FAA MEI study guide
FAA MEI · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The Flight Instructor for Airplane Category Airman Certification Standards, FAA-S-ACS-25, is the FAA's testing standard for the flight instructor certificate with an airplane rating. The FAA lists it with an April 2024 publication date and an effective date of May 31, 2024. The FAA MEI study guide has 8 sections and about 3,757 words.
01Fundamentals of Instructing
The Fundamentals of Instructing domain asks whether you can explain how learning happens and defend your teaching choices. The MEI oral is not a repeat of the private pilot checkride: expect scenario questions such as a multiengine student who can recite the Vmc factors but freezes during an engine-failure drill.
512 words, about 3 min02Technical Subject Areas
This domain tests whether you can teach aerodynamics, systems, performance, weight and balance, weather, airspace, and regulations at a learner's level without losing accuracy. The examiner may ask you to explain a concept in two ways: once to a private pilot candidate and once to a commercial candidate.
501 words, about 3 min03Preflight Preparation
Preflight Preparation tests whether you can prepare a flight and teach a learner to prepare one: airworthiness, weather, performance, weight and balance, fuel, alternates, risk controls, and personal minimums. The examiner expects a systematic briefing, not a scattered checklist recital.
485 words, about 2 min04Preflight Lesson on a Maneuver to be Performed in Flight
This domain evaluates a preflight lesson for a maneuver you will then fly. The examiner is checking organization, ACS standards, risk controls, and transfer of control.
398 words, about 2 min05Airport and Traffic Pattern Operations
This domain tests towered and non-towered airport operations: pattern legs, radio calls, signs and markings, runway incursion avoidance, wake turbulence, right-of-way, and ATC clearances. The MEI must teach both the procedures and the judgment behind them.
523 words, about 3 min06Flight Maneuvers
Flight Maneuvers tests your ability to teach and analyze commercial and instructor-level maneuvers: steep turns, chandelles, lazy eights, eights on pylons, stalls, slow flight, emergency descents, and go-arounds. The examiner watches for maneuver mechanics, division of attention, clearing turns, and correction of common errors.
452 words, about 2 min07Single-Pilot Resource Management
Single-Pilot Resource Management tests whether you can teach a pilot flying alone to manage risk, attention, automation, and decisions. In the MEI oral, SRM often appears as a single-engine decision scenario: an engine failure, an icing encounter, or a worsening weather system with one pilot and no second crewmember.
390 words, about 2 min08Multiengine Operations
Multiengine Operations is the core MEI domain: Vmc, critical engine, asymmetric thrust, drag reduction, single-engine performance, engine-failure procedures, and single-engine approach and landing. The examiner expects precise definitions and the ability to teach why the airplane behaves as it does.
496 words, about 2 min