andreasmkr
New Member
I`m a Norwegian student doing my MEI, CFI and CFII here in the US and I just had my initial MEI check ride yesterday, but it didn`t go as planned
It all started out very well with the examiner telling me the three different outcomes, what his plan of action was and how long we should be expecting to sit down.
First of all, he estimated the oral to be around 5 1/2 to 6 hours, starting with FOI`s and proceeding on with technical subject areas and some flight planning that I had prepared in advance..?(Not very usual but ok)
FOI`s where all scenario based questions nothing out of the PTS, probably because he wanted to test me on a correlation level.
Scenario example 1)
You have a PPL-SE student 21 years old and this is your second activity with this student seeking ME add-on. You have scheduled on oral and a flight on a SUNDAY morning at 10AM
The student shows up 45min late, he`s shirt is all wrinkly, hair is messed up and he stinks of alcohol. Would do to the planned activities?
Started with asking him some basic questions about what he did last night. He had not been drinking but he had picked up a friend at a bar, or that`s what he said. And I of course asked him if he where fit for the upcoming flight and reminded him about the IM-SAFE checklist. 8 hours from bottle to throttle and 0, 04%...
He said he was good to go.
Oral went well but as the PIC and Instructor I said we should postpone the flight because he did not look very prepared and rested and he would not gain anything from the lesson.
Student: Don’t you trust me?
Me: I trust you but you still don’t seem like your fit for the flight and I said that I had some paperwork to do so it wasn`t that big of a deal to postpone it.
The examiner then stopped the scenario and said that this was not the way to go. I should have trusted him and went up and completed the lesson.
I could not know whether he had been drinking or not (benefit of the doubt?)
But how could I trust a student I had only had on one flight before and had no background info on?
The main thing about this scenario is that whether I say I`ll fly or not, I`m still going to answer wrong because there are two different outcomes the examiner could choose. Based on previous students having this guy on check rides.
Student had been drinking before the flight but was not telling me:
I should have noticed that as an Instructor and PIC of the flight. And explained him that this was the last time he showed up like this and that I got other students waiting to fly as well.
Student had not been drinking because:
He had picked up his father at a bar that night and he spilled beer on him. So he overslept and came 45 min late because of this, but was to embarrassed to say that he`s father was a alcoholic....
So whatever I said on the scenario, I where wrong? Unfair but OK.
Questions like this contiued for all of the FOI part.
Finally after 2 1/2 hours of scenarios on FOI`S we were finally done and I got a break for 5 minutes. I was literary exhausted!
While I had my break I heard him talk on the phone to one of his employee`s where he works that some mechanic had overcharged them 7000$ on parts and labor on airplanes he had out on maintenance. So when he came back it seemed like he was quite upset and wanted to sort the problems with the mechanic rather than continue with my oral. (It could be just me, but it seemed like that)
But he came back and asked me some questions about my flight plan.
1)
Examiner: Why did you choose 6500 as your cruising alt.?
Answer: Favorable winds, airspaces, MOA`s, options if I got any emergencies, shorter en route time etc..
He wasn’t pleased with those answer but we continued on with this:
2)
Examiner: Mention 3 different types of airmets:
Answer
S = IFR
T = Turbulence
Z = Icing conditions
3)
Examiner: Who is airmet Sierra intended for?
Answer: All pilot I said straight forward.(AIM 7-1-3 F.1)
Then he began to argue with me whether Delta airline cares about airmets? Not as much as small aircrafts do but they are intended for ALL pilots as stated in the AIM I said..
He would not even let me look it up in the FAR|AIM before he said that this was unsatisfactory for a MEI and that we were going to end the oral right away. The aim clearly states:
"AIRMET`S are intended for dissemination to ALL pilots in the preflight and en route phase of flight to enhance safety"
Whaat? Because of a single question about Airmet Sierra he failed me?
The guy is known for failing all initial CFI`s on their first try but this topped the cake....
