The flight training industry needs more professional instructors who stay and grow in the industry,teaching beyond the minimum standards. If you are already a CFI, access this link for motivating articles and growth opportunitites. If you know a long-time pilot who would be a great CFI, inspire and mentor them; forward this article. Let's build CFI professionals.
There is a lopsided and damaging demographic trend in “new CFI certificates.” Most newly-certificated CFIs are young people – brand new to aviation – and adult life. Statistics reveal that most new CFIs teach for less than a year, building hours and moving on. Though they become the backbone of the professional pilot cadre, this “hour building” does not help the flight training business much. In our aviation industry, there is a continuous cycle of “beginners teaching pilots.” This is a continuous cycle – 2/3rds of active flight instructors have taught for less than a year. I certainly do not mean to disparage young CFIs – my best CFIs were in this group – but our industry desperately needs educators teaching/growing for more than a year.
Experienced aviators, with financial security and a passion for aviation, are the perfect candidates to step up and become CFIs. Largely driven by passion and not dollars, these people can offset their “flying habit” with some tax advantages while enjoying the satisfaction of building new, safer pilots – paying aviation back. “People skills” and commitment are the primary “secret sauce” to successful education and customer satisfaction. Some of the best educators in our industry are “accidental CFIs” who finally became aviation educators later in life after being long-time pilots. If you are worried about liability, SAFE developed the best CFI insurance in the business just for this reason; go get some – both Master CFI and FAA WINGS get you a discount!
I have personally only put 30 or so people through their initial CFI. But the “lifetime aviators” are usually easier to develop into CFIs than brand new pilots. This is largely because all the aviation knowledge and experience acquired in life – especially “people skills” – really pay you back here. Being successful as a CFI is really about teaching people aviation *NOT* advanced aerodynamics and molecules of air. You do not have to be a super pilot, just a compassionate coach.
Have you heard scary stories about the terrible initial CFI pass rate? FAA statistics reveal initial CFI pass rate is statistically almost the same as private pilot; ~75%! And, pilots with experience in aviation start with a disproportionate advantage: all the skill and knowledge from years of flying. I have hired academy CFIs that have never fueled a plane, never flown in an actual cloud and do not know how to tie down a plane. Yet they have a fresh FAA CFI certificate (usually a “double I” too) and are certificated by the government to teach people to fly; you can do better! (BTW; none of these skills are required in the testing process)
The first step on this path is to take a simple knowledge test and acquire your ground instructor certificate (remarkably, you do not even need to be a pilot to become a ground instructor!) Then you can start officially helping at your local school or club and actively build your teaching chops while preparing for the flight portion. Years in aviation really count here. Work on the commercial if you do not yet have that and simultaneously practice your maneuvers from the right seat (double benefit). If you are a passionate aviator, you are flying anyway and you will find this exciting and motivating. As you proceed you will no doubt discover the secret motivation of teaching flying; you learn something every day. Great CFIs are lifetime pilots and “lifetime learners” – passionate pilots make the best CFIs. SAFE also has an affiliation with CFIbootcamp. Mike and his crew are passionate and professional at rapidly assembling the skill and knowledge to pass your initial CFI.
So if you are a passionate aviator, start working on your CFI today. Join this mailing list. Motivating articles and educational assistance will help you on your journey. SAFE CFI-PRO™ is designed specifically for this process of building professional CFIs. A new course is finally in the works for this fall; we need more committed, passionate, lifetime CFIs. Fly safely out there (and often).
Join SAFE to support our safety mission of generating aviation excellence in teaching and flying. Our amazing member benefits pay back your contribution (1/3 off your ForeFlight subscription)! Our FREE SAFE Toolkit App puts required pilot endorsements and experience requirements right on your smartphone and facilitates CFI+DPE teamwork. Our CFI insurance was developed by SAFE specifically for CFIs (and is the best value in the business).
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your CFI. We *all* need a refresher and reboot of both normal and emergency procedures. For CFIs, take a look at the 
There is a great frustration watching accidents repeating themselves for obvious preventable causes. Gene Benson is a passionate aviation safety educator. He analyzes every accident and recommends better practices to prevent these unhappy outcomes. In the absence of NTSB recommendations for General Aviation, Gene has creeated a list based on his extensive experience and study:
1) All pilots will understand and apply stabilized approach principles to each and every approach. Most landing accidents occur as a conclusion to an unstabilized approach. The NTSB Probable Cause may not state that the approach was unstabilized, but applying the listed conditions to stabilized approach criteria makes the case. The concept is rather simple, we memorize the criteria for a stabilized approach and decide on a stabilization altitude based primarily on the kind of airplane we are flying. If the airplane deviates from any of the criteria below the stabilization altitude we will go around or execute a missed approach. Of course, a Part B to this requires us to maintain proficiency in the go-around procedures for each airplane that we fly. 
The fatal accident here was dual and it is entirely possible that the fairly experienced female CFI was overpowered by a panicking client (the size disparity is not clear from the documentation). Briefing emergencies (and priming) with the learner helps prevent panic in an emergency (as does a trusting relationship). But if survival becomes a “fight on the controls,” in an emergency, the CFI has to do whatever is necessary to regain control. A trick available to CFIs in most trainers is to use your foot (and the greater power of your leg) on the crossbar under the panel to force the yoke forward and reduce the angle of attack. I have twice overpowered a panicking student over-rotating the pitch (in a Cessna) by easing down the nose forcibly with my foot. When “discussion” fails, positive action is required. It is wise to practice this “CFI trick” and be ready.
Expertise is the amazing, fluid performance of a complex task. An expert makes even the most complicated task look simple – and this is super frustrating when you are a student! We all admire expertise in aviation and strive desperately to achieve that kind of performance when we are learning. Ironically, however, fluid expertise can be a huge impediment to effective teaching.
When any expert 
This brain trick makes the educational process impossible for many experts. And this is also why the initial CFI can be so difficult to obtain. 
The amazing psychologist who refined this process in detail for aviation was 
One last point in this interesting comparison of educators vs performers. It is not essential in learning to find the most expert performer to be your CFI. It is much better to seek out the 
Everyone facing a flight test has some nervousness and anxiety. But for some people, this rises to the level of 
First, remember you start with 100% on every FAA flight test. Once your CFI approves, signs and submits your application into IACRA, you are essentially a fully qualified PIC; you just need to prove that to your DPE. You actually 
Hopefully, no one is training with a 70% achievement as the goal in mind. The real problem is usually the opposite; 
