busted checkrides

hammer

New Member
So I've been fortunate enough to take four checkrides and to pass them all on my first try ..... but we all love good stories where people bust or pass when they shouldn't have. Let's hear 'em (for Citation Kid's benefit).

I knew one person in Orlando that failed his PPL-ASEL for starting the plane with the position lights on. Another failed the same checkride for not simulating opening her flightplan with FSS (even though everything else was satisfactory). Same DE - who is just a real peach - failed both these people.

On the other end of the spectrum, someone I know passed her Comm-AMEL even though she had to go-around on her single engine approach after she went full scale deflection on the ILS. Not sure how that one was given leniency. I actually landed my 180-Power Off about 15 feet short of the numbers but the DE just said "eh, within 100 feet, close enough."

In terms of more deserving failures, putting the DE into a spin over Lake Apopka was legendary as was taking off in the Aztec with full-flaps.
 
Being at a big academy I hear stories from time to time.. one friend of mine failed his checkride because he was chasing the needle on the NDB and went outside PTS.. another failed for not tuning the ADF to the right NDB and therefore was tracking the wrong NDB.. another I know failed before he even got off the ground for not making a PIC decision to cancel the flight when the DE failed a instrument during taxi..

Examiners can be anal and sometimes it doesnt take much to fail a checkride.. and more often then not its just a minor oversight on the part of the pilot which is more then enough for them to fail you.

Ryan
 
I failed my ASEL - Pvt. on the steep turn

On my inst ATC gave me a Cleared for the ILS with one mile to drop 1500ft for GS intercept. I passed thru the GS about a half dozen times before I settled in...

During that app the DE said.

What the hell is wrong with you can't you chew gum and walk at the same time?

Oh yeah I was SURE I was not going to make it that day..

Did the VOR, and during that app the DE said Philly didn;t do you and favors back there...

Passed that one.

I do have a ck ride comeing up soon, in the next month I suspect. With a new company, and the best part is if I blow that check ride... I don't have a job. there is no do over.

No pressure huh?
 
Speaking of NDB's, that was another legendary one .... Instrument candidate dialed in the right frequency but didn't bother to check if the ADF was on, let alone tune/identify. They weren't on a flight plan and the DE was just giving vectors .... anyway, gave him an easy heading that almost put him on line for the approach (knowing full well the ADF was off) and watches the kid peek - you know, checking the compass but also grabbing a quick glimpse out the windshield - and the kid proceeds to tell the DE "that he's going to correct a little to the right for wind" after he sees he's not on line for the runway. DE goes how the • do you know you need to correct to the right when the ADF isn't even on!?!?!? My controls. We're going home.
 
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So I've been fortunate enough to take four checkrides and to pass them all on my first try ..... but we all love good stories where people bust or pass when they shouldn't have. Let's hear 'em (for Citation Kid's benefit).



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haha, I might set a new record of 3 in one day.
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haha, I might set a new record of 3 in one day.
smirk.gif


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Or you might set a record for the most busted checkrides in one day
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Good luck..

Ryan
 
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haha, I might set a new record of 3 in one day.
smirk.gif


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Or you might set a record for the most busted checkrides in one day
smile.gif
Good luck..

Ryan

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That's what I meant.................
 
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haha, I might set a new record of 3 in one day.
smirk.gif


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Yes, we know. See your own thread HERE

Anymore checkride stories?
tongue.gif
 
Yes, I'm a class act as I reply to my own thread!

Another guy I know - nice guy, good pilot - for whatever reason, had a lot of trouble with his instrument checkride. Failed the oral four times and the flight three times. The DE, who you either really liked or really hated, didn't cut him any slack and just got harder on him as he saw how unprepared he was for each retake. I had the same DE for my private and we got along great. First thing he would ask you is "mind if we do the oral outside so I can smoke cigarettes" as he is already walking towards the door to lead you out. It could be monsoon season in Bangladesh and you'd be still be doing the oral outside so he can go through a pack of Camels. If you started to have trouble or he found a weak spot, he'd start calling you Chief. Just intimidated the hell out of you ..... "student pilot stuff, Chief" ...... "can't believe you don't know the answer to this stuff, Chief." He'd fail guys on their oral like it was a bodily function if you couldn't explain things the way he wanted to. Flight, on the other hand, was always a breeze.

