Common Flight Review Ground Questions: What CFIs Ask
The ground portion of a flight review doesn't follow a fixed script, but experienced CFIs consistently return to the same core topics. Here's what comes up most often and what a well-prepared pilot should be able to discuss.
VFR Weather Minimums
This is the single most common ground topic. 14 CFR 91.155 defines VFR weather minimums by airspace class. CFIs ask because weather judgment is directly tied to safety — a pilot who doesn't know the minimums for the airspace they're flying can make illegal or dangerous decisions.
Know the minimums cold: Class B is 3SM and clear of clouds. Class C and D are 3SM, 500 below / 1,000 above / 2,000 horizontal. Class E below 10,000 MSL is the same as C and D. Class G at and below 1,200 AGL in the daytime is 1SM and clear of clouds — the most permissive and the one pilots most often get wrong.
CFIs also ask about Special VFR: what it is, when you can request it, and what the night Special VFR requirements are (instrument rating and instrument-equipped aircraft).
Pilot Currency
14 CFR 61.57 defines recent flight experience requirements. To carry passengers, you need 3 takeoffs and 3 landings within the preceding 90 days in the same category and class. For night passenger carrying, those must be full-stop landings at night.
CFIs commonly ask: "You haven't flown in three months. Can you carry a passenger?" The answer depends on whether you've met the 90-day takeoff and landing requirement — the flight review currency and the passenger-carrying currency are separate questions.
BasicMed also comes up frequently now. Know the requirements: must have held a medical after July 14, 2006, complete an online medical course, and be examined by a state-licensed physician every 48 months.
Aircraft Airworthiness
Required inspections under Part 91: annual inspection every 12 calendar months (91.409), transponder every 24 calendar months (91.413), ELT every 12 calendar months or after 1 hour cumulative use (91.207), and pitot-static every 24 calendar months if conducting IFR flight (91.411).
The 100-hour inspection (91.409b) is a common point of confusion. It's only required when the aircraft is used for hire or flight instruction for hire — not for personal flying. Know the distinction.
Inoperative equipment: if an item is inoperative, the pilot must determine whether it's required by the VFR equipment list (91.205), an airworthiness directive, or the kinds of operations list in the POH. If it's not required, it must be deactivated and placarded INOPERATIVE. This is a DPE and CFI favorite because it requires understanding the regulatory hierarchy, not just memorizing a rule.
Airspace
Entry requirements for controlled airspace: Class B requires an explicit ATC clearance. Class C requires two-way radio contact and ATC acknowledgment of your callsign before entering. Class D requires two-way radio contact. These are distinct requirements that pilots routinely confuse.
Equipment requirements: transponder with Mode C is required in Class A, B, and C, within 30NM of a Class B primary airport (the Mode C veil), and above 10,000 MSL except in Class G below 2,500 AGL.
CFIs also ask about special use airspace: what MOAs, restricted areas, and prohibited areas are, how to find out if they're active, and what you do if you find yourself approaching one.
Right-of-Way Rules
14 CFR 91.113. The right-of-way hierarchy: aircraft in distress, then balloons, gliders, airships, powered aircraft (including airplanes, helicopters), weight-shift, and powered parachutes. An aircraft lower in the hierarchy must give way to those above it.
Converging aircraft at approximately the same altitude: the aircraft on the right has the right of way, except balloons, gliders, and aircraft towing or refueling always have the right of way over powered aircraft. Overtaking: the overtaking aircraft gives way, regardless of category.
Head-on: both aircraft alter course to the right. Landing: aircraft on final approach have the right of way over aircraft on the ground, and a lower aircraft on final has the right of way over a higher one.
Practical Decision-Making
Beyond regulations, CFIs want to see sound ADM (aeronautical decision making). Expect scenario questions: "You're 30 minutes from your destination and the weather ahead is deteriorating. What do you do?" or "Your fuel is lower than expected. Walk me through your thinking."
There's no single right answer to scenario questions. The CFI is looking for a structured thought process — not a memorized answer. PAVE (Pilot, Aircraft, enVironment, External pressures) and IMSAFE are frameworks, not scripts. Use them to show how you think, not to recite them from memory.
Flight Review Prep covers all of these ground topics with an AI CFI that asks follow-up questions — the same way your real CFI will. Practice at your own pace before your flight review. Try it free.