Customizing Flight Review Can Make Huge Difference

Seminar offers multipronged approach for pilots and instructors to turn it into genuine tool for continuing education and safety.

Meg Godlewski

Tuesday, February 24, 2026 at 08:00 AM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Travis Tingle

Pilots in the cockpit [Credit: Shutterstock]

Key Takeaways:

The flight review is a crucial safety tool that should be customized through pre-planning between the pilot and instructor to address specific skill gaps, neglected maneuvers, or areas of trepidation.
Pilots are cautioned against over-reliance on technology and encouraged to maintain fundamental skills like manual weight and balance, performance calculations, and navigation via pilotage and dead reckoning to prevent skill fade and ensure readiness for tech failures.
An effective flight review depends on a good match between the Certified Flight Instructor (CFI) and the client, with both parties carefully screening each other to ensure productive instruction and emphasizing that safety should never be compromised for cost.

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I spent the past weekend at the Northwest Aviation Conference & Trade Show, which is held annually on the third weekend in February at the Washington State Fair Event Center in Puyallup.

The conference is part trade show, part “family reunion,” and part educational smorgasbord. It’s the latter that I enjoy the most. Traditionally, the event has more than 70 hours of seminars covering everything from getting the most out of your aircraft’s avionics or engine, renewal seminars for A&Ps, planning your career, mountain flying, instrument proficiency, and the big kahuna, getting the rust off your pilot certificate.