Get Started Today
Get Started Today

Advanced Ratings and Endorsements for Twin Cities Pilots

Earning a certificate is only part of becoming a well-rounded pilot.
Advanced endorsements and specialized training build the skill, confidence, and versatility to fly a wider range of aircraft safely and competently. At Lake Elmo Aero, our advanced training options, including complex aircraft training, a high-performance endorsement, multi engine training, spin training, and specialized Cirrus instruction, give pilots the opportunity to expand their qualifications well beyond a standard certificate.

Complex Aircraft Training

A complex aircraft is defined by the FAA as one equipped with retractable landing gear, flaps, and a controllable-pitch propeller. Flying a complex aircraft introduces additional systems management and workload that a standard trainer doesn’t require, and a complex aircraft endorsement is what verifies a pilot has the training to safely operate one.

Training covers the specific systems and procedures unique to complex aircraft, including:

  • Proper landing gear and flap management during different phases of flight
  • Controllable-pitch propeller operation and its effect on engine performance
  • Emergency procedures for landing gear or other system malfunctions
  • Managing the increased workload that comes with monitoring and operating additional aircraft systems

For many pilots, complex training is also a practical requirement, since a certain number of hours in a complex or technically advanced aircraft is part of the path toward a Commercial Pilot Certificate.

High-Performance Endorsement

A high-performance endorsement is required before a pilot can act as pilot in command of an aircraft with an engine rated at more than 200 horsepower. These aircraft typically offer more speed, more capability, and a different performance profile than the trainers most students first learn in, which means the transition requires focused, specific instruction rather than simply hopping into a more powerful airplane.

High-performance training at Lake Elmo Aero covers the performance characteristics unique to higher horsepower aircraft, including takeoff and climb performance, cruise and descent planning, and the additional engine management considerations that come with more powerful powerplants. This endorsement is often paired naturally with complex training or Cirrus instruction, since many higher-performance aircraft share these characteristics.

Spin Training

Spin training and endorsement give pilots direct, hands-on experience with spin entry, recognition, and recovery. These are skills that build confidence and sharpen a pilot’s overall aeronautical decision-making, even if they never intentionally spin an aircraft again after training. This type of training is also a specific requirement for pilots working toward a Certified Flight Instructor certificate, since CFI applicants need to be able to both perform and teach proper spin recovery.

At Lake Elmo Aero, spin training is conducted in an aircraft appropriate for the maneuver, with an instructor experienced in both performing and teaching spin entries and recoveries safely. Beyond the specific endorsement requirement for CFI candidates, many pilots pursue spin training simply to build a deeper, more instinctive understanding of how an aircraft behaves at the edges of controlled flight, which tends to make every other kind of flying feel more comfortable and controlled by comparison.

Cirrus Training

As an official Cirrus Training Center, Lake Elmo Aero offers specialized instruction in the Cirrus SR20, a modern, composite aircraft equipped with the Garmin Perspective+ glass cockpit and the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System (CAPS), a unique safety feature that sets Cirrus aircraft apart from most other general aviation airplanes. Our team includes both Training Center Instructors (TCIs) and Cirrus Standardized Instructor Pilots (CSIPs), giving students access to instruction backed directly by Cirrus’s own training standards.

We offer three distinct Cirrus training paths, depending on a pilot’s experience and goals:

1. Transition Training

Transition training is designed for pilots with no prior Cirrus experience who want to become fully proficient flying the SR20, including complete familiarity with its Garmin Perspective+ avionics suite. This program takes a pilot from unfamiliar with the aircraft to comfortable and competent operating it independently.

2. Embark Training

The Embark Program is built for pilots who have recently purchased a Cirrus aircraft and need insurance-approved training to complete their checkout. Through our Cirrus Training Center status, we’re approved to work directly with insurance companies to make sure new owners get the specific training their policy requires. We’re also able to handle most Embark Training requests in and around the Twin Cities, including training in a pilot’s own aircraft at their home airport when needed.

3. Advanced Transition Training

Advanced Transition Training is a five-plus day course designed for instrument-rated pilots who are new to Cirrus aircraft, with a specific emphasis on operating in the IFR environment. This program is built to maximize a pilot’s ability to use the aircraft’s full capability, not just operate it safely, giving experienced instrument pilots a thorough transition into flying IFR in a Cirrus specifically.

Why Pursue Advanced Training and Endorsements

Advanced ratings and endorsements give pilots the training to take on more demanding flying. Each one expands what a pilot is qualified and confident to fly, and several of them, particularly complex and high-performance experience, are practical stepping stones toward a professional aviation career. Beyond the technical requirements, this kind of training builds a deeper overall command of aircraft systems and handling, which carries over into every other kind of flying a pilot does afterward.

For pilots who already own or are considering a Cirrus aircraft specifically, working with a certified Cirrus Training Center matters for reasons beyond convenience. Insurance companies often require documented, standardized training for coverage on a Cirrus, and having access to TCIs and CSIPs means that training meets the standard Cirrus itself has established.

Why Train at Lake Elmo Aero

A Diverse, Well-Maintained Fleet

Our aircraft fleet supports each of these training paths directly, giving students access to the right aircraft for complex, high-performance, spin, and Cirrus-specific training without needing to go elsewhere.

Certified Cirrus Expertise

As one of the only Cirrus Training Centers in central Minnesota, our TCIs and CSIPs bring standardized, factory-aligned training to every Cirrus student, whether that’s a first-time transition, an Embark checkout, or Advanced Transition Training.

A Relaxing Training Environment

Lake Elmo Airport’s smaller, uncontrolled setting just outside the Twin Cities gives students room to focus on building skill and confidence during advanced maneuvers, without the added complexity of a busy airspace environment.

