Becoming A Certified Flight Instructor In Fort Lauderdale

Flying is an addictive but expensive pass time, and many people who have completed commercial pilot certification in Fort Lauderdale choose to become professional flight instructors to help fund the flight hours they want to log up in the air, and have a little fun passing on their love of flying to students new to the experience. Even if you dont want to instruct full-time, becoming a certified flight instructor and working with others who share your passion can be a tremendously rewarding and enriching experience.

Flight Instructor Training

Before you can begin training for certification as a flight instructor, youll need to hold a valid commercial pilot certificate and a current medical certificate issued by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). In Fort Lauderdale, certified flight instructor training will involve training and study in pre-flight preparation procedures, ground crew and airport operations, how to teach take offs and climbs, manage unplanned stalls or spins, maneuvers utilizing slow flight, basic instrument flight, landing and post-landing techniques and procedure, and emergency corrections. Besides the technical teacher training, you will also be given a basic grounding study in psychology, instructor to student communication and motivation strategies, and dealing with common student fears and mistakes.

Being a successful flight instructor takes more than simple skill in flight techniques and knowledge. Teaching another human being requires that you learn how to communicate in what may be an entirely new way, especially in the high-stress situations common to flight training. Certified instructor training aims to prepare you for the technical and the human aspects of student teacher interaction.

Estimated Cost

As with any flight training and certification program, the number of hours you will put in will depend on your individual commitment, ability and motivation. Since the cost of obtaining your flight instructor certification in Fort Lauderdale will hinge largely on exactly how many hours it takes for you to complete the training, there is no way to point to a definitive training cost up front. However, based on the average hours of completion within the program, most students can expect to pay between $3,500 and $7,000 over the course of their certified flight instructor training.

After Your Training

After you have completed your certified flight instructor training, and passed you final examinations, you will be issued a certified flight instructor license from the FAA which will be valid for two years. Renewal of an un-expired license requires that you either pass a practical flight instructor exam, provide documentation showing proof of training a minimum of five students with an 80 percent pass rate in the last two years, or completion certificate for an official flight instructor refresher course taken within the last three months. Flight instructor refresher seminars are given year-round throughout the United States, and during the course you can expect to participate in refresher activities involving the instruction of various flight maneuvers, a review of flight and airspace regulations and practical testing standards, student instructor dynamics and professionalism, and discussions about the fundamentals of flight instruction and teaching the principles of aerodynamics.