CFI Notebook
CFI Notebook
The Certified Flight Instructor (CFI) Notebook provides "Higher" education, bridging the gap between flight training and the airplane, enhancing your aeronautical experience with articles, multimedia, lessons, and references.
Get into it by reading our notebook articles or following along with our lesson plans.
Review the CFI Notebook
The CFI Notebook is an instructor's guide to navigating the sea of resources to provide helpful guidance for their students and themselves. Our notebook aims to enhance pilots' aeronautical knowledge by explaining various topics and referencing their sources to enable further learning.
Instructors recall this knowledge when building lesson plans. More important than knowledge is connecting the topics so that the student can appreciate the "why" behind the facts.
CFI Lesson Plans
Trivia of the Day
Trivia rolls over daily at midnight, Mountain Standard Time.
Private Pilot Question of the Day
At altitude, a normally reserved passenger becomes unusually euphoric and slow to answer. What condition should the pilot suspect, and what action is appropriate?
Suspect hypoxia. Maintain aircraft control, provide appropriate supplemental oxygen, verify that the oxygen system is functioning, and descend to a safe altitude. Follow the aircraft checklist and request ATC assistance as needed; do not wait for loss of consciousness.
Commercial Pilot Question of the Day
How should a pilot determine when to use an auxiliary fuel pump?
Pump functions and required settings differ among installations. Know the selector, pump, and delivery arrangement.
Instrument Rating Question of the Day
If smoke stops after electrical isolation, is it safe to restore all equipment and continue the planned flight?
No. The fault or smoldering material may remain, and restoring power can restart the fire. Follow the emergency checklist and landing priorities; restore essential power only as the approved procedure and safety of flight require.
Sport Pilot Question of the Day
When are water rudders normally retracted?
Water rudders are normally retracted for takeoff and landing and when shallow water, beaching, or submerged obstructions could damage them. Follow the installed-system checklist.
Flight Instructor Question of the Day
At a VOR/DME or VORTAC facility, what does a single coded identification repeated approximately every 30 seconds indicate?
The DME or TACAN component is operative. It does not, by itself, confirm that the VOR component is operative.
Flight Instructor Instrument Question of the Day
Question unavailable.
Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Question of the Day
What type of airspace is charted with an "R-" followed by a designation number?
Restricted Airspace
Advice of the Day
Maintain a consistent flight training schedule. Long breaks in any kind of training, but especially aviation, will cause a dramatic loss of progress.
System of the Day
Cabin Heating and Cooling Systems: Cabin Heating and cooling systems provide conditioned air for comfortable operations during various weather conditions
Maneuver of the Day
Homing: Homing is flying the aircraft on any heading required to keep the needle pointing directly to the 0 degree relative bearing (RB) position.
Emergency of the Day
Engine Failure: The total loss of power requires immediate actions which depend upon speed (life) and altitude (life insurance)
Mishap of the Day
ERA14LA450: The NTSB determines the probable cause(s) of this accident to be: The pilot's inadequate preflight planning, which resulted in a takeoff with the airplane's center of gravity aft of its limit and led the airplane to exceed its critical angle of attack and experience an aerodynamic stall during the initial climb.
