I passed my CFII test yesterday.
This check ride is a replay of the instrument rating check ride with expectation to teach a few things while flying approaches from the right seat.
Things are easier now compared to when I took my instrument rating check ride as now you can use the GPS for VOR approaches (with some conditions).
The rating spanned over one and a half year, with most time spent on reading.
The pace was from slow at the beginning to rapid towards the end.
As always, I passed my written first.
I had not flown instruments for more than a year, so I started simulator work to get my instruments skills back in Executive Flyers. Spanned over two months, I did 9 hours of ground, 3 hours of simulator, and about 6 hours of flight time to get back to instrument proficiency.
Then I started studying. I studied like I tell my students to study: One hour everyday, at the end of the day.
I studied IPH, IFH, and AIM, and underlined important phrases for lesson plans. I prepared lesson plans on most common topics: holds, emergencies, en-route charts, flight planning, and terminal procedures. There is a lot to cover in these topics, so I called my lesson plans "introductory". For example, "First lesson on holds". I left rest of the lesson plan topics to on-spot preparation as examiners allow it (it is a necessary skill of practical teaching).
By the time I was done with study, I was instruments rusty again. Then I went rapid fire on approaches, flew three dozen approaches in 12 flying hours over two weeks at my club (NSAC). Then I took the test.
Costs:
Executive Flyers instructor (18 hours): $1080
Executive Flyers simulator (3 hours): $270
Executive Flyers plane (6 hours): $900
NSAC instructor (12 hours): $360
NSAC plane (14 hours): $1400
Examiner Fee: $300
Total: $4310.
