CFI Bootcamp’s Power Hours are now drawing nearly 1000 live attendees

We have had an amazing few months with the explosion of our weekly Power Hour attendees.  In case you don’t know, we do a live one-hour show on Saturdays from 12 pm to 1 pm Eastern time.  We have done over 227 in just about 5 years.  The topics include everything from Deep dives into maneuvers, landing tips, the math behind 8’s on pylons, how to teach risk management, and just this last Saturday, how to Teach Airspace.  The topics are all related to flight training with either a pilot-centric or flight instructor-centric emphasis.  Most of these power hours are also approved for Wings Credit.  We are now adding two additional hours to the show.  The second hour is me reading and responding to the chats that happened during the show.  After that, we open up everyone’s mics to allow conversations about the topic and anything people want to know or say.  The second and third hours are beginning to build a sense of community in our industry that used to be only possible by hanging out at the airport or hanging out in a hangar.  We are bringing the flight school, club, and hangar every Saturday.

The show started during the pandemic, and there were 12 people in the first show.  I wasn’t sure anyone would attend.  We stayed less than 20 for about a year and then moved to 40.  We stayed at 40 for a year and grew to around 60-80.  We stayed here for quite a while.  Since December, we have had between 180 and 800 attendees, and around ½ will stay on for the second hour.  We still have around ¼ of the original crowd by the third hour.  

One thing that I cannot do anymore is to go through the room and speak directly to the people I know or who have been with us for a while.  There are too many people, and the show is bogged down, but we are working on something special for our long-term listeners.  I’ll have more on that soon, but it will be a separate area that they will be able to attend as a smaller group together.  I’ll be able to work with that group more before, during, and after the show.  I really appreciate those people who showed up for so long and helped us make the Power Hour the only Flight Training Show complete with hangar talking, in our industry.  There really is nothing like it out there, and we are happy to provide the space to do this.

In the coming weeks we are likely to max out our Zoom room.  The limit is 1000.  So, we are gearing up to begin live-streaming the show and the second and third hours on YouTube and Facebook.  In this way, if the Zoom room is full, people will get a message and be directed to the YouTube and Facebook livestreams.  

So, if you haven’t attended a live Power Hour, then click here to register for the Power Hours and get the Zoom link.  You will get an email midweek to inform you about the topic of the Saturday show.  You will also get an email an hour before the show starts and, finally, one as the show starts so you don’t miss it.

You can also repost the link wherever you come in contact with pilots, CFIs, and the like.  

In the near future, we will have ForeFlight on the show, the President and CEO of AOPA and the Leadership of SAFE (Society of Aviation Flight Educators - safepilots.org), NAFI (National Association of Flight Instructors - nafinet.org), and the Facebook CFI Study Group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/cfistudygroup/)  We will also have other guest speakers on occasion like Gary GPS Reeves, AOPA Legal Services, DPE Panels and Mentor CFI Panels.

Clarification on conducting and IPC gained from CFI Bootcamps, Email to FAA

AC 61-98E provides guidance on how to administer an Instrument Proficiency Check.  While reviewing this document, I didn’t see any mention of the fact that an Instrument Flight Instructor is considered an Evaluator when conducting an IPC.  I also saw that aeronautical knowledge was being evaluated using their proposed checklist.  So, I decided to email that division of the FAA, AFS 810, and try to get some clarification.  I believe that most CFIIs don’t fully understand what is required to satisfy the requirements of the IPC, and I think it is because they don’t fully read the ACS and appendixes.  So my questions were:

1. Why is there aeronautical knowledge being evaluated when the ACS appendix for administering an IPC requires no tasks from Area of Operations I or II?

2. If the Instructor is considered an evaluator then I believe that the instructor must use the ACS and the appendices to conduct the review.  Is that the case?

So, for example, Area of Operation VI Task B - Non-precision approach, doesn’t specify how many need to be performed, whether they can be vectored, etc.  The appendix does direct the evaluator to conduct at least two non-precision approaches. One must be from an IAF without radar vectors, one must be without an autopilot, one must include a course reversal, and one must use the backup instruments.  These can be combined, but they must be done.  

I received a response from an employee of AFS 810, an Aviation Safety Inspector working in the General Aviation and Commercial Division in the Training and Certification group.  

I will paraphrase the email as follows:

Aeronautical knowledge is required to be evaluated.  He cited the knowledge elements in all of the tasks.  So he is absolutely right.  He didn’t address the knowledge elements in Areas of operation I and II which don’t require evaluation, but I get his point about the other areas.  So that’s good advice from him.

The second question was answered with a YES, the CFII is an evaluator while conducting an IPC and must adhere to the appendix and what is brought out in the tasks in the ACS.  He also pointed out that the CFII is supposed to create and use a Plan of Action (POA) that shows how the tasks are being combined or achieved so that an IPC in compliance with the regulation is performed.  He mentioned that they are legally binding because the ACSs are incorporated by reference into FAR 61.14.  That means that the CFIIs are bound to do what is said in the regulation regarding an IPC, 61.57, and the Appendix of the Instrument Rating Airplane ACS for conducting an IPC.

What this means to our CFII community is that you must be sure that your IPC is ringing all of the bells with the appendix of the ACS.  We did a Power Hour on how to conduct an IPC a few weeks ago, and it’s available on our YouTube channel.  CFIBOOTCAMP.

MOSAC May be Law During AirVenture in July 2025

According to a presentation by NAFI in their MentorLive webinar, MOSAC may be released into the Federal Register and become law during this year’s AirVenture in July.  During the presentation, NAFI described that because the regulations are additive and do not restrict anything, they may not be subject to the new administration’s requirement to delete 10 existing regulations for every new one written.  If this is the case, the barrier to releasing these new regulations won’t exist.

