Flight Instructor — Airplane Single-Engine practical test (checkride) prep
Prepare for the CFI checkride — teach the fundamentals of instructing, defend your technical knowledge, present a maneuver lesson, and demonstrate and explain every maneuver from the instructor's seat.
About the exam
The flight instructor (CFI) practical test is where you prove you can teach, not just fly. It's conducted by an FAA designated pilot examiner (DPE) or an FAA inspector and graded to the Flight Instructor for Airplane Category ACS (FAA-S-ACS-25), which replaced the CFI Practical Test Standards on May 31, 2024. Most of the day is a long oral: the Fundamentals of Instructing, technical subject areas such as runway incursion avoidance and endorsements and logbook entries, and a preflight lesson on a maneuver you'll later fly — taught as if the examiner were your student. Then comes the flight, where you demonstrate and simultaneously explain maneuvers to commercial-level tolerances and analyze and correct common errors, usually from the right seat.
It's for commercial pilots with an instrument rating who have passed the FOI (unless exempt) and Flight Instructor Airplane knowledge tests and hold the required endorsements, including the spin-training endorsement under 14 CFR 61.183(i). Expect the examiner to role-play a student, introduce errors for you to catch, and ask how you'd handle real training situations — endorsements, solo decisions, risk management and accident prevention.
This hub gives you scenario-based mock-oral questions mapped to the ACS, oral flashcards, mock checkride scenarios, maneuver guides with the ACS tolerances and common errors, a checklists & flows trainer, a panel trainer, a radio & callouts drill and checkride-day prep. These are study aids: your airplane's POH/AFM checklists, the ACS itself and your instructor's guidance always govern.
How we track your progress
Every blueprint domain moves through five levels as you study:
- Not startedNo questions answered in this domain yet.
- Getting startedFirst questions answered — not enough yet to judge.
- DevelopingAt least 5 answered and 50% or better on your recent questions.
- ProficientAt least 15 answered and 70% or better on your recent questions.
- Exam readyAt least 25 answered, 80% or better recently, and holding up on hard questions.
The exam blueprint
FAA-S-ACS-25 Flight Instructor for Airplane Category ACS (effective May 31, 2024; replaced the CFI Airplane PTS) — Fundamentals of instructing, technical subject areas, preflight preparation, the maneuver lesson, airport operations, takeoffs and landings, performance and ground reference maneuvers, slow flight, stalls and spins, basic instrument and emergency operations — taught from the right seat. Tap a domain to see its topics.
1 Fundamentals of Instructing ACS Area I of the exam
32 practice questions in this domain so far
2 Technical Subject Areas ACS Area II of the exam
28 practice questions in this domain so far
3 Preflight Preparation ACS Area III of the exam
16 practice questions in this domain so far
4 Preflight Lesson on a Maneuver ACS Area IV of the exam
12 practice questions in this domain so far
5 Preflight Procedures and Airport Operations ACS Areas V–VI of the exam
12 practice questions in this domain so far
6 Takeoffs, Landings, and Go-Arounds ACS Area VII of the exam
20 practice questions in this domain so far
7 Fundamentals of Flight and Performance Maneuvers ACS Areas VIII–IX of the exam
16 practice questions in this domain so far
8 Slow Flight, Stalls, and Spins ACS Area X of the exam
16 practice questions in this domain so far
9 Basic Instrument and Emergency Operations ACS Areas XI–XII of the exam
8 practice questions in this domain so far
What you get when you access this exam
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Scenario-based oral practice
Original three-choice questions built on the CFI ACS — the examiner plays a student, you pick the best teaching response, endorsement or decision — with the reasoning and ACS reference after each answer.
Oral flashcards and mock checkrides
Flashcards for FOI terms, endorsements, student pilot rules and spin aerodynamics, plus mock checkride scenarios that walk through an oral and a maneuver lesson the way an examiner would.
Maneuvers & tolerances guides
Illustrated guides to every flight maneuver with the ACS-25 tolerances, how to demonstrate and explain it from the right seat, and the common errors you'll be asked to analyze and correct.
Checklists & flows trainer
Practice generic preflight, before-takeoff, landing and emergency flows in order — and how you'd teach them to a student.
Panel trainer
Read an analog six-pack and a glass PFD, spot what a student's instruments are telling you and pick the correction — useful for basic instrument and unusual-attitude tasks.
Radio & callouts drill
Hear ground, tower, CTAF and approach calls, then pick the right readback or call — and the instructor callouts for positive exchange of flight controls.
