FOI...lol... CFI oral?

"gatt" wrote in message
...
Is the oral the toughest part of the CFI rating?

Let's say that you should spend most of your time preparing for that part.
Preparation for written doesn't caount, because that is just part of the prep
for your oral. The ride itself should be simple for you. After all, by the
time you get to that level you should know how to fly.

Don't forget to bring your mini-library. Your examiner will not expect you to
be able to recite the answer to every single question he (or she) might ask, but
damn well will expect you to be able to dig the correct information out of your
reference materials and then explain them clearly. Just like for most any oral,
you should have your FAR/AIM tabbed and highlighted and know where to go in it
to find the answer to any likely question. Also have a notebook with the
appropriate FAA ACs. Be organized.

Vaughn

I used the FAA Aviation Instructor's Handbook and the Gleim Certified Flight
Instructor test prep. The first chapter of the latter is the FOI test.

By recommendation here I bought a used copy of Kershner's Flight
Instructor's Manual, which is great, but not best for the written exams so I
read threw a few chapters and put it aside for the time being. That's it
so far, although these guys have me a little nervous about the oral exam
now. :

-c


"NW_Pilot" wrote in message news:

Gatt, what did you use for prep of your FOI/CFI


"gatt" wrote in message
...

Well, I scored 96% on the Fundamentals of Instruction exam and it took me
about ten minutes, so I kinda wish I'd not have stressed on all the
psychobabble so much. I told the CATS proctor I was shooting for 100%
and he joked "Well, it's a solid fifteen-minute exam."

The Flight Instructor written looks like a thorough refresher rather than
a tough exam, then he told me what to expect on the oral exam which
guarantees I'll have my nose in the books for awhile. Is the oral the
toughest part of the CFI rating?
\

"gatt" wrote in message
...

these guys have me a little nervous about the oral exam now.

Don't be nervous, be prepared. I don't have figures, but most pass on the
first try.

If possible, team up with another CFI candidate and role play. Answering
oral questions is a skill worth practicing, also a bit of friendly competition
makes study both enjoyable and efficient.

Vaughn

Dudley Henriques wrote in
:

Dallas wrote:
On Thu, 3 Jan 2008 10:29:24 -0800, gatt wrote:

Is the oral the toughest part of the CFI rating?

My CFI said his examiner made him teach an 8 hour class.


The best one I ever heard was an examiner who brought in his 12 year old
kid; introduced the kid to a CFI applicant, told them to go into the
other room and shut the door. The applicant was to explain lift to the
kid and then both of them return to the office at which time the kid
would explain lift to the examiner.
I LOVED this approach!!!! :-))


That is a very good idea.

The mark of a good instructor is that he can teach anything he knows to
anyone.

When I find someone who can explain anything to Anthony, I will campaign to
make him king of all peoples everywhere.


Bertie

Bertie the Bunyip wrote:
Dudley Henriques wrote in
:

Dallas wrote:
On Thu, 3 Jan 2008 10:29:24 -0800, gatt wrote:

Is the oral the toughest part of the CFI rating?
My CFI said his examiner made him teach an 8 hour class.

The best one I ever heard was an examiner who brought in his 12 year old
kid; introduced the kid to a CFI applicant, told them to go into the
other room and shut the door. The applicant was to explain lift to the
kid and then both of them return to the office at which time the kid
would explain lift to the examiner.
I LOVED this approach!!!! :-))


That is a very good idea.

The mark of a good instructor is that he can teach anything he knows to
anyone.

When I find someone who can explain anything to Anthony, I will campaign to
make him king of all peoples everywhere.


Bertie

Indeed, and with his own flag, and serfs to carry it :-))))

--
Dudley Henriques

"Vaughn Simon" wrote in message
news:P4gfj.104176
"gatt" wrote in message

these guys have me a little nervous about the oral exam now.

Don't be nervous, be prepared. I don't have figures, but most pass on the
first try.

If possible, team up with another CFI candidate and role play.
Answering oral questions is a skill worth practicing, also a bit of
friendly competition makes study both enjoyable and efficient.

Thanks for the advice. After reading through the Jeppeson
Instrument/Commercial text a little last night, I'm actually starting to
look forward to the challenge.

-c

An average amount of time for the oral is about 8 hours.

