You have an additional 3 calendar months past your Recency Experience Date to update via our FIRC.

No, you can purchase it anytime. From your FIRC, locate the RENEWAL DETAILS section.  Under “Your FIRC Paperwork Instructions,” you’ll see the following:  “Our records show that you have not purchased our ACR Service. If you would like American Flyers to process your FIRC paperwork so you don’t have to schedule an appointment at the FSDO, please click here.”  Click on that link to purchase the IACRA paperwork processing method.

You must complete the first four steps of the renewal checklist in your American Flyers account. Then everything you need to do is complete and the ACR will be alerted to review your paperwork. You will be notified via email when your Temporary Certificate is available or if there is a problem with your IACRA application.

There is another document which can be used in place of the CFI certificate. Here is the link where you can obtain a Verification of Certificate Privileges:  https://amsrvs.registry.faa.gov/amsrvs/Logon.asp?cmd=warning To utilize the online services, you must establish an account with the Airmen Certification Branch.  Once you’ve completed that process, you’ll receive an e-mail with the document. Upload the Verification of Certificate Privileges as the BACK scan and the front of your pilot’s certificate (ATP or Commercial) as the FRONT scan.  If you don’t have your pilot’s certificate, simply use the Verification of Certificate Privileges as the FRONT and BACK scan.

If you start your FIRC too far in advance of your Recency Experience Date, you risk the chance of missing regulatory or guidance changes. The intent of the FIRC is to keep you current and safe. As pilots and instructors, we take that responsibility very seriously.

The American Flyers site has an EST time stamp. The FAA’s IACRA site has a CST time stamp. Those in different time zones attempting to complete the refresher on the last day of the month will need to take this into account. Do not wait until your Recency Experience Date to submit your paperwork.

The online FIRC consists of 13 lessons. There are two, 30 multiple choice question quizzes, one at the end of Lesson 6 and one that is comprehensive at the end of Lesson 13. 70% is required to pass. After you’ve successfully completed all lessons, you must submit your application through the FAA’s IACRA site. To guarantee the refresher, the ACR requires at least five business days before Recency Experience Date. 

The FAA has mandated a few changes to online FIRC presentations. One of these changes ensures each candidate satisfies the minimum time requirement for each lesson. We have installed a timer at the top of each page to accomplish this. You will need to demonstrate some interactive action (i.e., page refresh, next page) once every 10 minutes. Doing so will ensure that the timer continues to run. If you do not have some interactive action within the 10 minutes, the timer will stop until you refresh or change pages. Once you refresh or change pages, the timer will resume counting.

The material cannot be downloaded. To ensure you have satisfied the minimum time requirement for each lesson, you must do the course on a device with an active internet connection.

Once you purchase the FIRC it is yours to use for life. If you want to save yourself a trip to the FSDO and have American Flyers complete your refresher, the IACRA processing method is additional each time you renew.

If you fail once, you immediately get a second attempt. If you fail that, our FIRC support team will reset it for another 2 attempts. If you fail those, we will put you in touch with our National Chief Pilot for any questions you may have. After that, the test will be reset for a fifth attempt.

No, there is no automatic submission of paperwork. You must submit your application through the FAA’s IACRA site then provide us with the necessary ID info through the renewal checklist in your American Flyers account.