For new pilots (or anyone) about to take a checkride, failing the checkride is not the end. I failed my PPL oral first attempt a little over 11 years ago. I was devastated and so disappointed, but I got right back into training and studied harder. Not only did I pass the next attempt, but I haven't failed another checkride since. I went on to earn my instrument rating, commercial multi-engine, commercial single-engind add-on, CFI, ATP with ERJ-170/190 type rating, passed 4 years of CQ and upgraded to captain, and I am now flying A320s for my dream airline. Go into the checkride knowing that failing it just shows you where to focus your efforts, and try again. Passing is ideal, but failing isn't the end. Good luck and blue skies.
@lorenzogarcia5784 My advice is to use it as a way to focus your studying. Know that it is okay to have failed. Depending on the situation, you might want to do some of the additional training with a different instructor to help fill in any gaps. It can be helpful to watch videos about checkrides too, but remember that each exam is different, so don't expect yours to be exactly like any you see in a video. And just do what you need to do to feel prepared on the day of. You'll be nervous, sure, but give yourself every opportunity to succeed. Good luck and blue skies.
@@iridiumcaptain thank you. I think I was just nervous and after reading your comment. It motivated me to not give up and just shrug my shoulders and keep trying
I failed my instrument big time. I got everything wrong except for the obstacle departure and unusual attitudes. But the second time around was a big improvement
Did my PPL many years ago with a DPE who was a former World War 2 pilot that flew Hellcats. He made the checkride more of a learning experience. Best checkride and $400 that I ever spent!
I remember mine like yesterday! I studied for 6 months and felt overwhelmed with so much information! Good news tho, the DPE is very aware of rote memorization versus knowledge and we fly thru the interview because of time spent reading and understanding! I too was way to Nervous, stay calm, take questions one at a time, you will get thru it easily! Good luck future pilots, see you in the sky!
It’s weird that 58 hours is scrutinized. I took my checkride at 45 or so without being around general aviation before. I just had a really good CFI and we’d typically log 10 landings with 1.1 on the Hobbs soup to nuts. Didn’t solo until 24 hours in with 140 logged landings. After that it was off to the races. The DPE was a friend of his who had a very similar old school low tech style. Check ride was 1.0 Hobbs. Was over in a blink of the eye.
I was thinking the exact same thing.... Granted 44 hour candidates are rare but 48-54 hours are my student's norm. I'm not a fantastic CFi but nobody's failed so far.
varies greatly lol, my DPE said i nearly broke the record for shortest oral and it took two hours (including maintenance check and paperwork) - someone here said their oral was 40min. My flight was 2.1 on hobbs, and i honestly have no idea how you could physically complete all the ACS requirements in 1 hour
@@TheAusrali Interesting. My oral was about 90 minutes? About standard issue for her. Yeah I guess the whole checkride was about 3 hours, although we had a pause in between oral and flight because ceilings needed to sufficiently rise for the stalls.
I went for my checkride at 41.5 total hours 4 years ago, never thought that would be a red flag. Admittedly I don’t score well on written’s, not a great test taker but my DPE said he will grill 100% scores about as much, as he wants to find out if they may have rote memorization vs knowing the material which after a few questions he was satisfied me.
When I took my checkride the examiner told me to do my first 3 maneuvers and short field landing and he told me to taxi back to the flight school. He said I seen enough. He endorsed my IACRA satisfactory. I thought he was there for an easy $700. I had 120 hour total before my private checkride.
@@planewire2153 he did test every required maneuver and covered the minimum required in the ACS. My private pilot was only 2.5 hours. He didn’t have any PLT codes to cover.
