How to Prepare for Your Flight Review

Before opening a study guide, think through the last 12 months of your flying. What types of flights have you been doing? What situations have made you uncertain? When did you last fly to an unfamiliar airport, file for flight following, or handle an unexpected situation in the air?

The areas where you felt uncertain or avoided a situation are the areas to prioritize. A flight review is most useful when it addresses real gaps, not just the topics that are easiest to study.

Part 91 is the core of the ground portion. Focus on: VFR weather minimums (91.155), pilot currency requirements (61.57), required aircraft inspections (91.409, 91.413, 91.207, 91.411), inoperative equipment (91.213), airspace entry requirements, and right-of-way rules (91.113).

Check whether anything has changed since your last review. Airspace boundaries, TFR procedures, and regulatory guidance all update periodically. The FAA's aeronautical chart supplements and NOTAMs are worth a quick scan.

Review your aircraft's POH — particularly the emergency procedures section and the systems descriptions. CFIs notice when a pilot can't explain their own aircraft's fuel system or electrical system.

If you haven't flown recently, the best investment is a few hours of solo or dual flying before the review itself. Currency flying before the flight review means the review session focuses on quality rather than rust removal.

Practice the basics: slow flight, power-on and power-off stalls, steep turns, and traffic pattern work. These are the foundation — if they feel rough, everything else will too. Solo a few pattern sessions and a short cross-country if you can.

If you've been flying regularly, focus instead on the things you don't do often. Emergency procedures, diversion planning, and non-standard operations are common review topics that regular pilots rarely practice.

At the start of the session, tell your CFI what kind of flying you've been doing and what you want to get out of the review. A CFI who knows you fly mostly local VFR will approach the session differently than one who assumes you're doing cross-country IFR.

Be honest about any areas of uncertainty. "I haven't flown to a Class C airport in a while and I'm not confident about the entry procedures" is useful information. It gives the CFI something specific to address, and it shows the kind of self-awareness that experienced pilots demonstrate.

Review the weather products you'll use for your preflight: METARs, TAFs, AIRMETs, and winds aloft. Know how to get a standard weather briefing and what a thorough preflight weather evaluation looks like. CFIs often start the ground session by asking you to evaluate the weather for a hypothetical flight.

Check your logbook and make sure your endorsements and currency are in order. Know when your medical expires, when your last flight review was, and whether you're current for passenger carrying. These are easy questions that pilots sometimes can't answer off the top of their head.

If the CFI determines you're not ready for an endorsement at the end of the session, the session becomes training rather than a review. You'll continue flying dual until the CFI is satisfied — there's no penalty beyond the additional time.

This is rare for pilots who prepare. Most pilots who study the ground material and get current before the review complete their flight review in a single session. Preparation is what makes the difference.