April 30, 2012 

Randy Hansen 

Experimental Aircraft Association 

Director, EAA Government Relations 

P.O. Box 3086 

Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086 

Dear Mr. Hansen: 

In your June 17, 2011 letter, you petitioned the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to 

amend § 61.213(b) of Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). 

When the FAA responds to petitions for rulemaking, it must follow the requirements of 14 

CFR Part 11, particularly those guidelines for processing petitions for rulemaking found in 

§ 11.73. As stated in that section, the FAA uses the following criteria when making a 

decision as to whether or not to amend current regulations based on a petition for 

rulemaking: 

1) the immediacy of the safety or security concerns the petition raises; 

2) the priority of other FAA issues; and 

3) the resources we have available to address these issues. 

That petition for rulemaking, if amended, would specifically exclude any person that holds a 

current teacher’s certificate issued by a State, county, city, or municipality from having to 

take the Fundamentals of Instruction (FOI) written test. In addition to the petition to amend 

§ 61.213(b) for the purposes of excluding any person with a teaching certificate from taking 

the FOI written test, EAA’s petition for rulemaking would exclude military instructor pilots 

or U.S. military pilot examiners who meet the documentation requirements of § 61.73(g) 

from taking the FOI test. 

Regarding the first part of EAA’s petition, the current regulation, in pertinent part, excludes 

an individual with a teacher’s certificate that authorizes that individual to teach at the 7th

grade level or higher from taking the FOI written test. The FAA notes that EAA believes 

this change would allow additional highly qualified individuals to apply to become 14 CFR 

part 61 ground instructors enabling the next generation of airmen to have additional 

opportunities available to them. However, the FAA would need more data to consider this 
2

request. Does the EAA have data on how many persons applying for a ground instructor 

certificate would benefit by such a regulation change? 

Regarding the second part of the petition, EAA states that “§61.73(g)(3)(i) mandates that 

[military instructor pilots and pilot examiners] must take both the FOI and the aeronautical 

knowledge written tests.” This is incorrect. Section 61.73(g) does not require that a 

qualified military applicant pass the FOI test. The regulation and current FAA guidance 

requires that an applicant who does not hold a certified flight instructor certificate take and 

pass only the Military Competence Instructor (MCI) knowledge test. Nevertheless, EAA’s 

petition requests that § 61.213 be amended not § 61.73(g). EAA’s petition would allow 

military personnel that are not required to take the FOI written test when applying for a flight 

instructor certificate under § 61.73(g) to be excluded from taking the FOI written test when 

applying for a ground instructor certificate. 

The FAA notes that EAA believes that “their demonstrated flight instruction qualification 

should be sufficient to authorize this exemption.” The FAA agrees with this statement and 

notes that under § 61.213(b)(1), an airman that holds a flight instructor certificate issued 

under part 61 is excluded from taking FOI written tests. This means that military or former 

military personnel with the qualifications and documents to receive a flight instructor 

certificate under part 61.73(g) can receive that certificate and use it to be excluded from 

taking the FOI written test for the ground instructor certificate. 

For the reasons above, the FAA will not initiate a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking; however, 

the FAA will consider EAA’s comments and arguments for a rule change as part of a present 

and ongoing project on the same subject. 

Accordingly, Docket No. FAA-2011-0440 is being closed. 

Sincerely, 

/s/ 

John S. Duncan 

Deputy Director, Flight Standards 

 Service