Really long PPL check rides?

We used an examiner who would take about 5-6 hours on the ground. About 3 hours of that was a logbook review, which included making a copy of every single page in the logbook, and manually totaling up everything. :bang:

After that, his oral exam was easy, but it just took him a long time to finish everything.
 
all my orals were under 1.5 hours...my CFI was 6 hours and my ATP was 45 min.

that 6+ for a PPL is insane...
 
That amount of time is insane for a PPL oral.

An examiner in my area was doing the same thing, but eventually stopped after pretty much every flight school in the area refused to use him for checkrides.
 
RumpleTumbler said:
My private check ride oral was 6 hours long. 1.4 on the flight. Guy gave me the a/c about 10 kts past Vne with the friction lock so tight I had to use both hands to get it loose. Asked me to show him our position on the sectional about 300 agl in the climb after takeoff.

To say he was an idiot would be redundant.
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What did you guys talk about for 6 hours? I mean...the Private PTS isn't really big..
 
Monk said:
Where are you? I'm in michigan and just had a student go through a 6 hour private pilot....
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I'm pretty sure I know who you used,

I stopped using him for this reason it is absolutely crazy for him to spend a whole day on a private oral
 
The other thing I've been noticing out of the same FISDO is the use of non 6165 sign off language. I have had to do sign offs with non standard wording, because "6165 is out of date"
 
DBrown said:
I'm pretty sure I know who you used,

I stopped using him for this reason it is absolutely crazy for him to spend a whole day on a private oral
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Kind of unrelated, but there is a DPE out here that we all quit using because there was too many guys, from too many different instructors that were busting either in stalls, or short field approaches. From everything the students were saying, and even from what the DPE was saying, everything was well within PTS. So our assumption was that he was afraid of stalls. He was kind of a DB, and known for being a DB. Examiners can get a reputation which can kill their business if they aren't careful(read as fair).

Anyways, back to your regular scheduled programing.
 
My checkrides were:
PPL Oral: 45 minutes.....1.4 on the Hobbs
Instrument Oral: 1 hour....1.6 on the Hobbs
Commercial Multi Oral: 20 minutes....1.8 on the Hobbs.
Commercial Single Add-on Oral: 5 Minutes.......1.2 on the Hobbs
 
My PPL for the FAA was 45 minutes of ground and 1.0 flight.
CPL was 5 hours ground :bang: and 1.2 flight.

Sending my first student for his PPL soon down here in Aus, and the the expected time is around 2 hours ground and 3 flight.
My CPL conversion down here was 3 hours ground 3.7 flight
My "CFI" was 4 hours ground 1.2 flight
BUT- down here its a full cross country sequence for PPL and CPL with general handling along the way, not the first couple of waypoints then a diversion like it was for me over there.

Its interesting (to me anyway) to note the differences in the tests. At the end of it, you get a piece of paper that says you can fly wherever you want in your home turf, provided the guy on the radio says its OK and you keep away from the fluffy white things...
 
JordanD said:
I wouldn't complain but yeah, I wouldn't admit to it publicly either haha.
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Agreed. I wouldn't want the FAA to go looking around to find out who's giving 20 minute commercial orals :eek:

My private pilot ride was about a ~1 hour oral, then we went outside and covered all of systems while preflighting the plane. Flight was ~1.4 hours.
My longest oral so far was CFI, which was about 4.8 hours but split into two stage checks. The first was 2.0 and the final stage was 2.8. I think anything over 2.0 for private pilot is ridiculous, and at 6 I would never use that DPE again.
 
I feel pessimistic in suggesting it, but can't help but wonder if perhaps it has something to do with justifying $300-500 examiner fees. $100/hour?

If you cannot determine whether someone has the required knowledge and flight skills for a PPL, Commercial, or Instrument in 2 hours oral and 1.5 flight... well, that says a lot more about you as an examiner than anything else.

This isnt friggin rocket surgery.
 
rframe said:
I feel pessimistic in suggesting it, but can't help but wonder if perhaps it has something to do with justifying $300-500 examiner fees. $100/hour?

If you cannot determine whether someone has the required knowledge and flight skills for a PPL, Commercial, or Instrument in 2 hours oral and 1.5 flight... well, that says a lot more about you as an examiner than anything else.

This isnt friggin rocket surgery.
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Meh, I can see both sides of it. I've seen DPEs basically crucified after having someone they passed crash an airplane.
 
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