Are you a pilot-owner in the vicinity of Westchester County, NY or Danbury, CT?
Are your flight review requirements about to expire?
Email us at info@independentaviation.training to plan today a flight review, in your plane, at your field, around your schedule
— we’ll reply quickly.
What the law says
You need a flight review in the last 24 calendar months in order to act as PIC, according to 14 CFR 61.56.
Make yourself a safer pilot
Has it been a while since you last took a checkride, or flew with an instructor? When did you last practice an emergency landing? Flying for a long time without a qualified observer can lead to picking up bad habits, and normalizing risk because “that’s the way I have always done it”. The flight review is the perfect time for you to get independent, qualified feedback on the quality of your flying. It’s also the perfect time to practice the emergency skills that make you a safe pilot.
A personalized approach
We value your time and want to make the most of it. Your flight review should revolve around the real-world type of flying you most frequently do. Do you mostly fly short flights or do you commute? VFR or IFR? Do you fly to soft fields? Do you fly at night? Do you typically carry passengers? Let’s tune your training around your real needs and the hazards you will encounter in that specific type of flying.
What to expect
While the legally mandated minimums include one hour of ground instruction and one hour of flight instruction, the typical experience is approximately one hour of self-paced preparation study, followed by two hours of ground instruction and two hours of flight training.
Ground instruction is offered flexibly in person or via video call, at your preference and around your schedule.
Renegotiate your personal minimums
When was the last time you revised your personal minimums? Many private pilots choose their minimums during primary instruction and then never dedicate intentional time to revise them. How strong a cross-wind will you take off with? How low a ceiling will you accept for a local VFR flight? Are you still comfortable flying approaches down to 200-ft minimums? Let’s rediscuss your minimums to account for the experience you have accumulated, and for your current level of proficiency.
A flight review is not a checkride
A flight review is not a pass/fail test, and there’s no risk of “failing” it.
There’s no need for a tense cockpit atmosphere that creates performance anxiety.
The flight review is rather a training opportunity, in which we are practicing real-world flying tasks together till we are satisfied with them, in a non-judgmental environment.
Resources to Plan
your Flight Review
FAA Flight Review Prep Guide
This course is easily completed at home in 1-2 hours and will give you WINGS credit and a certificate of completion.
Refresh your knowledge in preparation for the flight review by taking FAA WINGS Course ALC-25.


FAA Flight Review Guidelines
Review the FAA publication Conducting an Effective Flight Review with special attention to:
- Form “Pilot’s Aeronautical History” – page 6
- “Developing Personal Weather Minimums” – page 18
- “Personal Proficiency Practice Plan” – page 24.
Review Maneuvers and Standards
During the flight portion of the review, we will perform a short cross-country and a selection of maneuvers relevant to your flying, e.g.:
- Takeoffs and landings: normal, soft field and short field
- Slow flight
- Stall recognition, stalls, recovery
- Spin recognition and avoidance (no actual spins performed)
- Recovery from unusual attitudes under instruments only
- Basic instrument flight

