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AOPA’s popular electronic flight instructor refresher course (eFIRC) provides a customized way for flight instructors to fulfill their currency requirement by offering 13 pilot-selectable electives – including new seaplane and helicopter elements.
Developed by AOPA’s award-winning Air Safety Institute (ASI), the eFIRC syllabus offers instructors a variety of electives to fit their interests. In addition to the seaplane and helicopter elective added for 2015, the course also offers electives that have been built on existing ASI courses, such as Teaching VFR into IMC avoidance, Aging Aircraft, Mountain Flying, Cockpit Weather and Public Benefit Flying.
If an instructor has completed any of those ASI courses within their two-year renewal window, they will receive instant credit in the eFIRC – so instructors may already have some of their refresher course complete before even enrolling in the course.
“EFIRC is a great, innovative way to stay current as an instructor, and we’re really excited about offering the seaplane and helicopter electives for the first time,” said Kristine Hartzell, ASI’s chief flight instructor. “We’ve built on the basic course to allow CFI’s to expand into the kind of flying that most interests them, and that best serves the needs of their students.”
ASI’s eFIRC online is the only course that allows certified flight instructors to begin their refresher program a full two–years before their renewal date. That means CFI’s can do the coursework when it fits their schedule, and they can take EFIRC along with them on a laptop or mobile device. The renewal is also completely online so there’s no need to visit the notary or mail in paperwork at the end of the course. And EFIRC is available to all instructors – not just AOPA members.
Since 1950, AOPA’s Air Safety Institute has served all pilots—not just AOPA members—by providing free safety education programs, analyzing safety data and conducting safety research. ASI offers award-winning online courses, nearly 200 live seminars annually throughout the U.S., flight instructor refresher courses, webinars, accident case studies and other materials to help pilots be safer and better informed.
