50 years of flight reviews

As a working CFI, I put my first flight review in a pilot’s logbook on December 18, 1973, endorsing a flying doctor and family friend, someone who had literally brought me into this world when I was born. A steady stream of such signoffs followed over the years as we learned how to best manage the now-mandatory recurrent training requirement.

During the next decade, I managed to evade logging a flight review of my own until March 9, 1984; before that, I was taking checkrides to add various ratings every couple of years, which served to satisfy the requirement. By 1984 I’d finally run out of ratings I could afford and submitted myself to one of my students who had become a CFI.

We’ve now had to submit to a biennial review of our flying for nearly a half-century. Over the years, there have been modifications to the flight review regulation, along with a few ill-conceived proposals that never made it into a final form. One on-and-off requirement, first promulgated in 1982, instituted as a regulation in 1989 (but never actually required), and then finally withdrawn in 1993, was to require VFR private pilots with less than 400 hours logged to have had a flight review in the preceding 12 months, rather than 24. Another provision, proposed in 1989, would have required separate current reviews for each category and class of aircraft being flown. It was withdrawn in a final rule issued in 1991. In 1993, the current minimum training requirement of one hour each of flight and ground training was instituted.

Frequently referred to as a “biennial” or “BFR,” the recurrent training was never called anything but a “flight review” in the FARs. Evidently the FAA wanted to avoid being tied to a 24-month schedule, keeping its options open.

In my youth, attaining one’s pilot certificate was a one-and-done achievement. No further training, advanced or recurrent, was required. Early on, I gave a lot of 45-minute lunch-hour flight reviews to individuals with whom I was well-acquainted, since there was no specified amount of dual or ground training set forth in the first 20 years of the rule. However, I never, ever, “pencil whipped” an endorsement without flying with the pilot; once you compromise your integrity to that point, there’s no going back.

Over the years, aside from making sure each individual still met the minimum standards for their certificate, I’ve primarily served as a cheerleader for continued advancement of flying skills. Here are some of the things I’ve learned in 50 years of giving flight reviews.

You’re never done

Learning to fly, I’ve always said, is a continuous, never-ending process. We are awarded certificates and ratings based on competency, by meeting standards that signify a certain level of ability. The unprepossessing little sliver of plastic in our wallet only means that on a particular day we satisfied the requirements and were thereby judged to be worthy. We were not, and likely never will be, as proficient as we’re capable of becoming.

Improving our status as a pilot requires dedication to the craft, a recognition that there’s still more to learn and some flaws that still need mending. Instead of regarding the biennial review of competency as a chore to be finished, a burden to be surmounted, or an imposition on one’s time, it should be looked upon as an opportunity. Let’s not waste it.

What it’s not

The flight review is not a checkride. It is training—required, to be sure—but still just training. Unless you’ve allowed the end-of-month deadline to run out, you can’t be grounded by performing poorly during the review. Your logbook entry can only state that some dual instruction was received, not “flight review failed.”

It is true that an expired flight review will prohibit you from exercising the privileges of your certificate, even if you aren’t carrying passengers. But you can always have someone else fly your airplane to the appointment with the CFI, or have the CFI to come to you, or use the CFI’s aircraft instead of your own. There’s no penalty for having missed the due date. An often-employed trick is to schedule the flight review with a local instructor for the morning of the first day of the month after it was due, thereby resetting your calendar and gaining an extra month.

Another option is taking a true checkride to obtain a new privilege, like adding a seaplane rating or getting the commercial certificate, which automatically satisfies the flight review requirement as of the month of the flight test. Sorry, a CFI’s endorsement of high-performance or tailwheel proficiency doesn’t count, since those are merely enhancements to privileges inherent with your existing certificate. Nor does completing an instrument proficiency check unless the CFI-I agrees to make that IPC part of a flight review in addition to completing all the instrument-flying requirements.

Customize it

The most important ingredient of a productive flight review is to tailor it to the type of flying or expectations that’ll most benefit you. I much prefer to get something beneficial out of the required training, instead of checking off a canned curriculum. As a CFI, I will touch on what I consider “accident avoidance” scenarios, centered on the phases of flight most often seen in accident reports, but everything else is up for grabs. As part of a flight review, I always want to see a properly flown stall recovery demonstration, probably in landing configuration, a little basic hood work for non-current or VFR pilots, and a few takeoffs and landings.

Otherwise, consider getting some short-field practice or grass-strip operation on the flight review, or operating somewhere out of your ordinary haunts, like a Class B airport visit or nontowered airfield’s traffic pattern. Maybe you always wanted to fly from the right seat or have questions about your new electronic instruments. If the CFI agrees, use the review to scratch that itch.

What do you need?

The goal should be about more than getting ink on a page, it should result in gaining something of value from the flight review experience. At FlightSafety Learning Centers, I’ve been told that the stated objective is to upgrade the pilot’s skills one level or more above where they were at the beginning of the course.

I always encourage a seeker of the review to stretch their customary envelope while we’re at it. Why waste the opportunity presented by having a CFI in the right seat? Setting up simulated emergencies, with full foreknowledge and briefing, is unlikely to be something a pilot does on his or her own. This is the chance to practice for the unexpected power loss or failure of landing gear to extend.

There’s more to be revealed

You’ve probably established a routine in your aircraft that you automatically slide into every time you settle into the pilot’s seat. You set up the avionics in a certain way, ignoring the potential in other methods. You have one takeoff configuration, one checklist flow, one method of leaning the mixture. See if the CFI uses another means of achieving the same result.

Ask the CFI if they do it your way, or if they’ve got another technique they picked up from other instructors and pilots. You may use one notch of flaps for all takeoffs, while the POH says meeting the short-field performance numbers requires the second detent. With the CFI at your elbow, see how that change affects trim setting and climb attitude. You don’t have to adopt alternative methods entirely, but don’t pass up a chance to experiment.

What’s it worth to you?

You are going to pay for receiving the flight review, probably a small fraction of the operating cost of the flight portion. Isn’t discovering the weakest corners of your flying worth what you’re putting in the CFI’s pocket? Don’t spend your cash uselessly boring holes in the air.

Get your money’s worth

The most valuable part of the flight review, in my experience, is the ground training we must log, where I get a chance to update the individual on the last two years’ worth of changes and addenda. Most current pilots can fly well enough to earn the endorsement, but they almost invariably have missed some of the things that have changed since earning their certificate.

Take-aways

What you should be going away with is not just a fresh signature in the back of the logbook, but a feeling of accomplishment. Did you learn something, find out something new, or now have the potential to be a better pilot from having undergone the flight review experience?

Start early

Do not begin the flight review process on the last few days of the month yours is due. You know it’s coming, so work on your skills a little, hoping to impress the CFI with your ability as well as your flight history. Your flying, and your knowledge, should be commensurate with your experience. A large number of flight hours ought to be recognizable without opening the logbook; brush up in advance with a few challenging landings or steep turns.

Busy flight instructors are the ones you want to book a review with. CFIs with an open schedule probably are languishing for a reason; they are being avoided because they have little to offer. Set up your appointment in the month before your flight review is due, so there’s time for a weather delay or unexpected work demands. When it’s time for your next flight review, don’t let the opportunity for an upgrade slip through the cracks.

LeRoy Cook is an airline transport pilot, instructor, and frequent contributor to AOPA publications.