Test at home or at a center
Finish your FOI and FIA knowledge tests, collect your endorsements, complete the 8710-1 application in IACRA with your recommending instructor, then book a DPE for the practical test.
Before you book
- Pass the FOI (unless exempt) and Flight Instructor Airplane knowledge tests — each report is valid for 24 calendar months.
- Get your endorsements: fundamentals of instructing (61.183(d)), areas of operation (61.183(g)/61.187), spin training in an airplane certificated for spins (61.183(i)), and the 61.39 practical-test recommendation within the preceding 2 calendar months.
- Log at least 15 hours as pilot in command in single-engine airplanes.
- Build a complete set of lesson plans you can teach from — previously developed plans may be used for the maneuver lesson.
Finding an examiner
- Find a DPE authorized for initial CFI tests through the FAA's Designee Locator or your flight school; some areas also have FSDO inspectors giving initial CFI tests.
- DPEs set their own fees — ask about fee, schedule, weather policy and any pre-test assignment when you call.
- Complete the 8710-1 application in IACRA; your recommending instructor signs it before the test.
- Provide an airworthy airplane with fully functioning dual controls, its documents and maintenance records — and be ready to fly and teach from the right seat.
Exam-day game plan
How to walk in ready — and how to pace 40-question mock oral in 60 minutes.
Pacing checkpoints
Our mock oral is 40 three-choice scenario questions in 60 minutes, weighted toward the Fundamentals of Instructing and technical subject areas that dominate the real oral. The real checkride is not multiple choice — use these to rehearse the knowledge, then practice explaining answers aloud.
The week before
- Rehearse your maneuver lesson plans out loud, start to finish, to a non-pilot.
- Review FOI: learning process, levels of learning, defense mechanisms, assessment and the teaching process.
- Know every common endorsement (AC 61-65) and the student pilot solo and cross-country rules cold.
- Fly the maneuvers from the right seat, explaining as you go, and practice catching deliberate errors.
- Confirm IACRA, endorsements, knowledge test reports, aircraft logbooks and the weather plan with your DPE.
Checkride day — bring
- Government photo ID, pilot certificate and medical certificate (if required)
- FOI (if required) and FIA knowledge test reports
- Logbook with all endorsements, including spin training
- Lesson plans, ACS, Airplane Flying Handbook, Aviation Instructor's Handbook and FAR/AIM
- Aircraft documents, POH/AFM, weight and balance and maintenance records
- IACRA application ID and the examiner's fee
During the checkride
- Teach, don't recite — explain what, why and how, and check the 'student' understood.
- When the examiner plays a student and makes an error, identify it, explain its cause and correct it.
- Use a positive exchange of flight controls every time control changes hands.
- If you don't know, say so and show where you'd look it up — then look it up.
- Keep risk management in every answer: what could go wrong and how you'd mitigate it.
After the checkride
- Pass: the examiner issues a temporary flight instructor certificate through IACRA; the plastic certificate arrives by mail. Certificates issued since December 1, 2024 have no printed expiration — keep current under the 24-calendar-month recent experience rules (61.197).
- Notice of Disapproval: you get a list of the tasks not passed; after additional training and a new endorsement (61.49) you retest those items, with credit for tasks already passed per the ACS.
- Letter of Discontinuance: if the test is stopped for weather, maintenance or illness, you finish the remaining tasks later with credit for what you completed.
- Next steps: CFII (instrument instructor) and MEI add-ons, and start building your student endorsements carefully — AC 61-65 is your guide.
Official sources and further reading
- Flight Instructor for Airplane Category ACS (FAA-S-ACS-25) ↗Official areas of operation, tasks, tolerances and task-selection notes.
- Aviation Instructor's Handbook ↗The source for the Fundamentals of Instructing.
- Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C) ↗How each maneuver is flown and taught.
- 14 CFR Part 61 Subpart H — Flight Instructors ↗Eligibility, spin endorsement, privileges, limits and recent experience (61.181–61.199).
- IACRA ↗Complete your 8710-1 application.
- FAA Airman Certification Standards ↗Current ACS list with effective dates and change history.
Ready to start?
160 questions and scenarios across the blueprint — and growing.
QuizMe is not affiliated with or endorsed by the FAA. Practice content is original and summarizes FAA sources (ACS, handbooks, 14 CFR, AIM). Checklists and flows are generic training aids — always use your aircraft's POH/AFM and your instructor's procedures. Rules change — confirm at faa.gov.