Having flight experience as a certified flight instructor (CFI) will have you more prepared to become a professional commercial pilot in the future. This experience will provide you with more mature technical skills, greater knowledge on the field, and better resolution skills in situations and challenges that may arise during the flight, that you will be able to face and resolve with better fluency and success.
Therefore, and although it is not a mandatory endorsement to obtain your airplane pilot license, becoming a FI will provide you with excellent training to become a commercial pilot. Let us talk you through more details involving airplane and helicopter instruction.
Becoming a flight instructor would mean that you have obtained a license to be able to teach the handling of aircraft, whether it be airplanes or helicopters.
The training you will receive would allow you to further perfect the skills used in an aircraft cockpit, your knowledge of maneuvers, and all that is necessary to be able to impart flight training to other people.
Similarly, you must know that the journey as a flight instructor is very progressive, which makes it a very motivating professional experience. This is added to the gratification you earn by watching your students excel into becoming professional pilots, all thanks to your teaching. That is what makes this journey as an instructor so satisfying, also allowing you to grow on a technical, professional, and personal level.
Steps as a professional flight instructor
To become a professional in this aviation sector you must take an airplane flight instructor course FI(A), or a helicopter flight instructor course FI(H), according to your interests.
This way, an instructor will first hold a Restricted Flight Instructor license FI(R), which means that they must fly under supervision of a non-restricted FI for the first few flights in basic single engine aircraft. This restriction will disappear once the pilot has completed 100 hours of instruction and 25 solo student supervisions.
The next step would be to become a FI CPL, which means that the instructor is certified to teach on advanced single engine aircraft. This will be possible once the FI has reached a total of 500 flight hours and 200 hours of instruction.
Further down the path of being a flight instructor you will be able to become specialized in Instrument Rating (IR) or Multiengine Rating (ME) to complete your FI course.
Requirements to Become a Flight Instructor
Some of the basic requirements to be able to take the airplane flight instructor course are the following:
- Have a valid EU-FCL CPL(A) license.
- At least 30 hours in single-engine piston aircraft.
- At least 10 hours of instrumental flight time (IFR).
- At least 20 hours of cross-country flight time.
- Class 1 Medical Certificate.
Among the basic requirements to become a helicopter flight instructor you can find the following:
- Have a valid EU-FCL CPL(H) license.
- At least 100 hours of flight as pilot in command (PIC).
- At least a total of 250 hours before starting the course.
- At least 20 hours of cross-country flight time.
- Class 1 Medical Certificate.
Where to take the flight instructor course:
The flight instructor courses at European Flyers offer you theorical and practical training in a flight school recognized throughout Europe, with top class international teachers and instructors, and a last-generation airplane and helicopter fleet. Contact us to receive all the information you may need and let’s fly!
Additionally, if you would like to complete your training as an airplane or helicopter pilot, you can continue to train as a commercial pilot in our specialized courses for airplane pilots and helicopter pilots.