I showed up to my commercial and instrument ride with a scanned copy of the logs, put onto one page. My examiner accepted foreflight as my logbook. Foreflight puts together a page called progress towards commercial and instrument and private in their reports section and I just showed him one page it has my totals for him to look over
After my private checkride I had to go fly for 2 more hours to reach the 40-hour minimum. But I got my certificate as part of my college curriculum during summer semester. Flying nearly everyday and sometimes multiple times per day I soloed 10 days from my first flight. June 13 was my first flight, check ride was July 26. A big advantage to flying so often is all the lessons are fresh every time you go fly and don't have much time to forget anything. That's why I recommend to people to have the funds available and schedule their lessons as much as possible. It will likely be cheaper than if they can only fly a couple times per month. The disadvantage if all I was going for was my private certificate is I didn't get much experience with different types of weather. That wasn't an issue in my case because I continued on in following semesters and got my commercial, instrument, and multi-engine.
I'm not a DPE but I was a flight examiner in the F-16, F-5 and MiG-29. I also flew F-15s but was too young to become a flight examiner (nor did I want to be). I think the FAA's training model of x-number of hours doing this, y-number of hours doing that and a minimum number of hours required to go to a checkride is dumb way of doing business. Flight training should be syllabus/event-based with an expected level-of-performance before moving on to the next sortie. If it requires more than one flight to successfully, and to standards, complete a syllabus sortie, then repeat as required. Students who learn faster will obviously get through the syllabus with fewer hours than those that have a lower learning curve. I believe the FAA needs to re-evaluate. OBTW, I'm a CFII/MEI. The only times I flew with an examiner in the same aircraft was going through pilot training. Except for required command-and-response checklist items I pretended the evaluator wasn't even there. My job was to show them how well I could perform. After my contact checkride (contact = aerobatics. Why? The USAF has to be different?) in the T-38 my flight commander asked the examiner how it went. The examiner answered that the checkride went great, but complained that I didn't talk to him. In the single-seat aircraft we flew in separate jets.
For anyone taking a checkride soon: calm down. Don’t get to anxious like I did. Remember, your CFI will not send you unless you’re ready. Trust me, they don’t just say that to say that. I was so anxious for mine but the reality was I was so extra prepared I freaked myself out. The checkride will be fun and easy and fast! The best tip I can tell you that made my oral a breeze: know your stuff. As simple as that. My oral was 40 minutes long.
I know...'everyone has heard it all' but I'd like to share. My check-ride was with an examiner that was so seasoned that he was used as a model for a catalog that sold stuff in the early 90's. He, at the time was 30 years my age and I'm 70 now. I remember three distinct things. He asked an never exceed airspeed of my rented plane(I rented and flew a Cherokee 140) should not exceed. I told him I have seen this(speed) a million time and I have always said(to myself)...well there is a speed I will never see. So I didn't care but told him once in the plane. My second issue was when he instructed me to fly 'S' turns along this reference line on the ground. I entered the 'skill set' and about 30 seconds in, I see another plane that's coming from the other direction, right at me. I told the examiner, I'm out of here.He saw that as a first. Lastly, I am asked to perform a short-field landing as my home field. On my first attempt, he blurts out, "if you hit this above 70 knots...Grrrr. I excited a 'go-around' and nailed it. I so love aviation.
This sounds like a nice and fair DPE. I want one that is friendly and not one on some high horse That makes me get nervous and mess up my flying. the Oral seems like the easy part. It's the flying potion.
Really nice questions in this video, and it shows that John probably understands better than anyone what a checkride is and how to do it. Big thumb up!
your first question...58 hours is not low time. 35/40 is the minimum. Anyone with any ability can do the PPL under 50 hours. As a CFI, if I cant get a guy through in under 50, I feel I failed him.
Why so much emphasis on soft field landings? Based on what I’ve seen in the airlines, recovery from stalls higher on the list. Even tail strikes is a bigger problem. Just seems like a very minor thing to worry about and yet you hear it’s something guys have to get extra training for and repeat the private check ride
Honestly, I remember anyone ever calling it departure leg, especially when in the pattern. I'm not saying I haven't heard it, I just don't remember hearing it.
