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Suggestions for BFR

AndyRV7

Well Known Member
I am in NJ and my previous instructor is not TW trained. Even though I haven't checked the reg's, I presume he should be at least competent in an RV-7 to check me out in it. So I am wondering what everyone else is doing. Are you finding local instructors, traveling to an instructor, other options?

Thanks. Andy
 
Instructors

There are quite a few taildragger qualified instructors around that area. Van Sant in PA and Aeroflex Andover both do taildragger instruction. www.taildraggersinc.com maintains a list, but it is not very complete for your area.
There is no specific requirement for the instructor to have experience in a specific airplane. It mostly depends on the instructors comfort level.
 
Suggestion

For BFR :
Go to a local flight school and ask for the newest, youngest new CFI. Employ that person so you can learn the latest from a new CFI who is most current, and your experience will show him what experience looks like, and you will help encourage the next generation. It will be a win-win for both of you!
Vern

For checkout: You certainly need someone who has the skills already . No time for blind -leading -blind!
 
I try to find a different instructor for every BFI. Different instructors seem to have a different take on what's important and switching up seems a way to not get in a rut. I tend to avoid the newest instructor - I had one of those as a student pilot and I really don't want another one! But that's my call - you make your call.

The other thing I do is figure out what my weakest point is and tell who ever I've chosen what it is a week or so in advance so they can grill me on it. Early on I got over my fear of stalls, another time we spent an hour doing nothing but dead stick landings and then another hour of air work with more dead stick landings interspersed. Over the years it's changed a lot but I always try to beef my weakest area(s) and then let them do what they're inclined to do. Unlike a lot of pilots I know, after 16 years with my license to learn, I have not learned it all.
 
I tend to avoid the newest instructor - I had one of those as a student pilot and I really don't want another one!

That was my instructor. We missed a lesson or two because his mom's car wasn't available. But we both grew from it I guess.:)
 
Legally the cfi does not need to be TW rated if he does not act as PIC. e.g., your last review has not expired, you are current to carry passengers, you will not fly under ifr unless you yourself are rated and current, etc.
That being said, it's hard to imagine a cfi would not want to evaluate landings during a flight review, and that would be strange if he himself was not TW rated. But not illegal.
 
A more wild thought....

Go to Winter Haven, Florida, to Jack Brown's, and add a seaplane rating in one of their Cubs on floats. It only takes 2 days.

I think that was the most fun Flight Review I ever completed.

Then, you can go back home and get your RV instructor to freshen up your skills there..

Have fun!
 
A more wild thought....

Go to Winter Haven, Florida, to Jack Brown's, and add a seaplane rating in one of their Cubs on floats. It only takes 2 days.

I think that was the most fun Flight Review I ever completed.

Then, you can go back home and get your RV instructor to freshen up your skills there..

Have fun!

This was my plan last year, but waited too long to schedule and couldn't get a date prior to my review. Definitely the plan for next year's FR.
 
I am in NJ and my previous instructor is not TW trained. Even though I haven't checked the reg's, I presume he should be at least competent in an RV-7 to check me out in it. So I am wondering what everyone else is doing. Are you finding local instructors, traveling to an instructor, other options?

Thanks. Andy


Travel to an instructor and fly with him behind ADIZ hi Ted :D




 
Fort Jefferson

Looks like Fort Jefferson, in the Gulf of Mexico, west of Key West Fla
 
A more wild thought....

Go to Winter Haven, Florida, to Jack Brown's, and add a seaplane rating in one of their Cubs on floats. It only takes 2 days.

I think that was the most fun Flight Review I ever completed.

Then, you can go back home and get your RV instructor to freshen up your skills there..

Have fun!

Brilliant!
 
As an instructor (still current and active), I do feel that I should call up my first 3 or so students and give them their money back..

I learned more with them then they did with me..... ::):D:):D:)
 
BFR or checkout?

Hi Andy,

Just to clarify you're looking for a BFR right, not transition training? The word "checkout" threw me.

At the flight school where I teach part time, we almost exclusively use the FAA WINGS program for flight reviews. If you're not familiar, it works like this: You complete the required knowledge credits by taking online FAA approved mini-courses (many free ones from the AOPA ASF etc) or in person safety seminars. Then you go up and accomplish specific tasks with a CFI in the aircraft to complete the flight portion. It's all recorded via the FAA website. It's a more organized approach as opposed to the old 1 hr flight / 1 hr of ground method. It also shares the responsibility of the flight review with the FAA instead of just the CFI.

As was mentioned, CFI doesn't have to have a tw endorsement to instruct in the RV-7 but I would think you might get more value out of it if they did have one, as well as experience in similar performing aircraft.

Matt
 
Yes Matt, BFR (or maybe now an FR???).

I picked through some of the suggestions and found an instructor in the area that sounds like what I was hoping for. In my search, I also found a school in lower CT that does training/checkrides in their J3 on floats. I would like to do that at some point just for fun and the experience. I flew a Cub for the first 7 hours of my TW endorsement (which proved to be fruitless excpet for the Cub time). Loved flying the Cub with big puffy tires. No electric, no flaps, no efis, just flying at its best!
 
+1 on the Wings approach. The old wings program required in-person seminars, 3 hours of flying, and was not cost effective. The current program can be done on a computer for the ground portion, and less flying time. Since the ground portion is free it is very cost-competitive with the traditional Flight Review (nee BFR). And it lets you choose what areas you'd like to work on in flight, and on the computer based work.
 
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I used to take all the AOPA "courses" I could. Slowed down a little recently but I thought they were a great use of time. It's funny, years ago, as a student, I took the Washington SFRA training because I hoped to fly in that direction someday. Last November, I flew direct NJ to AL and then on to LA the next morning. Flew right through the 60 mile ring. Mission accomplished.:D
 
+1 on the Wings approach. The old wings program required in-person seminars, 3 hours of flying, and was not cost effective. The current program can be done on a computer for the ground portion, and less flying time. Since the ground portion is free it is very cost-competitive with the traditional Flight Review (nee BFR). And it lets you choose what areas you'd like to work on in flight, and on the commuter based work.

I, for one, don't accept WINGS credits for the ground portion of the flight review. Just because you present me with a certificate doesn't guarantee to me that you know anything. If it's my name going in your logbook, we will have a one on one ground session :D
 
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I, for one, don't accept WINGS credits for the ground portion of the flight review. Just because you present me with a certificate doesn't guarantee to me that you know anything. If it's my name going in your logbook, we will have a one on one ground session :D

I think you misunderstand. As a cfi you only sign off that you have done the flight training required by the Wings advisory circular. Nothing more. The wings program is an alternative to a flight review. In fact, you may not sign a flight review without that hour on the ground (except for cfi's who have renewed via ground training).
 
I'd be real leery of a brand new CFI - depends on the individual. Just because they're fresh out of school doesn't mean they know squat. Similarly, we've all seen high time CFIs with hours and hours of repetition but only a little experience. I'd look for passion as an indicator, but not the only indicator, of who I want to fly with.
 
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