Yet another guy I know - nice guy, horrible pilot - made it almost to the run-up area before being failed. Never did get the full story out of him. Something like 0.2 on the tach. All he would tell us was that he had trouble with "emergency procedures." No idea what that meant. This young man took well over a year and a half of private pilot training (and this is at an academy, where you fly several days a week) before he finally had his checkride and failed 10 minutes after getting the engine started.
 
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haha, I might set a new record of 3 in one day.
smirk.gif


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Yes, we know. See your own thread HERE

Anymore checkride stories?
tongue.gif


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That thread is the reason he started this thread.
grin.gif
 
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).

I knew one person in Orlando that failed his PPL-ASEL for starting the plane with the position lights on. Another failed the same checkride for not simulating opening her flightplan with FSS (even though everything else was satisfactory). Same DE - who is just a real peach - failed both these people.

.

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That DIPSHAT DE ought to be taken out and shot. It's idiots like that that think thry know it all that give GA a bad name. WTF is wrong with having your position lights on when starting the engine?

Jackasses one and all.
 
Failed for checklist usage .... check the lights during the preflight, off for engine start except for the beacon.
 
Hey,

I always enjoyed reading the stories of these guys and gals passing checkrides with no problems, always anxious to hear the good news at the end. I expected the samething, but my DE wasn't all that great. He is (and we still remain in contact) a captain for Spirit and man is he tough. My oral was about 5-6 hours for the private and about an hour flight. He was nailing me on the aircraft systems and how everything functioned in detail. He also taught me alot too, but it was very stressful (especially for what I"ve been experienced to) I've never taken an interview, never been questioned orally, all my testing has been done through paper and pencils. This was a very new experience to me. Besides the fact that I felt I was going to fail, it was actually a good thing though....I learned more then you can imagine. Regardless, he was covering his own rear end. Now on the otherside of the world is another DE I know, and this person is by far too easy. I've seen John Doe get his liscense, it's scary how these guys fly; you don't feel safe in an airplane with them. I tell everyone, yea...it's a good thing you knew the material but in the long run it's the DE you were assigned to, they determine who gets their liscense or rating. If a person is working for an airline, he/she is going to expect you to be on top of things; if the person is an everyday Part 91 pilot, they might consider you capable for those operations. And yea, I know they have guidelines to follow, but seriously if I was a DE I would try to be fair, but I'm not going to sign you off unless you kno your stuff. If I screwed up on the way I put this please by all means help me out, but I'm not going to check the grammer and spelling....now if this was an airline resume on the other hand lol....

Clem
 
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Failed for checklist usage .... check the lights during the preflight, off for engine start except for the beacon.

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Still retarded. Beacon and nav lights on for start is no problem, IMO. That should be pilot option, not a checklist item; and the idiot DE should evaluate it as such. That's called being "big picture".
 
I am with Mike on this one. That is the poorest excuse for a pink slip I have ever heard of. My DE actually taxied for me while I got everything set up. I felt fortunate with the DE I was assigned. A 35 minute oral and an hour flight, so both went great.
 
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Failed for checklist usage .... check the lights during the preflight, off for engine start except for the beacon.

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Oh that's HUGELY retarded.

The checklist is a checklist and not a do-list, for the most part.

Having the position lights on prior to engine start isn't a safety related thing. In fact, it probably fosters more safety because people on the ramp will have an easier time visually avoiding the aircraft during engine start.
 
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[Oh that's HUGELY retarded.

The checklist is a checklist and not a do-list, for the most part.

Having the position lights on prior to engine start isn't a safety related thing. In fact, it probably fosters more safety because people on the ramp will have an easier time visually avoiding the aircraft during engine start.



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Agree. Like I said, I hate these MORONIC DEs that give examiners bad names because they evaluate TECHNIQUE rather than evaluating PROCEDURE.

Idiots like this guy piss me off. Would love to take a number of them for a good strangling.
 
Oh, I agree, but this DE always had a chip on his shoulder. I know very few people that passed any ride with him on their first try. He'd make the Comm-AMEL guys do a full-NDB, partial panel, with a failed engine during the procedure turn. I don't care how good of a pilot you are, that'll get almost everyone.
 
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Failed for checklist usage .... check the lights during the preflight, off for engine start except for the beacon.

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LOL Hope he doesn't pull that with the wrong student. Either he's on a power trip or he didn't get the job LOL.
 
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