Postflight Procedures
After landing and securing
The postflight phase is not just parking. Complete the after-landing and securing checklists, close or cancel the IFR flight plan, switch the transponder as required, and record discrepancies. Any inoperative item goes through 91.213 - MEL, placard, disable, and a maintenance write-up - before the next IFR flight. Fuel, oil, and oxygen servicing and tie-down are part of the instructor's responsibility when acting as PIC.
Records and endorsements
Every instructional flight gets a logbook entry: date, total time, type of instruction, conditions, and your signature with certificate number and expiration date. Your endorsements must use AC 61-65 wording and cover instrument experience, the IPC, the knowledge test, and the practical test. Under 61.189 you must retain a record of each endorsement - including the name of each person endorsed, the kind of test, the date, and the result - for 3 years. Use IACRA to submit practical test applications and track them to completion.
Debrief and follow-up
A good postflight debrief is objective: review the stated objective, ask the learner to self-assess first, then add your observations, and assign specific study or practice before the next lesson. Document the plan in a training record.
Worked example
An applicant took the instrument knowledge test 18 months ago after your endorsement. You endorsed the test, and that record naming the applicant, the test type, date, and result must still be in your files - three years, not three months.
Trap: remembering 3 years for logbook and endorsement retention, but forgetting that an aircraft discrepancy does not clear itself by being unmentioned at the next preflight.