How is 58 hours "low time" when the FAA only require 40 hours??! I've trained some excellent pilots that took their checkrides at just over 40 hours and sailed through their checkrides. (40.3 was lowest....passed easily.)
That is pretty rare. The national average is 70 and when you're training in complex airspace like the San Francisco bay even 70 is kinda low. I've only had one student come in near that number.
@@tfpclips most of my students are leaning beneath the MSP Bravo which, while not as complex as SFO, our space doesn't benefit from all the natural geography features to help define the areas. In my experience, the only way to exceed 60 hours is to only schedule one lesson a week. Most of mine shoot for 3 lessons per week recognizing one out of three will likely be weathered out. Most finish in the high 40s to mid 50 hour range. Interesting differences.
I just passed my checkride at 40.8hrs in the Miami airspace. I can definitely understand why most people are around 60. I learn fast and came from an aviation background (no pilot exp).
For new pilots (or anyone) about to take a checkride, failing the checkride is not the end. I failed my PPL oral first attempt a little over 11 years ago. I was devastated and so disappointed, but I got right back into training and studied harder. Not only did I pass the next attempt, but I haven't failed another checkride since. I went on to earn my instrument rating, commercial multi-engine, commercial single-engind add-on, CFI, ATP with ERJ-170/190 type rating, passed 4 years of CQ and upgraded to captain, and I am now flying A320s for my dream airline. Go into the checkride knowing that failing it just shows you where to focus your efforts, and try again. Passing is ideal, but failing isn't the end. Good luck and blue skies.
Man dude I failed my private oral last week. Any advice?
@lorenzogarcia5784 My advice is to use it as a way to focus your studying. Know that it is okay to have failed. Depending on the situation, you might want to do some of the additional training with a different instructor to help fill in any gaps. It can be helpful to watch videos about checkrides too, but remember that each exam is different, so don't expect yours to be exactly like any you see in a video. And just do what you need to do to feel prepared on the day of. You'll be nervous, sure, but give yourself every opportunity to succeed.
Good luck and blue skies.
@@iridiumcaptain thank you. I think I was just nervous and after reading your comment. It motivated me to not give up and just shrug my shoulders and keep trying
I failed my instrument big time. I got everything wrong except for the obstacle departure and unusual attitudes. But the second time around was a big improvement
Did my PPL many years ago with a DPE who was a former World War 2 pilot that flew Hellcats. He made the checkride more of a learning experience. Best checkride and $400 that I ever spent!
I'm about a month out from my checkride, and I really appreciate these kinds of interviews. Really helps put my mind at ease.
You got this!
@@Joesofly1 Thanks!
Relax for your checkride. If you fail, you shouldn’t fly alone anyways. Trust the training. And smile.
What's up did you pass?
I remember mine like yesterday! I studied for 6 months and felt overwhelmed with so much information! Good news tho, the DPE is very aware of rote memorization versus knowledge and we fly thru the interview because of time spent reading and understanding! I too was way to Nervous, stay calm, take questions one at a time, you will get thru it easily! Good luck future pilots, see you in the sky!
It’s weird that 58 hours is scrutinized. I took my checkride at 45 or so without being around general aviation before. I just had a really good CFI and we’d typically log 10 landings with 1.1 on the Hobbs soup to nuts. Didn’t solo until 24 hours in with 140 logged landings. After that it was off to the races. The DPE was a friend of his who had a very similar old school low tech style. Check ride was 1.0 Hobbs. Was over in a blink of the eye.
@@michaelsebastian1990 lol creating two spam accounts to hold a pretend conversation
I thought the same thing. Think I took my private checkride at 42 hours.
