CFI recertification

[mrivc211]

My CFI just expired last month. Wheres the cheapest and quickest way of getting recertified? This is not a renewal. AllATPS? American Flyers?

[BobDDuck]

And on a similar note, mine is going to expire in August and I am getting tons of ads for renewal. I'm leaning towards the one day refresher course deal. Anybody have experience with doing it that way?

[DE727UPS]

You're screwed. How did you let this happen? You sit there and complain about ALL the free time you have and how BORED you are....and now this???

Gleim only takes one serious day, with a 12 pack, or two easy days with a six pack each...

But to answer your question. Your best bet is to find a CFI DE who could sign you off without fanfare. Don't go to some dumb flight academy, you just need a ride with an appropriately blessed DE. They are out there, guys who can sign off CFI's can do it.

Find out in advance what they are looking for and see what recent CFI apps had to go through. Rent a plane (you'll probably lose your CFI-ME cause of this) and do a couple of hours doing comm mans and IFR stuff. Treat it like you were a new hire at Skywest.

I can't be too hard on you. This once happened to me. I did the ride in a 172 and I don't remember it being much of a deal. He told me he couldn't sign me off for the CFI-ME since we didn't do it in a twin, but when he was looking at my old certificate as an example of how to do the new one, he wrote down "CFI-ME". I didn't know whether to say "hey, you screwed up" or just let it ride.

I decided to let it ride...

DE727UPS, CFI airplane, instrument, and multi-engine. Plus a couple of type ratings....

[CFIse]

Originally Posted by DE727UPS

Rent a plane (you'll probably lose your CFI-ME cause of this)

If you renew any of the ratings on your CFI all the other ones come back automatically - so if you take the single engine CFI renewal your MEI and your CFII come back without any further action.

[Stone Cold]

Originally Posted by CFIse

If you renew any of the ratings on your CFI all the other ones come back automatically - so if you take the single engine CFI renewal your MEI and your CFII come back without any further action.

This is not a renewal, though...it is a recertification, so it may not bring it all back.

I am so glad I got my stuff turned in in time this past month. FYI, I went through American Flyers and, other than it being boring, and me hating not being able to find a way of cheating the system. In case you don't know, it is timed, and if you don't flip pages, or show the computer you're doing something with it every once in a while, then it stops the timer. The total time is 16 hours, plus test times. I did it over 3 days, with lots of beer.

$125 for a lifetime renewal, all I have to do is send in $25 every time for them to do the paperwork, and go through their program on the computer, of course.

[CFIse]

Originally Posted by txpilot

This is not a renewal, though...it is a recertification, so it may not bring it all back.

Poor choice of words on my part. 14 CFR 61.199(a) applies.

(a) Flight instructor certificates. The holder of an expired flight instructor certificate may exchange that certificate for a new certificate with the same ratings by passing a practical test as prescribed in §61.183(h) of this part for one of the ratings listed on the expired flight instructor certificate.

Hope that helps.

[Chris_Ford]

Originally Posted by mrivc211

My CFI just expired last month. Wheres the cheapest and quickest way of getting recertified? This is not a renewal. AllATPS? American Flyers?

This might be a good time to pick up an additional CFI rating, if you don't have your CFI/CFII/MEI, whichever.

[DE727UPS]

"If you renew any of the ratings on your CFI all the other ones come back automatically - so if you take the single engine CFI renewal your MEI and your CFII come back without any further action"

That's not what the guy told me when I did the ride. He specifically said unless I show up in a twin, I'd lose the CFI-ME. That was 20 years ago, though, so maybe things have changed. Or he just didn't know what he was talking about.

[CFIse]

Originally Posted by DE727UPS

That was 20 years ago, though, so maybe things have changed. Or he just didn't know what he was talking about.

It's one or the other - because I've helped a couple of CFI's get their expired certificates re-instated, one did a "new" ride and got them all back and one repeated one of the ratings on his certificate and got them all back - and currently that's what 14 CFR says should happen.

20 years ago - I think you had to have your CFI recommendation personally signed by Wilbur or Orville, so it could have been different then..... :-)

[mrivc211]

The usual DE I go to had his medical taken away and is in the process of getting it back. I dont know how long this will take. So I"m kinda in a bind here.

[flyguy]

Originally Posted by CFIse

20 years ago - I think you had to have your CFI recommendation personally signed by Wilbur or Orville, so it could have been different then..... :-)

The guy I did my CFI checkride with I think did the checkrides for Wilbur and Orville. He was very old school, and seemed unaware of some pretty significant changes in the FARs that have happened over the last few years.