Instrument Flight Instructor (CFII) Ground School
advanced 36 lessons ~18h total 75 practice questions 10 units Certificate on completion
Learn to teach instrument flying — the scan, holds, approaches, partial panel, and IFR risk management — to the standard of the CFII ACS.
About this course
Earning the CFII is not about flying instrument procedures better — you already do that. It is about being able to **teach** them, **diagnose** why a student is failing, and **manage risk** while doing so from the right seat with a divided scan. This course is built around the *Instrument Flight Instructor Airman Certification Standards (FAA-S-ACS-8)* and the *Aviation Instructor's Handbook (FAA-H-8083-9)*, and it integrates the *Instrument Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-15)* and the *Instrument Procedures Handbook (FAA-H-8083-16)*. You will learn how to build an instrument syllabus and individual lesson plans, how to recognize the predictable failure modes of instrument students — fixation, omission, and emphasis errors in the scan; busting holds; chasing the needles on an approach — and how to remediate each one. We dedicate full sections to teaching the two highest-stakes maneuvers a CFII oversees: **partial-panel flight** and **recovery from unusual attitudes**, both of which you must demonstrate, talk through, and let a student attempt safely. Finally, the course treats the things that make instrument instruction legally and operationally distinct: logging and currency rules, the use of view-limiting devices and safety pilots, simulated versus actual IMC, aeronautical decision-making for IFR, and structured approach briefings and debriefings. Every lesson is written to be exam-accurate and immediately usable in the airplane.
What you'll learn
Build an instrument training syllabus and write objective, standards-based lesson plans aligned to the CFII ACS
Diagnose and remediate the most common instrument student errors in the scan, holds, and instrument approaches
Demonstrate and teach partial-panel flight and recovery from unusual attitudes safely from the instructor seat
Apply and explain the regulatory framework for instrument instruction: logging, currency, view-limiting devices, and IPCs
Integrate aeronautical decision-making and risk management into every instrument lesson
Deliver effective preflight approach briefings and structured post-flight debriefings that drive learning
MH
Your instructor
Marcus Hale
ATP · CFI · CFII · MEI · AGI · IGI
ATP and Gold Seal CFII with over 6,000 hours and fifteen years training instrument students and instructor candidates in piston and turbine aircraft.
Summary
Skill level
Advanced
Lessons
36
Duration
6h 54m
Practice bank
75 questions
Certification
Yes
Language
English