To me it seemed like he was going to fail me from the start of part 2 after the break..
Am I able to request a new examiner for my retake?
It all started out very well with the examiner telling me the three different outcomes, what his plan of action was and how long we should be expecting to sit down.
First of all, he estimated the oral to be around 5 1/2 to 6 hours, starting with FOI`s and proceeding on with technical subject areas and some flight planning that I had prepared in advance..?(Not very usual but ok)
FOI`s where all scenario based questions nothing out of the PTS, probably because he wanted to test me on a correlation level.
Scenario example 1)
You have a PPL-SE student 21 years old and this is your second activity with this student seeking ME add-on. You have scheduled on oral and a flight on a SUNDAY morning at 10AM
The student shows up 45min late, he`s shirt is all wrinkly, hair is messed up and he stinks of alcohol. Would do to the planned activities?
Started with asking him some basic questions about what he did last night. He had not been drinking but he had picked up a friend at a bar, or that`s what he said. And I of course asked him if he where fit for the upcoming flight and reminded him about the IM-SAFE checklist. 8 hours from bottle to throttle and 0, 04%...
He said he was good to go.
Oral went well but as the PIC and Instructor I said we should postpone the flight because he did not look very prepared and rested and he would not gain anything from the lesson.
Student: Don’t you trust me?
Me: I trust you but you still don’t seem like your fit for the flight and I said that I had some paperwork to do so it wasn`t that big of a deal to postpone it.
The examiner then stopped the scenario and said that this was not the way to go. I should have trusted him and went up and completed the lesson.
I could not know whether he had been drinking or not (benefit of the doubt?)
But how could I trust a student I had only had on one flight before and had no background info on?
The main thing about this scenario is that whether I say I`ll fly or not, I`m still going to answer wrong because there are two different outcomes the examiner could choose. Based on previous students having this guy on check rides.
Student had been drinking before the flight but was not telling me:
I should have noticed that as an Instructor and PIC of the flight. And explained him that this was the last time he showed up like this and that I got other students waiting to fly as well.
Student had not been drinking because:
He had picked up his father at a bar that night and he spilled beer on him. So he overslept and came 45 min late because of this, but was to embarrassed to say that he`s father was a alcoholic....
So whatever I said on the scenario, I where wrong? Unfair but OK.
Questions like this contiued for all of the FOI part.
Finally after 2 1/2 hours of scenarios on FOI`S we were finally done and I got a break for 5 minutes. I was literary exhausted!
While I had my break I heard him talk on the phone to one of his employee`s where he works that some mechanic had overcharged them 7000$ on parts and labor on airplanes he had out on maintenance. So when he came back it seemed like he was quite upset and wanted to sort the problems with the mechanic rather than continue with my oral. (It could be just me, but it seemed like that)
But he came back and asked me some questions about my flight plan.
1)
Examiner: Why did you choose 6500 as your cruising alt.?
Answer: Favorable winds, airspaces, MOA`s, options if I got any emergencies, shorter en route time etc..
He wasn’t pleased with those answer but we continued on with this:
2)
Examiner: Mention 3 different types of airmets:
Answer
S = IFR
T = Turbulence
Z = Icing conditions
3)
Examiner: Who is airmet Sierra intended for?
Answer: All pilot I said straight forward.(AIM 7-1-3 F.1)
Then he began to argue with me whether Delta airline cares about airmets? Not as much as small aircrafts do but they are intended for ALL pilots as stated in the AIM I said..
He would not even let me look it up in the FAR|AIM before he said that this was unsatisfactory for a MEI and that we were going to end the oral right away. The aim clearly states:
"AIRMET`S are intended for dissemination to ALL pilots in the preflight and en route phase of flight to enhance safety"
Whaat? Because of a single question about Airmet Sierra he failed me?
The guy is known for failing all initial CFI`s on their first try but this topped the cake....
To me it seemed like he was going to fail me from the start of part 2 after the break..
Am I able to request a new examiner for my retake?
