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
According to AIM 7-6-1, what are the 10 most frequent cause factors for general aviation accidents involving the pilot in command?
1. Inadequate preflight preparation and/or planning
2. Failure to obtain and/or maintain flying speed
3. Failure to maintain direction control
4. Improper level off
5. Failure to see and avoid objects or obstructions
6. Mismanagement of fuel
7. Improper inflight decisions or planning
8. Misjudgment of distance and speed
9. Selection of unsuitable terrain
10. Improper operation of flight controls
Commercial Pilot Question of the Day
Who must authorize an aircraft to operate within prohibited airspace?
The using agency specified for the prohibited area must grant authorization.
Instrument Rating Question of the Day
What is absolute altitude?
The aircraft's height above the terrain directly beneath it, expressed in feet above ground level (AGL).
Sport Pilot Question of the Day
In a traditional vacuum-driven gyroscopic system, which instrument commonly uses pendulous vanes as part of its gyro-erection mechanism?
The attitude indicator.
Flight Instructor Question of the Day
What type of airspace contains unusual, often invisible hazards to aircraft, such as artillery firing, aerial gunnery, or guided-missile operations?
Restricted Airspace
Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Question of the Day
In typical nonmountainous areas where Class E has not been designated at a lower altitude, how high can Class G airspace extend?
Class G can extend up to, but not including, 14,500 feet MSL. Class E begins at 14,500 feet MSL.
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
Soft Field Takeoffs: Soft field takeoffs are used to obtain maximum performance when departing from a soft or rough runway surface
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.
