Prepare for: Teaching a Maneuver Lesson
The CFI checkride centerpiece: teaching a maneuver clearly with a lesson plan.
Your CFI's syllabus and your airplane's POH come first. This page is a general study aid to help you show up prepared.
What you'll do
- Use a lesson plan with objective, content, schedule, equipment, instructor and student actions, and completion standards.
- Teach with the demonstration-performance method: explain, demonstrate, the student does it under supervision, then evaluate.
- Talk through the maneuver while flying it from the right seat.
- Analyze common errors and correct them positively.
The standard you'll be held to
Quoted from the current FAA Airman Certification Standards for each level that tests this.
Flight Instructor ACS (FAA-S-ACS-25)Task FI.IV.A · Maneuver Lesson
See this task in the official ACS.
Read it in the FAA handbooks
The official chapters behind this page. Each link opens the exact chapter, free on faa.gov. See the full Study Library.
Prepare the night before
- Write your own lesson plans for the core maneuvers.
- Read the Aviation Instructor's Handbook (FAA-H-8083-9).
Common mistakes
- Lecturing too long in the airplane.
- Not stating completion standards.
Questions to ask your instructor
- Can you role-play a struggling student?
- Which lesson plan format do you recommend?
Check yourself
Something wrong or out of date? Report an error