End of Course Flight

Flew for 2.0 hours yesterday going through maneuvers and proving to the check airmen that I could perform each maneuver to PTS standards and that I could explain the how and why of each maneuver and do some teaching in the air. We got in everything except power off 180 landings, power on stalls and short field takeoffs. I also had to brief turns around a point before the flight and brief the pre-flight at the airplane.

We had a debrief after the flight with the check airmen and my CFI and there were positives and negatives of the flight, but the take away was that my flying doesn't quite have the "finesse" required that a flight instructor should exhibit. I felt that this critique was subjective and is contrary to what the FOI topic on critique talks about. I've noticed that some of the feedback that I get from instructors (past and present) seems to contradict some of the techniques described in the FAA instructor book.

So moving forward, I have a flight scheduled for today and tomorrow, and my goal is to eliminate any doubt as to my ability to fly to PTS standards. The practical is still scheduled for Tuesday, so I expect that the flights will go well and the practical date won't have to be moved out.

Countdown to the CFI Checkride

The first bit of news is that the practical exam has been moved up to Tuesday March 3rd. I've been re-learning all of the FOI material and practicing giving ground briefs on various subjects. I've been trying to get an end of course flight in with another instructor, but the weather hasn't cooperated so I've had to scrub two flights. Hoping to get a break in the ceilings this afternoon, but one never knows what the weather will do around Puget Sound. The forecast is for some snow tonight and tomorrow, with things drying out late Thursday thru the weekend. I'd rather get the last few flights leading up to the practical exam out of the way sooner rather than later, but that's the way things go.

CFI Practical Exam Scheduled for March 5th

The practical date is getting near and I'm starting to ramp up my instructional knowledge of the PTS subject areas and refine my flying. Yesterday I flew a 2.4 hour training flight going through every maneuver and working on my teaching skills. Today I had a mock practical/end of course evaluation from a different instructor. We had planned to do three hours of oral questioning and a similar block for flying, but ended up going through almost everything ground related from the PTS. This turned out to be more like what the actual oral part of the practical will be like, so it was worth the extra time. I'll get the flight portion in early next week.

Almost There

I've spent the last few flights working on getting lazy 8's down and running through most of the PTS maneuvers. I flew a couple of days ago with a different instructor, just to get a different perspective on how to fly lazy 8's. I think I've finally figured out how to fly them consistently and plan to do some solo practice this weekend.

We've set a goal for a March 1st check ride and I'm scheduled for a two part end of course/practice practical oral and flight next week. I've been re-learning the fundamentals of instruction the last few days and working through the all of the PTS tasks. I've also been busy printing all of my ground briefs and relevant AC's and getting them organized binders.