The Student File Audit Checklist From PreflightLog

Before the first lesson

Verify citizenship status and place the student in the right TSA categoryCheck the documents 49 CFR 1552 accepts and keep a dated record of what you looked at. If the student is not a US citizen, do not begin flight instruction until the security threat assessment step is complete.
Copy the medical certificate and the student pilot certificateNote the class, the issue date and any limitations. Confirm the student pilot certificate application is actually in progress, since it arrives on its own schedule and solo cannot happen without it.
Open the IACRA account and record the FTNDoing this on day one removes a common day of the practical test scramble. Store the FTN in the student file where the recommending instructor can find it without a phone call.
Photograph the government issued photo IDYou need it for identity verification and the examiner will need it again. A clear image in the file beats a search through a wallet on the ramp.
Write down the syllabus and the training agreement you will flyName the syllabus, the expected hour target and how ground time is billed. Good looks like a student who can repeat back what the next four lessons cover.

Through the pre solo phase

Grade every maneuver against the ACS on the day it is flownRecord the tolerance actually achieved, not a general impression. A stage check or a recommendation later is only as good as the evidence sitting behind it.
Write, administer and grade the pre solo knowledge test yourselfIt must cover the regulations, the airspace at your field and the flight characteristics of the make and model. Review every incorrect answer with the student and log that you did.
Date the 61.87 make and model endorsement correctlyThe endorsement is specific to the make and model flown solo and carries a ninety day clock. If the student switches to a different trainer, the endorsement does not follow.
Put the solo limitations in writingWind limits, allowed airports, allowed practice areas and any traffic pattern restrictions. Written limits protect the student and protect you when someone asks what was authorized.
Track the ninety day solo clock for every solo studentSet a reminder rather than trusting memory. A lapsed solo endorsement discovered on a Saturday morning costs an airplane slot and a student a weekend.

Cross country and stage checks

Endorse each solo cross country route before the flightReview the planning with the student, confirm the weather and the route are within their ability, and record both the general 61.93 endorsement and the route specific one.
Record the stage check result, the date and who flew itUse a second instructor when you can staff one. Write down the reason for any hold, since a hold with no stated reason is the one students argue about later.
Track the hour buckets separately as they accumulateNight, simulated instrument, cross country, solo and dual all have separate requirements. Watching them as buckets prevents the discovery that a student is three tenths short of one line.
Close every knowledge test deficiency codeReview each subject code shown on the airman knowledge test report, and record that the review happened and was signed. Examiners look for this early and it ends tests before engine start.
Confirm the student logbook matches your training recordCompare totals once per stage. A disagreement between the two is easy to fix in October and painful to fix at the examiner table in December.

Before you sign the recommendation

Do the aeronautical experience math twiceWork 61.109 line by line against the logbook, then have someone else check it. Pay attention to the specific cross country distance and the night landing requirements, which are the ones most often missed.
Date the 61.39 recommendation inside the windowThe recommendation has a clock and the practical test has to happen while it is valid. If the checkride slips past the window, the endorsement has to be reissued after another review.
Assemble the applicant document packetPhoto ID, medical, student pilot certificate, logbook, knowledge test report, the IACRA application signed and the required endorsements. Lay it out and look at it as an examiner would.
Check the aircraft records the examiner is entitled to seeAirworthiness and registration, current annual, hundred hour if required, transponder and static system checks, ELT battery and any airworthiness directives due. Confirm the airplane is legal on the actual test date.
Confirm the examiner date, the fee and what the applicant must bringSend the applicant a written summary the week before. Good looks like a student who arrives with everything in one folder and nothing to look up.

How to use it

Use this as a stage document, not as a one time exercise. Run the first section during enrollment, the second before the first solo, the third the week you start the cross country phase, and the fourth before you write a recommendation. Each pass takes ten to fifteen minutes and each pass finds something, usually a date rather than a missing document.

In a school with more than one instructor, make the completed sheet part of the handoff. When a student flies with whoever is available, the file is the only thing that knows what is done, and a shared checklist stops two instructors from each assuming the other closed the knowledge test deficiency codes.

Send me the editable copy

Send it to your inbox as an editable copy you can put your own school name on and hand to every instructor on the schedule.

Questions about this document

Is this specific to the private pilot certificate?

The structure fits any initial certificate, but the hour references and the pre solo items are written around a private pilot student. For an instrument or commercial applicant, keep the four stages and replace the experience math with the requirements for that certificate.

Do I still need this if I track progress in PreflightLog?

The software tracks the same items and warns you on the dated ones, so most instructors use the printed sheet during enrollment and before a recommendation only. Keeping a paper pass before you sign is a habit worth having regardless of the tool.

Can I put my flight school name on it?

Yes. The emailed copy is editable so you can add your school name, your syllabus references and any local items such as the specific practice areas or the airports you allow for solo cross country flights.

The audit only helps on the day you remember to run it

Working the four stages by hand does catch the missing date, but the whole method depends on you sitting down with the folder. PreflightLog watches the ninety day solo clock and the recommendation window for every student in the file and speaks up before an examiner has to. A demo shows the same audit running by itself against your roster.

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