the flight portion of a BFR. The logic is that the examiner could have been flying the whole time a “student”.  This means I actually have to go get a flight review after having dodged the bullet for several years. Maybe that will be another newsletter article.

Back at OC8 after 5 hours of flying

               I hope it’s obvious by now, just how many people helped me get this done, and I am grateful to all of them.  If any one else is thinking of getting their CFI-SP, it should be evident that there are plenty of resources in the club to help.

Where To Now?

Back to Page One

     A "Challenging" Flight to Erie

          Evan Wight Gets Sport Pilot CFI Rating

               How to Tear the Wings off an F-100

                    "It's All Over:"  Skymaster Dual Engine Out

                         Getting the "Bends" at 60,000 Feet