Quote:try to do your BFR with the instructor that trained you.
if that is not possible try and do the flight review with an instructor who see's you out at the airport frequently.
If the guy already knows what your made of or he is confident that you stay current he will be less hesitant to put his name in your book!
When i had a stranger come in for a BFR... i always did everything by the book 100% 1 hour on the ground with questions about regulations, performace etc and 1 hour in flight with stalls, slow flight, steep turns, engine outs, short and soft field landings etc etc.
now if i knew the guy well or trained the guy... the review was "Fly me to Bumfu*k municipal and lets get a hamburger and come back" en route there would be an engine out and a stall to the warning horn. the oral would take place en route add usually only consist of real world questions like "when do i have to wear my seatbelt?" "how many people can you fit in this airplane?" "how many if it is hot outside?" "if you move to another city do you have to report that to the FAA?" and that was about it.
so its really to your advantage to BFR with a guy you know and who knows you.
The one who trained me? There were 5 total during my PP, and all but one died of heart failure... no, just kidding... they've moved on, and so have I.
Five instructors... it's a miracle I ever finished!! All the reviewing, etc...
But in the end, I benefitted from that, because each one taught me something the others didn't, and I was never nervous about stage checks and other one-time flights with a strange CFI... most lessons I'd show up and not know who I'd be flying with, anyway!
This last BFR was after a couple of years' hiatus and starting over at a new facility, so it couldn't be helped. My previous one was with the same guy who'd checked me out for rentals at a different FBO just earlier, so that was simpler... he knew my ability already. But he didn't rubber-stamp me, either.
But I honestly enjoyed getting grilled and worked over on this last one- I needed it after so long on the ground. For me, it was not just to be legal- it was proper refresher training. Sadly, I can't remember the most outrageous question on the oral (maybe it'll come to me), but he had some real left-fielders. This was one of those guys with two or three giant binders full of study materials, much of it his own customized notes and charts... an aspiring airline pilot, and he really knew his stuff.
I even suggested we do two flights... he was very thorough, but not a prick about it.
Oh, I do recall one good thing: to check my VFR chart-interpretation skills, he slapped down the Los Angeles TCA... LOL!! Never flown there; never seen that chart. I know the NYC one damn well, but it was like seeing a TCA for the first time. Jogged a few gears loose in my head that I hadn't used in years.
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