Welcome to my nightmare

Dunno why or when the one rivet came out and the other one was loose, but that problem is being corrected in maintenance right now. The FSDO maintenance inspector wants to look at the plane before it is flown again and I want them to give it a PACE inspection before I take it back for another checkride.
 
Let that be a lesson... NEVER, EVER go to the FSDO for a ck ride, not only will it take all day but stupid thing like this will happen. I rather pay the $300 and get my ticket than worry about some Dumb A??

Just my opinion
smirk.gif
 
Believe me, I don't want to take it at the FSDO. I'm going to explore the option of taking it with a DPE somewhere but I'm pretty sure you can't do that unless you call the FSDO first.....you can only be assigned a DPE by the FSDO if the FSDO cannot accomodate you within 2 weeks of your request for a checkride. In some FSDO districts, like florida and california, I'm sure the FSDO is too busy to do every initial CFI ckrd. However, in my district it's unlikely they'll be too busy.
 
Don't know how it works in your FSDO. I think you would have a case, whether you think so or not, to claim that you were treated unfairly by the FSDO. If it were me, I'd try to get out of having to take the ride at this FSDO and get it set up somewhere else. I know it's gonna cost a bundle to fly the plane elsewhere and pay an examiners fee but it might be worth it to be treated fairly on this ride. I think the CFI ride is the most challenging of all the rides. What does your FBO and CFI have to say about your situation so far?
 
The FBO thinks we got the shaft. Another guy took the same exact airplane to the same FSDO (different inspectors of course) about 6 months ago and he had no problems. I can't imagine the airplane is THAT much different now than it was 6 months ago. I'm not saying the defecincies the FSDO pionted out don't need to be fixed, they definitely do, it just seems strange that the FSDO told me to find another airplane/flight school.

The mechanic is repairing all the discrepencies on the aircraft and keeping me in the loop.

My CFI thinks I got a "strange" Examiner at the FSDO since he would not do my oral with me. This was actually the second time I had scheudled the checkride. The first time I also had to scrub because the airplane had an inop stall warning horn and was down until the part came in the mail.
I called ahead to let them know, the examiner told me he didn't want to do my oral so I never even showed up at the FSDO for that one.

There's another guy at my flight school he was supposed to take the 'ride at the FSDO the day before me, and his examiner let him do the oral....mine wouldn't. This is the first time my CFI has signed anyone off for the CFI checkride and he took his at ATP, so he isn't much more expreienced than I am with this whole process.

That's where the CFI and FBO stand....
 
I never had a problem getting the FSDO to let me take my ride with a DPE. I pretty much called the FSDO and said, "I'd like to take a checkride really soon", and they told me to choose a DPE. I had the option of which DPE I used, and my authorization letter gave me about a week to get it done. Not bad, if you ask me....if you wanna take a trip, come on down to the Nashville FSDO!!
 
[ QUOTE ]
Believe me, I don't want to take it at the FSDO. I'm going to explore the option of taking it with a DPE somewhere but I'm pretty sure you can't do that unless you call the FSDO first.....you can only be assigned a DPE by the FSDO if the FSDO cannot accomodate you within 2 weeks of your request for a checkride. In some FSDO districts, like florida and california, I'm sure the FSDO is too busy to do every initial CFI ckrd. However, in my district it's unlikely they'll be too busy.

[/ QUOTE ]

I believe you're right. I think you have to take your CFI checkride with the FSDO, or a DPE that the FAA has "blessed" to do CFI checkrides. I know here in OK, we have to send students to the FSDO for the CFI checkride. If the FSDO is too busy, then they allow us to schedule with a DPE here in Tulsa that is allowed to administer CFI checkrides. I've heard the reasoning is becuase the FAA felt they were loosing the "connection" with the training community, so they implemented this to keep a better check on the new CFI population. I know this is how it works in OK. Is it like this everywhere else?
 
Nope; leave it to the FAA to make it difficult!

Out here you call the FSDO and have your choice of either FSDO or DPE. But if you pick DPE, THEY pick your examiner.
 
In PHX you can go straight to a DPE without speaking to the FSDO. There are so many pilots out here that even the DEs can't keep up. In fact the FAA just "hired" a ton of new DEs and are wanting to almost triple the number they have now!
 
Geez. It's stupid crap like this that makes me cringe thinking about taking my CFI ride. The planes I fly are old, and "well loved" but they are well maintained, and fly excellent. I'm gonna have to go to OKC for my ride unless I get lucky and can use one of "The Chosen One's" if OKC is too busy.
This reminds me of one of my instructors that failed his first ride. 6 hours into the oral, the examiner failed him b/c he didn't know the direction safety wire is wound. Gimme a break. Actions like these make me want to go to an accelerated CFI school to be able to do my rating with a DE.
 
[ QUOTE ]
6 hours into the oral, the examiner failed him b/c he didn't know the direction safety wire is wound. Gimme a break.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree that is sort of an A&P question, but could be something valuable to know. Say your airplane just came out of maintenance. You see things that are safety wired like they should be, but do you know a correct safety wire from an improperly done one? Improperly safetied items may as well not be safetied at all- its useless if its not done right. They are also difficult to spot.