I was thinking the exact same thing.... Granted 44 hour candidates are rare but 48-54 hours are my student's norm. I'm not a fantastic CFi but nobody's failed so far.
varies greatly lol, my DPE said i nearly broke the record for shortest oral and it took two hours (including maintenance check and paperwork) - someone here said their oral was 40min. My flight was 2.1 on hobbs, and i honestly have no idea how you could physically complete all the ACS requirements in 1 hour
@@TheAusrali Interesting. My oral was about 90 minutes? About standard issue for her. Yeah I guess the whole checkride was about 3 hours, although we had a pause in between oral and flight because ceilings needed to sufficiently rise for the stalls.
I went for my checkride at 41.5 total hours 4 years ago, never thought that would be a red flag.
Admittedly I don’t score well on written’s, not a great test taker but my DPE said he will grill 100% scores about as much, as he wants to find out if they may have rote memorization vs knowing the material which after a few questions he was satisfied me.
When I took my checkride the examiner told me to do my first 3 maneuvers and short field landing and he told me to taxi back to the flight school. He said I seen enough. He endorsed my IACRA satisfactory.
I thought he was there for an easy $700.
I had 120 hour total before my private checkride.
@That Guy you mean trained properly
It’s the examiners job to test every required topic on the acs. If the faa finds out, they typically revoke every license the examiner issued.
@@planewire2153 exactly. If the FAA tracks that down I won't be examining for long.
The short field landing is the hardest.
@@planewire2153 he did test every required maneuver and covered the minimum required in the ACS. My private pilot was only 2.5 hours. He didn’t have any PLT codes to cover.
I showed up to my commercial and instrument ride with a scanned copy of the logs, put onto one page. My examiner accepted foreflight as my logbook. Foreflight puts together a page called progress towards commercial and instrument and private in their reports section and I just showed him one page it has my totals for him to look over
Wow, times have changed. In 1986, I did my check ride at 41.5 hours. Seems like now it’s over 65+ hours before folks get their PPL check ride.
After my private checkride I had to go fly for 2 more hours to reach the 40-hour minimum. But I got my certificate as part of my college curriculum during summer semester. Flying nearly everyday and sometimes multiple times per day I soloed 10 days from my first flight. June 13 was my first flight, check ride was July 26. A big advantage to flying so often is all the lessons are fresh every time you go fly and don't have much time to forget anything. That's why I recommend to people to have the funds available and schedule their lessons as much as possible. It will likely be cheaper than if they can only fly a couple times per month. The disadvantage if all I was going for was my private certificate is I didn't get much experience with different types of weather. That wasn't an issue in my case because I continued on in following semesters and got my commercial, instrument, and multi-engine.
I'm not a DPE but I was a flight examiner in the F-16, F-5 and MiG-29. I also flew F-15s but was too young to become a flight examiner (nor did I want to be). I think the FAA's training model of x-number of hours doing this, y-number of hours doing that and a minimum number of hours required to go to a checkride is dumb way of doing business. Flight training should be syllabus/event-based with an expected level-of-performance before moving on to the next sortie. If it requires more than one flight to successfully, and to standards, complete a syllabus sortie, then repeat as required. Students who learn faster will obviously get through the syllabus with fewer hours than those that have a lower learning curve. I believe the FAA needs to re-evaluate. OBTW, I'm a CFII/MEI.
The only times I flew with an examiner in the same aircraft was going through pilot training. Except for required command-and-response checklist items I pretended the evaluator wasn't even there. My job was to show them how well I could perform. After my contact checkride (contact = aerobatics. Why? The USAF has to be different?) in the T-38 my flight commander asked the examiner how it went. The examiner answered that the checkride went great, but complained that I didn't talk to him. In the single-seat aircraft we flew in separate jets.
For anyone taking a checkride soon: calm down. Don’t get to anxious like I did. Remember, your CFI will not send you unless you’re ready. Trust me, they don’t just say that to say that.
I was so anxious for mine but the reality was I was so extra prepared I freaked myself out.
The checkride will be fun and easy and fast!
The best tip I can tell you that made my oral a breeze: know your stuff. As simple as that. My oral was 40 minutes long.