MOSAC is the Modernization of Special Airworthiness Certificates.  This affects aircraft in the Light Sport arena as well as the privileges of Sport Pilots.  Here are the main takeaways for you to know about these rule changes.

1. Sport Pilots will be able to fly much larger airplanes.  The gross weight is currently 1320 lbs due to the low stall speed approved for this airplane class.  Depending upon which maximum stall speed will be updated, we can safely say that up to a Cessna 182 would be allowed.  It may also include Bonanzas, Cirrus, and so on.

2. There will be a provision for a Sport Pilot to be able to fly at night.  We aren’t sure if this will be a separate rating.

3. There may be a provision to carry two passengers instead of one, which is currently allowed.

4. Complex (Retractable gear, flaps, controllable propeller), and high-performance airplanes will be allowed.

5. Additional categories and classes will still be added using two flight instructors.  One to do the training and one to do the proficiency check.

This has the potential to open up the training market by allowing the Sport Pilot to fly more capable airplanes.  There will still be no requirement for an FAA medical.  A driver’s licence is all that is needed.

More to come over the next few months.

Meet Mike at Sun-n-Fun 2025 in Lakeland, FL

Mike will be in SAFE’s booth, Hangar B space 80-81.  Mike is the Director of Training at CFI Bootcamp, hosts the highly attended “Power Hour” every Saturday, and a monthly Podcast, “Flight Training the Way I See It.”  You can also see him on CFI Bootcamp’s YouTube channel.  

He will arrive after 1 pm on Friday, April 4th, and you are welcome to stop by and meet up or ask questions. Friday afternoon or up to 3:30 pm on Saturday.  

Mike will do the Power Hour show live from SAFE’s booth on Saturday, from noon to 1 pm Eastern time, as always.  At 4 pm that afternoon, Mike will join the CFI Roundup in the Prop 75 room on the show site at Sun-n-Fun.  Sportys will talk first, followed by the FAA’s 141 team, then Mike, and then David St. George. (Line-up times subject to change.)  Mike will discuss what it takes to become a CFI and the differences between CFI training and real-world instruction.  There will also be a Q&A session with “The Wizzards” in panel format.  This is free.  Mike will depart for Miami on Sunday, April 6.

ProTips

1. When you are slowing down during taxiing and need to come to a full stop, ease off the brakes just a moment before you actually stop.  This prevents the lurching caused by excessive braking at the last minute.  Get the speed as slow as possible and then ease off the brakes to allow the plane to stop independently.  You’ll get good at this pretty quickly, and your passengers will notice.

2. One hand on the throttle, please!  Consider the throttle as another flight control.  You may need to use it quickly and sometimes a little aggressively.  When taxiing, if your hand isn’t on the throttle, then you’ve just set an arbitrary power setting, probably too high, that will cause you to ride the brakes.  Engage with the airplane by using the throttle to achieve the desired taxi speed without riding the brakes.  During takeoff, keep your hand on the throttle (in a piston single), and don’t remove it until you are in cruise flight.  The friction nut on some planes, especially training airplanes, can loosen due to vibrations, etc.  The throttle has been know to pull back from the full position during takeoff.  Also, remember that the definition of positive aircraft control is that the airplane is never flying you; you are flying it.  During non-critical phases of flight, like cruise, you can remove your hand from the throttle and monitor speed, tach, etc., as you go.

3. Kicking out the crab at the last moment during a crosswind landing is only a good idea in a heavy airplane.  Heavy airplanes can be straightened out with the rudder before touchdown because they have momentum.  Also, they have landing gear systems built to handle some side loading.  They must do this typically because the engines may be near enough to contact the ground if a sideslip is attempted.  In a light airplane, you need to transition to a sideslip with sufficient altitude to make sure you are aligned straight with the centerline using rudder and not drifting by maintaining the centerline with the ailerons.  This will eliminate drift and sideloading of the landing gear.  If you attempt to “kick out the crab,” the airplane will drift from that moment until the wheels contact the ground.  This can lead to skipping and sideloading of the gear.  While it may be possible to do this just as the wheels would touch, the timing of that and the potential of gusts and so on make it difficult.  There would still be drifting and side-loading, but not as much as doing that earlier.  So, in a light airplane, transition to a sideslip with enough altitude to control the airplane fully throughout the touchdown and rollout.

What you can join for free.

• Bootcamp+ membership site - All power hours, tribal knowledge videos, and more.

• Preview our online course - On Demand

• Join our Power Hour live shows - Every Saturday

• Join our Newsletter list - At the bottom of the home page - Monthly -

• Join our Podcast “Flight Training the Way I See It” - Monthly

• Power Hour Outlines from Previous Shows and Resources - On Demand

What we offer for purchase.

• Online CFI, CFII, and MEI courses - Self-Paced.

• 7-Day Immersion Class - In person or remote - Every Month - Location Varies

• 3-Day CFII Class - In person or remote - Every two to three months - Location Varies.

• Weekend Mastery Class - Using technology/ForeFlight/Zoom together - Advanced Teaching techniques - Every quarter.

• Custom Training Products - Lesson Plans, Flow charts, FOI Roadmaps, etc. 

• Bootcamp+ membership site - All power hours, tribal knowledge videos, and more.

• Remote ground instruction - Send email to mike@cfibootcamp.com 

• Remote checkride preparation - Mock oral exams, etc., for all ratings - mike@cfibootcamp.com