Instructors Who've Done the Work Themselves

Our instructors bring hands-on experience across complex, high-performance, and Cirrus aircraft, giving students insight that goes beyond just meeting the minimum requirements for an endorsement.

Natural Extension of Your Existing Training

Whether you’re continuing your progression toward a Commercial Pilot Certificate or CFI rating, or simply want to expand your qualifications and confidence as a pilot, these advanced training options build directly on the foundation you’ve already established with us.

Get Started With Advanced Training at Lake Elmo Aero

Whether you’re interested in complex aircraft training, a high-performance endorsement, spin training, or specialized Cirrus instruction, our team can help you determine the right path based on your current certificates and your goals. Call Lake Elmo Aero at (651) 777-1399, or reach out through our website to talk with a flight training specialist about advanced ratings and endorsements.

Call (651) 777-1399
Book Now

Frequently Asked Questions About Advanced Ratings and Endorsements

What's the difference between complex and high-performance endorsements?

A complex endorsement covers aircraft with retractable landing gear, flaps, and a controllable-pitch propeller. A high-performance endorsement is required for aircraft with an engine rated at more than 200 horsepower. Some aircraft require both endorsements, since they share several of these characteristics.
Spin training isn’t required for most pilot certificates outside of the CFI pathway, but many pilots choose to pursue it anyway to build a deeper understanding of aircraft handling and improve their overall confidence and decision-making in flight.
Timing varies by pilot experience, but Transition Training is designed to take a pilot with no Cirrus experience to full proficiency in the SR20 and its Garmin Perspective+ avionics suite. Our team can give you a more specific estimate based on your background.

Embark Training is insurance-approved training for pilots who’ve recently purchased a Cirrus aircraft. Most insurance policies on a newly purchased Cirrus require this kind of documented checkout, and as a Cirrus Training Center, we’re approved to complete it, including at your home airport in many cases.

No. It’s specifically designed for instrument-rated pilots who are new to Cirrus and want a thorough, IFR-focused transition into the aircraft. Prior Cirrus experience isn’t required, but an existing Instrument Rating is.

Complex and high-performance experience often factor into the technically advanced aircraft time required for a Commercial Pilot Certificate. Talk with our team about your specific training plan to see how these options fit into your path.

No. While many of our advanced training students are continuing their progression with us, we also work with pilots coming from other flight schools who are looking for complex, high-performance, spin, or Cirrus-specific instruction.

Call Now
Get Directions

Lake Elmo Aero, LLC
Liability Release

I, (PARTICIPANT MENTIONED ABOVE) voluntarily desire to take an airplane (collectively, “Aircraft”) ride, pilot an Aircraft, rent an Aircraft, and/or train to pilot an Aircraft (collectively, the “Activity”), as well as to participate in the associated activities including, but not limited to, boarding, deplaning and/or walking on the runway and/or around the Aircraft, etc. (the “Associated Activities”), with LAKE ELMO AERO, LLC (collectively, the “Company”). Such activities may result in bodily injury, death, and property damage. I understand and acknowledge that engaging in any of the above activities are purely voluntary and I have made the decision to participate of my own free will. I also understand and acknowledge that, but for my voluntary execution of this Release of Liability (“Release”), the Company would not allow me to be in or otherwise near any Aircraft or participate in any Activity or the Associated Activities.

1. RELEASE AND COVENANT NOT TO SUE. I, on behalf of myself, my heirs, successors, assigns, agents, trusts, beneficiaries, executors, administrators, guardians, and legal representatives (individually or in any group; collectively, “Releasor”), hereby exempt, release, acquit, forever discharge, and hold harmless the Company, their respective officers, directors, members, administrators, trusts, managers, agents, representatives, servants, employees, successors, and/or assigns (individually or in any group, “Affiliates” and collectively with the Company, the “Releasees”), whether acting on behalf of the Company, or individually, from any and all liability, claims, losses, payments, harm, damages, costs, demands, claims and expenses of every nature whatsoever (collectively, “Damages”), whether in contract or in tort or under any other legal theory, arising out of my participation in the Activity and/or any Associated Activities. Releasor further agrees not to make any claim against, sue, or attach the property of anyone or more Releasees for any bodily injury, death, loss, or damage to personal property, or other damages, including those resulting in whole or in part from the negligence of the Releasees or other acts or omissions of the Releasees resulting from my participation in any Activity and/or Associated Activities.

2. ASSUMPTION OF RISK. I am not required to participate in the Activity or any Associated Activities. I freely and voluntarily choose to assume all of the risks inherent in the Activity and the Associated Activities, including, but not limited to, risks of negligent conduct of others, equipment or aircraft malfunction, improper or negligent operation of Aircraft, including those risks resulting in whole or in part from the Releasees’ own negligence or unintentional acts, but excluding gross negligence or willful misconduct.

3. INDEMNITY AGAINST CLAIMS. Releasor agrees to indemnify, defend and hold harmless the Releasees against any and all losses, judgments, or damages, arising out of any claims, demands actions, causes of action, and/or proceedings of every nature whatsoever (collectively, “Claims”), including but not limited to attorney and legal fees at trial and appellate levels, which may be presented or initiated by any person or entity, arising out of my participation in any activity and/or Associated Activities, and/or concerning the enforcement of or legal challenge to this Release.

4. LEGAL. This Release is governed under Minnesota law, without regard to conflict of law principles. The exclusive venue for any action arising hereunder shall be in the state and federal courts located in Washington County, Minnesota, and the parties hereby consent to the jurisdiction of such courts. In any action relating to this Release, Releasor hereby WAIVES ANY RIGHT TO A JURY TRIAL.