You understand thats abnormally short right? Mine was 7 hours.
@@jdoe4983 what checkride oral was 7 hours lmao
@@gbarf25 CFI
I know...'everyone has heard it all' but I'd like to share. My check-ride was with an examiner that was so seasoned that he was used as a model for a catalog that sold stuff in the early 90's. He, at the time was 30 years my age and I'm 70 now.
I remember three distinct things. He asked an never exceed airspeed of my rented plane(I rented and flew a Cherokee 140) should not exceed. I told him I have seen this(speed) a million time and I have always said(to myself)...well there is a speed I will never see. So I didn't care but told him once in the plane.
My second issue was when he instructed me to fly 'S' turns along this reference line on the ground. I entered the 'skill set' and about 30 seconds in, I see another plane that's coming from the other direction, right at me. I told the examiner, I'm out of here.He saw that as a first. Lastly, I am asked to perform a short-field landing as my home field. On my first attempt, he blurts out, "if you hit this above 70 knots...Grrrr. I excited a 'go-around' and nailed it. I so love aviation.
This sounds like a nice and fair DPE. I want one that is friendly and not one on some high horse That makes me get nervous and mess up my flying. the Oral seems like the easy part. It's the flying potion.
Really nice questions in this video, and it shows that John probably understands better than anyone what a checkride is and how to do it. Big thumb up!
One of my glider instructors was an FAA examiner.
your first question...58 hours is not low time. 35/40 is the minimum. Anyone with any ability can do the PPL under 50 hours. As a CFI, if I cant get a guy through in under 50, I feel I failed him.
I came into the checkride with 40.2 hours and a 100% on the written. I didn't have an aviation background. The examiner gave me leniency if anything.
He did say I had a really good touch with the aircraft. Perhaps it was my sailing background showing through.
Hey Jason I really appreciate this, it's soooooo helpful.
1973 at a part 141 flight school took check ride at 37.1 hours. DPE was $40. Times have really changed.
I'm going towards mine at like 48ish hours. Boutta pay 650 dollars just for the test, i don't even want to think of the plane rental
Wish I was born in the 1900s
Why so much emphasis on soft field landings? Based on what I’ve seen in the airlines, recovery from stalls higher on the list. Even tail strikes is a bigger problem. Just seems like a very minor thing to worry about and yet you hear it’s something guys have to get extra training for and repeat the private check ride
I took mine at 35 lol. But I’m a little different. Heavily involved with aero and physics
58hrs is not a lot? I thought I was very high time with 57hrs, though I had prior time before I even started training.
I always love your videos, but I noticed you have said upwind on two different occasions. Do you really mean Departure leg. Or is this tomato- tomahto
Tomato-tomahto
Honestly, I remember anyone ever calling it departure leg, especially when in the pattern. I'm not saying I haven't heard it, I just don't remember hearing it.
Isn’t that John Ewing? So sad what happened to him I’m the last few months
58 hours is low time for a PPL Checkride?
As the stated to others... "That is pretty rare. The national average is 70..."
How is 58 hours "low time" when the FAA only require 40 hours??! I've trained some excellent pilots that took their checkrides at just over 40 hours and sailed through their checkrides. (40.3 was lowest....passed easily.)
That is pretty rare. The national average is 70 and when you're training in complex airspace like the San Francisco bay even 70 is kinda low. I've only had one student come in near that number.
@@tfpclips most of my students are leaning beneath the MSP Bravo which, while not as complex as SFO, our space doesn't benefit from all the natural geography features to help define the areas. In my experience, the only way to exceed 60 hours is to only schedule one lesson a week. Most of mine shoot for 3 lessons per week recognizing one out of three will likely be weathered out. Most finish in the high 40s to mid 50 hour range. Interesting differences.
I just passed my checkride at 40.8hrs in the Miami airspace. I can definitely understand why most people are around 60. I learn fast and came from an aviation background (no pilot exp).