On the other hand, thats a very open-ended question. The direction safety wire is twisted depends on what is being safety wired.
smile.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
6 hours into the oral, the examiner failed him b/c he didn't know the direction safety wire is wound. Gimme a break.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree that is sort of an A&P question, but could be something valuable to know. Say your airplane just came out of maintenance. You see things that are safety wired like they should be, but do you know a correct safety wire from an improperly done one? Improperly safetied items may as well not be safetied at all- its useless if its not done right. They are also difficult to spot.

On the other hand, thats a very open-ended question. The direction safety wire is twisted depends on what is being safety wired.
smile.gif


[/ QUOTE ]

But it's outside the scope of a CFI. Sure it could be handy but so also could be the requirement that all CFIs must hold an A&P license. CFIs, especially new CFIs, are not expected to know everything. But 9 times out of 10 the FAA does expect them to know everything. It all goes back to consistency. One FSDO does it one way and another does it a completely different way. We won't even get into the variations among DEs.

That is a stupid and petty question to bust on. Hell a six hour oral is ridiculous enough!
 
[ QUOTE ]
But it's outside the scope of a CFI.

[/ QUOTE ]

Actually, I'm not entirely convinced that it is. It could very well be incorporated into a systems question. There's safety wire all over in an airplane- its on the landing gear, the prop, the engine compartment, and the list goes on... A lot of vital components are safetied- is it too much to ask of an applicant to know the basic concepts of why its done and how it works? I don't think so. Besides, I gaurantee that on more than one occasion while working as a CFI, a student will ask about it.

[ QUOTE ]
But 9 times out of 10 the FAA does expect them to know everything.

[/ QUOTE ]

And 9.9 times out of 10, applicants for any given checkride who claim they fail because of "one silly question", are full of it. Ever notice that nobody ever seems to fail because they deserved it? There's always "one silly question" that makes them fail the ride. Right....
tongue.gif
wink.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
And 9.9 times out of 10, applicants for any given checkride who claim they fail because of "one silly question", are full of it. Ever notice that nobody ever seems to fail because they deserved it? There's always "one silly question" that makes them fail the ride. Right....

[/ QUOTE ]

I totally agree with you. It's never one question. Especially when it's a silly one like that. More than likely the oral was rough all along and that question was the final nail in the coffin.

But I deserved my fail. And posted as such!
grin.gif
And it was "four" questions that got me (all on/related to one topic).

[ QUOTE ]
Actually, I'm not entirely convinced that it is.

[/ QUOTE ]

A lot of the aircraft I'm around have cotter-key safeties and not actual safety wire. The only place I can think of off the top of my head that is actually safetied are the oil filler tubes (dipstick tubes) on my aircraft. But the point is at somepoint you have to draw a line. The point of the CFI is to teach folks how to fly and how to questions things and who/where to look up the questions to things they don't know. Would it be helpful for a CFI to know and be able to draw an electrical schematic for every aircraft he can teach out of? Probably. But how much practical use does that hold? Especially considering anything beyond changing a fuse an A&P must do.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Actually, I'm not entirely convinced that it is. It could very well be incorporated into a systems question. There's safety wire all over in an airplane- its on the landing gear, the prop, the engine compartment, and the list goes on... A lot of vital components are safetied- is it too much to ask of an applicant to know the basic concepts of why its done and how it works? I don't think so. Besides, I gaurantee that on more than one occasion while working as a CFI, a student will ask about it.

[

[/ QUOTE ]

There's a fine line between understanding how systems work, and being expected to know how to build the damn thing. It's knowing the principles of a system versus the mechanics.

Is this a CFI checkride, or an A&P checkride? So many things are safety-wired that one can't know each particular components proper safety wiring set.

It's like for our mission-checkrides. I get asked what the 14 algorithms are that the AGM-65 Maverick air-ground missile's brain uses to steer the missle correctly to the target? My answer? Who cares. While it's nice-to-know information, it has nothing to do with how I, as an operator, call-up/arm/fire the missile from the cockpit. In the cockpit, there's the particular switches used for normal setup/firing of the missile, a few troubleshooting techniques, but other than that, it either works or it don't. If one or more of the algorithms are screwed up, there's nothing I can do about it from the cockpit, and I don't build the darn things.

Same applies to "appropriate" airman knowlege. More power to someone if they take the time to learn the extra stuff, but to BUST them on it for lack of knowlege is pretty stupid, IMO.
 
[ QUOTE ]
I agree that is sort of an A&P question, but could be something valuable to know.

[/ QUOTE ]

Which is exactly why I walked straight into one of the maintenance shops after that flight and asked someone.
grin.gif
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

fholbert
Today in History - 67 Years Ago Today - This accident is why we have such an elaborate ATC system in the US
Replies
2
Views
1K
Cherokee_Cruiser
Cherokee_Cruiser
fholbert
44 Years ago today
Replies
10
Views
2K
FXMXC
FXMXC
F
The Pleasure of Their Company (long)
Replies
12
Views
3K
ppragman
ppragman
Cherokee_Cruiser
Oh RJ N00b (a PSA rant)
3 4 5
Replies
86
Views
16K
Adler
A
killbilly
Pay Attention (aviation lesson learned)
2
Replies
30
Views
4K
killbilly
killbilly
Back
Top