Studying for the CFI oral checkride is a massive undertaking that should not be underestimated. But it is not a mystery either. The FAA publishes exactly what you will be asked in a document you can download for free, and once you understand how to read that document and turn it into a study plan, the preparation becomes methodical instead of overwhelming.
The oral examination will still be long and demanding. That is the nature of the certificate. But preparing yourself properly will make it much more manageable.
First of all you need to get two knowledge (written) tests out of the way:
To study for the FOI knowledge test, read through the Aviation Instructor's Handbook by the FAA and use a question bank such as Aviation Exam, Prepware, or Sheppard Air. Studying for the Flight Instructor knowledge test is a straight-forward question bank course like you may have done for past knowledge tests.
Remember that completed knowledge tests are valid for 24 calendar months from the month you take them, so get these done as early as you can. That way you can spend the whole window on the material that actually matters, and you are not rushing a checkride against an expiring written.
This is the single most useful thing you can do, and it costs you nothing.
Every knowledge item in the ACS has a code. As an example, HI.II.D.K8 is Area of Operation II (Technical Subject Areas), Task D (Principles of Flight), Knowledge item 8, which is dissymmetry of lift. Every risk management item and every skill item is coded in the same way.
Your study plan is simply this. Work through the ACS line by line, find the answer in the referenced source material, note the reference, and write a condensed answer you can actually use. Do not write essays. Write the version you would say out loud to a student, along with the reference so you can go deeper if the examiner presses you.
There are also a few structural details in ACS-29 that tell you exactly where to concentrate your effort:
That is a lot of certainty handed to you for free. Four tasks are guaranteed, so prepare those to a level where you could teach them in your sleep.
You will find that most people dread the FOIs. There is really no reason for this, as much of the content revolves around common sense concepts organized into FAA vocabulary, and it rewards preparation more than any other section of the oral.
Under ACS-29, Area of Operation I contains six tasks:
Notice how different this is from the old PTS list. Tasks E and F in particular are new in emphasis. The FAA now explicitly tests whether you can teach risk management, use scenario-based training to assess a student's decision making, and maintain oversight of a student while you are instructing. Task F asks you to demonstrate things like maintaining collision avoidance while giving instruction and managing the positive exchange of flight controls. Both of these tasks are guaranteed on your checkride.
You should already have read through the Aviation Instructor's Handbook once for your knowledge test. This is a perfect opportunity to go through it again, and this time with the ACS open next to it so you can identify each coded item as you go. Condense as you read. From there you can start making acronyms, but only where they genuinely help you recall a list.
The FOIs will be some of the first items to be covered during the CFI oral examination, and it is quick for an examiner to see if they are dealing with someone who is prepared or not.
If you are looking for a complete package which includes all of the FOIs with handy acronyms, check out our CFI binder!
The hardest part about becoming a flight instructor is arguably the lesson plans. How do you put one together? How do you know what to put in one? And how do you even use it efficiently?
Luckily the Aviation Instructor's Handbook will have all the answers you need. Finding references like this is a big part of being a flight instructor. Your students will use you as their sole resource on questions you never even thought of. That is why it is so important to study the source material closely and note relevant references which you will keep in your lesson plans. In that way, when you are teaching a lesson on any given subject, you will teach the lesson but also tell the student where they can study the material further on their own time. Additionally, it makes it much easier for you to find the answer to one of those questions you do not have an immediate answer to.
Your lesson plans should in essence be for you to refresh your memory on a given subject. They should not be a resource that has everything there is to know about a subject. Some people like to write a lesson plan out in bullet points, some prefer small paragraphs. Others like to write out a whole lesson on a whiteboard, take a picture, and use that as their lesson plan. The FAA gives us a general outline of an idea of a lesson plan, but not a definitive template.
One thing the ACS does require is found in Area of Operation I, Task C. You must be able to prepare a lesson plan for an aeronautical knowledge ground lesson suitable for a classroom, and for a maneuver introduction ground lesson.
Read our detailed post about writing a lesson plan.
When it comes to lesson plans there is no reason to reinvent the wheel. If you are looking for the best quality lesson plans take a look at our helicopter CFI binder or helicopter CFII binder. Both include the highest level of detail and each lesson is tested and tried through years of instruction.
Area of Operation IV is tested on every initial CFI checkride, and it is the one applicants most often underestimate.
The evaluator will select a maneuver from Areas of Operation VII through XII, which covers everything from a hover taxi to a straight-in autorotation to a pinnacle operation. You will then be asked to teach it the way you would teach it to a student, on the ground, before you fly. You need to cover the purpose of the maneuver, its elements, the common errors, and the desired outcome including completion standards, and you need to handle the risk management discussion around it.
