Lesson Plans
The following lesson plans are designed around the CFI Airplane Practical Test Standards (PTS), with Change 6. These lessons were mostly prepared between December 2019 and March 2020. The CFI practical test is changing to the Airmen Certification Standards (ACS) soon, however the content should largely remain the same. Please feel free to use these as you like. Nearly all of the images contained within are from FAA publications or are of my own creation, so they should be safe to distribute.
These PDF lesson plans will always be free. Fully editiable (MS Word) versions of these lesson plans are available for $65 here.
Area I - Fundamentals of Instruction
Human Behavior, Effective Communication, The Learning Process, and more.
Area II - Technical Subject Areas
Technical subjects like the Fundamentals of Flight (Aerodynamics), Aeromedical Factors, and Aircraft Systems.
Area III - Preflight Preparation
Lessons on preflight planning, including airworthiness, weather, and pilot qualifications.
Area IV - Preflight Maneuver Lesson
Delivering a preflight lesson on a maneuver to be performed in flight.
Area V - Preflight Procedures
Lessons on preflight inspection, taxiing, and runup procedures.
Area VI - Airport Operations
Lessons on Airport Traffic Patterns, Airport Signs and Markings, and working with ATC.
Area VII - Takeoffs, Landings, and Go-Arounds
Lessons on Normal, Crosswind, Soft and Short-Field Takeoffs and Landings.
Area VIII - Fundamentals of Flight
Lessons on the basics of flight: straight-and-level, turns, climbs, and descents.
Area IX - Performance Maneuvers
Maneuvers such as Steep Turns, Chandelles, and Lazy Eights.
Area X - Ground Reference Maneuvers
Maneuvers such as S-Turns, Turns Around a Point, and Eights on Pylons.
Area XI - Slow Flight, Stalls, and Spins
Lessons on slow flight, and various kinds of stalls.
Area XII - Basic Instrument Maneuvers
Basic Instrument Maneuvers, including straight-and-level, turns, and recovery from unusual attitudes.
Area XIII - Emergency Operations
Lessons on emergency (forced) landings, systems and equipment malfunctions, and more.
Area XIV - Postflight Procedures
A lesson plan on tiedown and Securing after flight.