One item I remembered this morning, in the shower (yes I do think about JC when I'm not online, sad, I know.) was a BFR done with a pilot who also held foreign flight privilidges.
If I remember the fella correctly, he was from Europe, had flown in the US; just not for some time.
He wanted to accomplish his BFR so that he could rent and tool around the area while he was back in the States.
I'm not a jerk when it comes to BFR's, and tailor it to the needs of the Pilot. For example, if they travel a lot, I am going to lay more emphasis on cross-country nav and planning. If they just like to go up once a month, I'm going to focus more on crosswind landings.
Things like that. But, they are thorough, so that I can get an idea on their weaknesses (for recommendations on what to practice) and safety. They usually take about 3 hours at minimum.
So the guy comes in (like the ones most of us pilots we talk about because they stand out) : without local charts, a FAR/AIM, anything... except a headset.
So I sit down to feel him out and go over the oral. Now this isn't a checkride - I recognize that. But the guy didn't really have a grasp on the fundamentals beyond a basic level.
Eventually with a bit of guidance, I felt the review to be acceptable to continue to the flight portion.
The short story is, well, maybe not as short as it should be. We'll see.
On departure, noise abatement procedures were not recognized. Okay, that's manageable - advise the pilot for future departures. Then an abrupt turn against the flow of traffic at a very low altitude, high AOA, slow speed, uncoordinated to travel to another airport. Uncomfortable, but part of the daily grind.
Flew to the other airport, the wrong airport. That creates the scenario of position reports on the wrong CTAF, flying the pattern on the wrong side and attempting to land on a runway whose magnetic direction is different than the planned airport. I can overlook errors, but if you are approaching an airport with a runway number different than what it should be, it should raise a flag or two...
The rest of the flight was not that much better. Let's just say that I learned something too about preflighting...
The cowling plugs had fallen into the cowling and we had flown the entire flight with them sitting adjacent to the alternator belt...
Ultimately, I did not sign the BFR and got the typical, "I'll just take my business elsewhere" speech.
It flaberghasts me sometimes. Some folks just don't understand the guidance we are trying to give. You're not safe yet, lets schedule some time to review. It's not like another 3 hours is going to make or break my bank account.
Ooh, boss is back, gotta go.