The ACS explicitly allows you to use previously developed lesson plans from your own library. Bring them and use them. Prepare a teachable lesson for every maneuver task in the ACS, because this is where a complete, tested binder saves you months of work.
Getting a hang of how endorsements work can be a bit of a challenge, and they are guaranteed on your checkride since Task L of Area of Operation II is mandatory.
Luckily, the FAA has released a document which serves as a legal guide to how endorsements work. Look for Advisory Circular 61-65. It will have a letter at the end of it, which tells you which version it is. At the time of writing this post, we are up to 61-65K, which expanded the sample endorsements considerably, largely because of the MOSAIC sport pilot rule changes. Always check which revision is current before you start studying.
During the oral examination, you will be asked things like "walk me through the endorsements you would give a brand-new student pilot right up until his private pilot checkride." It helps to make up a timeline such as the one seen below. But the timeline is not really the point. What you really need to make sure you have is references for each endorsement. Without references the endorsements you write are meaningless, and the ACS tests whether you can produce both.
There are also two current rules worth knowing, because they routinely catch applicants who are studying from older material:
Flight instructor certificates no longer expire. Under the FAA final rule effective December 1, 2024, certificates issued on or after that date carry no expiration date at all. Instead you must establish recent experience under 14 CFR 61.197 every 24 calendar months, which is tracked as a recent experience end date. Certificates issued before that date still show a printed expiration and remain valid as printed.
A new three calendar month reinstatement window was also added under 14 CFR 61.199. It allows you to reinstate privileges through an approved flight instructor refresher course after a lapse of no more than three months, though you may not instruct during that window.
You will also be expected to know the required flight instructor records, and the endorsement for a flight review.
Here is something that surprises applicants coming off their commercial checkride. You are expected to use your references.
The examiner will not be bothered when you say "let me pull up my lesson plan" and open your binder. That is what an instructor does, and teaching from prepared, referenced material is the job. In fact, the examiner will expect you to take a moment to find your lesson plan and references when they ask you a question on the CFI oral exam. It is very different from other checkrides where it is expected you answer their questions without using references.
So build the material you will actually carry in with you, and get comfortable using it in front of someone.
It is also vital that you teach your lessons. Reading through them is not preparation. Delivering them is.
Teach them to anyone who will listen. It is the only way you will get better. It is hard to stand up and present a technical topic such as dissymmetry of lift or the height velocity diagram in a way that actually lands with a student. Try to find student pilots to teach. They will love getting a free lesson and you will be getting free practice.
A good rule of thumb is that if you can teach a topic without your notes, you are ready. If you can only recite it, you are not.
Lastly, find a good instructor who can help guide you through the process.
Keep in mind that not every CFI can endorse an initial flight instructor applicant. The endorsing instructor has to meet the additional qualification requirements of 14 CFR 61.195(h), which traditionally meant holding a flight instructor certificate for at least 24 months and having given a certain amount of flight training. The 2024 final rule added a couple of additional qualifying pathways, so it is worth confirming that whoever is signing you off actually meets the requirement.
Beyond the legal side of it, a good mentor will keep you on track and help you keep your focus along the way. CFI preparation runs long enough that it is easy to drift, over-study one area, and neglect another. Someone who has been through it will tell you when you are polishing and when you are actually behind.
What it comes down to is reading through and understanding the ACS. It really is the ultimate guide to properly studying to become a CFI. It has all the questions the FAA can ask during the checkride. All you have to do is find the answers, note the reference, and write out a summarized version of the answer which you can bring with you into the checkride and use!
Everything else is repetition and delivery.
Is the CFI checkride still based on the PTS?
No. FAA-S-ACS-29 replaced the rotorcraft helicopter Flight Instructor PTS effective May 31, 2024, so you should be studying from the ACS.
How long are my CFI written tests valid?
They are valid for 24 calendar months from the month you take the test. Both the FOI and the Flight Instructor Helicopter written must still be valid on the day of your practical test.
Can I use my lesson plans during the oral?
Yes, and you should. The ACS expects instructor applicants to teach from prepared, referenced material.
Which parts of the oral are guaranteed?
For initial applicants, that is FOI Tasks E and F, Technical Subject Areas Tasks C and L, and the preflight maneuver lesson in Area of Operation IV. Everything else is selected at the evaluator's discretion within the rules laid out in the ACS.
Does my CFI certificate expire?
Certificates issued on or after December 1, 2024 have no expiration date. You maintain your privileges by meeting the recent experience requirements of 14 CFR 61.197 every 24 calendar months.
Don't forget there's no need to spend months writing your own lesson plans, when they are already out there tested and tried for years. Give our helicopter CFI binder and helicopter CFII binder a look. They cover the FOIs, the technical subjects, the maneuver lessons, and the endorsements, all with references included. The amount of time saved versus the cost is huge.