CFI Checkride Guide
Chair flying / Teaching the Four Fundamentals

Teaching the Four Fundamentals

Run a first-lesson block — straight-and-level, turns, climbs, descents — with integrated instruction and the attitude-power-trim sequence.

Chair fly itACS VIII.A — Straight-and-Level FlightACS VIII.B — Level TurnsACS VIII.C — Straight Climbs and Climbing TurnsACS VIII.D — Straight Descents and Descending Turns

Teaching Frame (Brief — Demo — Practice — Debrief)

  1. Preflight brief on the ground: what, why, how, and the completion standard
    Name the maneuver, tie it to the ACS task and the standard, explain why it matters operationally, then walk the procedure. The student should be able to describe it back before engine start (AIH ch. 5).
  2. Set the ground rules: positive exchange of controls, three-way
    Every transfer is spoken and acknowledged both ways, with a visual check. Establish it before the first maneuver and hold it all flight (AIH ch. 8).
  3. Clearing turns and airspace — you are responsible for the whole airplane
  4. Demo with a running narration — talk the picture, not just the numbers
    Say what you look at and when: outside references, then the instrument cross-check. The student learns your scan, not only your control inputs.

Setup

  1. Brief the block on the ground: these four are every other maneuver's ingredients
  2. Teach the sequence they will use all training: attitude, power, trim
    Set the attitude against the outside reference, set the power for the performance you want, then trim the pressure away. Students who trim first chase the airplane forever.
  3. Integrated instruction: pair each outside reference with its instrument
    Say both every time — nose-on-the-horizon and the attitude indicator, wingtip and the heading indicator. This builds the instrument scan early without teaching head-down flying.

Execution

  1. Straight-and-level: demo the picture, hand it over, coach with references not numbers
    "Put the cowling there and hold it" beats "maintain 3,000." The altimeter is the check, not the control.
  2. Level turns: roll rate, coordination, back pressure to hold altitude, lead the rollout“Look outside — clear, then roll”
  3. Climbs: pitch to the attitude, power, trim; teach clearing the nose-high blind spot
  4. Descents: power first, then attitude, then trim; teach the engine care habit
  5. Name the first-lesson errors as they happen
    Staring at instruments; over-controlling; forgetting rudder in the roll; climbing in the turn; chasing altitude with power in level flight.

Recovery

  1. Positive exchange every transfer, and let them fly more than you do
  2. Debrief against the lesson's completion standards — then set the next lesson's objective

ACS tolerances

  • Teach and demonstrate to the private pilot standard
  • Integrated instruction — outside reference paired with instrument
  • Positive exchange of controls every time

Common errors

  • Instructor talks continuously and the student never gets quiet time to feel the airplane
  • Coaching in numbers instead of attitudes and references
  • Demonstrating repeatedly instead of handing the controls over early
  • Letting the student fixate inside on the first lesson