I don't know where you instruct and how large a sample you based this on, but
it's certainly not true for the CFIs I know and have trained. One who had to
go recently with a difficult inspector from the local FSDO had an oral that
lasted about four hours, but most of the others I'm familiar with around two
hours.

Expect a lot of questions about FOI. This is one of the reasons some
choose to do the instrument instructor before the ASE instructor (to break
up a hard checkride).

But won't FOI still be covered if the instrument is the initial CFI checkride?

On 2008-01-03 10:29:24 -0800, "gatt" said:


Well, I scored 96% on the Fundamentals of Instruction exam and it took me
about ten minutes, so I kinda wish I'd not have stressed on all the
psychobabble so much. I told the CATS proctor I was shooting for 100% and
he joked "Well, it's a solid fifteen-minute exam."

The Flight Instructor written looks like a thorough refresher rather than a
tough exam, then he told me what to expect on the oral exam which guarantees
I'll have my nose in the books for awhile. Is the oral the toughest part of
the CFI rating?

-c

Oh, yeah. The oral is the heart of the CFI rating and it takes a long
time. The examiner wants to see "instructor level" of knowledge in just
about every area, and he is going to cover every area to be sure that
you are there. Of course, that does not preclude the occasional
mistake, but you should in general appear to be absolutely on top of
things.

You will be asked to teach. Some examiners have you prepare a lesson in
advance; others ask you to do it on the spot. That lesson better
demonstrate a well thought-out written lesson plan. There will probably
be a few loops thrown at you, too.

Examiners are especially interested in your knowledge of endorsements
and ratings, privileges of a flight instructor, and requirements for
all of the different ratings. You can guarantee that they will hit
heavily on the requirements for a student solo endorsement and when and
what kind of medical certificate you need. They will cover everything
from LAHSO for solo students to the emotional state of your students.
If you have written a book of lesson plans over the course of your
instruction as a CFI, bring it. You should, of course, be extremely
sharp on everything from flight planning to aircraft systems and charts
and weather, etc. My favorite question the examiner asked me on systems
was "How many wires run from the battery to the magnetos?" It is a
trick question, of course, but for some reason it struck me as
uproariously funny. Oh, well. I guess you had to be there. I was
running a temperature of 104 and completely unfit to fly, so I had to
fly the next day.

The flight will again demand instructional level of ability in every
maneuver, the ability to teach each maneuver effectively, the ability
to spot common student errors, emergency procedures, etc. However, most
guys have a fair amount of flying time by the time they become
instructors, so the flying part feels a lot easier than the oral,
although it really isn't. You just have more experience flying than
instructing, which makes all the difference in the world.

--
Waddling Eagle
World Famous Flight Instructor

On 2008-01-03 16:00:17 -0800, "Vaughn Simon"
said:


"gatt" wrote in message
...
Is the oral the toughest part of the CFI rating?

Let's say that you should spend most of your time preparing for that part.
Preparation for written doesn't caount, because that is just part of the prep
for your oral. The ride itself should be simple for you. After all, by the
time you get to that level you should know how to fly.

Don't forget to bring your mini-library. Your examiner will not
expect you to
be able to recite the answer to every single question he (or she) might
ask, but
damn well will expect you to be able to dig the correct information out of your
reference materials and then explain them clearly. Just like for most
any oral,
you should have your FAR/AIM tabbed and highlighted and know where to go in it
to find the answer to any likely question. Also have a notebook with the
appropriate FAA ACs. Be organized.

Vaughn

And if you really want to give a bad impression, bring new, clean books
in your mini-library.

Everything ought to look dog-eared and torn from your intense studies.
The one exception I could possibly think of would be if you just
replaced your FAR/AIM, but then I would bring the old one, too -- and
it had better be falling apart.
--
Waddling Eagle
World Famous Flight Instructor

Barry wrote:
An average amount of time for the oral is about 8 hours.

I don't know where you instruct and how large a sample you based this on, but
it's certainly not true for the CFIs I know and have trained. One who had to
go recently with a difficult inspector from the local FSDO had an oral that
lasted about four hours, but most of the others I'm familiar with around two
hours.

Expect a lot of questions about FOI. This is one of the reasons some
choose to do the instrument instructor before the ASE instructor (to break
up a hard checkride).

But won't FOI still be covered if the instrument is the initial CFI checkride?


I recall my own oral at about two hours, but back in the stone age :-)

--
Dudley Henriques