Who can train an initial flight instructor applicant?

Can any flight instructor train a first-time CFI applicant?

No. 14 CFR 61.195(h) sets qualifications for the instructor who trains an initial flight instructor applicant, with one set for flight training and another for ground training.

What must the instructor have to give the flight training?

The appropriate flight instructor certificate and rating, the eligibility requirements of 61.183, and one of three things under 61.195(h)(2):

1. "Have held a flight instructor certificate for at least 24 calendar months", and have given at least 200 hours of flight training as a flight instructor.
2. "Have trained and endorsed, during the preceding 24 calendar months, at least five applicants for a practical test for a pilot certificate or rating, and at least 80 percent of all applicants endorsed in that period passed that test on their first attempt".
3. After giving the 200 hours in the first requirement, have graduated from an FAA-approved flight instructor enhanced qualification training program.

The second requirement has no minimum time holding the certificate and no hour count. It counts every applicant endorsed in the period, so four of five on the first attempt meets it and three of five does not.

What changed on December 1, 2024?

The second and third requirements were added by Amendment 61-155 (89 FR 80020), effective December 1, 2024. A page or forum thread written before that date may not describe the current text.

What about the ground training?

It has its own rule, 61.195(h)(1). The ground training must be given by an authorized instructor who holds a ground or flight instructor certificate with the appropriate rating and either has held it for at least 24 calendar months and given at least 40 hours of ground training, or has given at least 100 hours of ground training in an FAA-approved course.

Do the hours differ by aircraft?

Only for gliders. The 200 hours applies to training for an airplane, rotorcraft, or powered-lift rating. For a glider rating it is 80 hours. I traininitial CFI applicants in the airplane only.

How many flight instructor practical tests are approved?

About three in four. In 2025, examiners approved 10,378 of 14,077 original flight instructor practical tests, 73.72 percent (FAA, U.S. Civil Airmen Statistics 2025, Table 19). The table counts tests, so it is not a first-attempt figure, and it does not measure the same thing as the first-attempt requirement above.

How do I check before I start?

Ask the instructor which of the three requirements they meet for flight training, and which of the two for ground training. Each is a matter of record: months the certificate has been held, hours of training given, applicants endorsed and how they did on the first attempt.

Which do I meet?

The first: 24 calendar months and 200 hours of flight training given. My own figure is 2,000 hours of dual given. For ground training I meet the first option as well, with more than 40 hours of ground training given. I have trained initial CFI candidates.

Initial CFI instruction with me is $95/hr. How many hours it takes is a question for the consult, and the rest is on the initial CFI page.

Once you instruct, the free CFI Kneeboard maps what a Part 61 syllabus has to cover, with every regulation cite linked to the eCFR.