FAA "Flight Check" pilot - ask me anything

RussR

RussR

Final Approach
Joined
Jan 12, 2011
Messages
5,216
Location
Oklahoma City, OK
Display Name
Russ
Home Airfield
OKC
As many of you know, I am an FAA Flight Check pilot, flying the King Air 300 and (very recently) the Challenger 605 for flight inspections around the US. We are the crews who fly all of the approaches and departures, inspect and certify ILS, VOR, and yes even NDBs, evaluate obstacles, airport lighting, communications, radar coverage, and many other aspects of the National Airspace System infrastructure. You may have heard us on the radio as "Flight Check xx" or seen our NOTAMS. It is a great job for me, and I'm having a blast doing it!

Well, due to several users' suggestions by PM, I'm starting this as an "ask me anything"-style thread. Anything you wanted to know about what we do, what it's like to fly for flight check, how our inspections work, why it seems like we're always flying opposite direction :) , how cool it is to fly with a two-digit tail number, anything like that, I will try to answer as accurately and transparently as I can!
 
Do you ever raise suspicion making low approaches into 3,000 foot runways in the 605?
 
apropos of nothing really, have you ever done a flight check of an MLS approach? Related to that sort of, what's the steepest angle of descent profile you've flown or do you leave those really steep descent angles for helicopters or slower aircraft?
 
I flew in a Challenger in Thailand doing a Flight Check on our ATC gear. Interesting equipment in the back. Long flight, enjoyed the AC but the one thing that stood out was the PIC flying bare foot.
 
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Velocity173 said:
I flew in a Challenger in Thailand doing a Flight Check on our ATC gear. Interesting equipment in the back. Long flight, enjoyed the AC but the one think that stood out was the PIC flying bare foot.
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I did that yesterday. Had to drop the plane off for annual and had my work boots on. Forgot I keep a pair of shoes in the hangar for such occasions.
 
Is there self-loading baggage or does the stuff in back go unattended?
 
Is there any need to flight check RNAV approaches? It seems like as long as GPS is working, there is nothing to go wrong..?
 
Why is up up and not down? Asking for a friend..
 
Brad Z said:
Do you ever raise suspicion making low approaches into 3,000 foot runways in the 605?
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Probably!

We do often wonder what the local public thinks of our low flying. At least it's usually in the vicinity of an airport.
 
Bob Noel said:
apropos of nothing really, have you ever done a flight check of an MLS approach? Related to that sort of, what's the steepest angle of descent profile you've flown or do you leave those really steep descent angles for helicopters or slower aircraft?
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I personally have not done an MLS inspection. As you know, they're not common.

Steepest angle? The 6 or 7 degrees at Aspen I would think. We fly COPTER approaches (to runways) in the King Air sometimes, as long as it's within the capabilities of the airplane (which is pretty capable).

For helipads, we have a helicopter pilot in our office who travels to the location and flies with the helipad user in their helicopter to do the inspection.
 
TCABM said:
Is there self-loading baggage or does the stuff in back go unattended?
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We operate as a 3 person crew, two pilots and a mission specialist (for most inspections). The MS really runs most of the inspections, we just drive them to where they need to go!
 
How do I get a job with Flight Check?

All ATP requirements fulfilled minus the total number of multi hours.
 
Always thought that it was the coolest FAA job and maybe the most important task that the FAA does from the pilot safety side…all I can say is thanks for doing the grind…although it’s probably a great way to finance your life!
 
dans2992 said:
Is there any need to flight check RNAV approaches? It seems like as long as GPS is working, there is nothing to go wrong..?
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Yes. For a new or amended procedure, we make sure that the fixes are in the right spot, the database is correct, the coding that constructs the glidepath is accurate, and that the runway is where the coordinates say it is. We also check for obstacles, both those that were identified in the procedure design and any new or unsurveyed ones (like trees). While we're there we check the various runway and approach lighting systems as well.

For periodic checks, we will fly final and the initial part of the missed and look for any new obstacles. Also check the lights each time.
 
RussR said:
OKC, SMF, BTL, RYY, ACY. OKC is the largest location, and we do the major maintenance and checks here.

Full qualification level for pilots is GS-14.
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Interesting, TIL that. Not sure what "full qualification" means in the context of that job. All the OPM "2181" occupational series I'm familiar with (Air Reserve Technicians, CBP AMO, AF civilian support pilot aka "straight GS/non-ART") have all been GS-13 for most meat servos thru instructor qual. Some GS-12 in some developmental positions (Aircraft commander non-instructor) and dedicated sim instructor positions (non-flying). GS-14 has always been reserved for managers/O-6 equivalent.
 
How many nights a week do you sleep at home? Can you teach me how to submit an E2 authorization on the first try?how much of your flight inspection work, if any, can you do under IFR? What are your weather minimums?
 
Where can one get a current / up to date list of working VOR's?
 
What constitutes a failure? Are their grades or is it pass/fail?
 
Okay, off the wall one. Have you ever checked TNX?
 
The last aircraft I ever talked to in ATC happened to be a FAA Flight Check back in early February 2000. It was a strange day too. I got asked at the last minute to do a PAR to get the station tactical ATC system certified. I wasn't even in the unit but I was the only one at Miramar at the time with experience in the Marine Corps tactical PAR (MATCALS). I grabbed the ops truck, drove across 24 L/R to the south side of the field. It was an HS.125 and I did two approaches for them. After the second approach, they said they were done and the pilot stated “those were the two best PARs I’ve ever gotten.” I thanked them and switched them to SOCAL.

Funny thing was, all the guys in the station radar room (base of tower) were listening to it. When I came back and walked into the radar room, an applause erupted and I got a bit of razzing over it. A fitting end to 8 yrs of service.
 
Velocity173 said:
The last aircraft I ever talked to in ATC happened to be a FAA Flight Check back in early February 2000. It was a strange day too. I got asked at the last minute to do a PAR to get the station tactical ATC system certified. I wasn't even in the unit but I was the only one at Miramar at the time with experience in the Marine Corps tactical PAR (MATCALS). I grabbed the ops truck, drove across 24 L/R to the south side of the field. It was an HS.125 and I did two approaches for them. After the second approach, they said they were done and the pilot stated “those were the two best PARs I’ve ever gotten.” I thanked them and switched them to SOCAL.

Funny thing was, all the guys in the station radar room (base of tower) were listening to it. When I came back and walked into the radar room, an applause erupted and I got a bit of razzing over it. A fitting end to 8 yrs of service.
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Mic. Drop
 
EdFred said:
How do I get a job with Flight Check?

All ATP requirements fulfilled minus the total number of multi hours.
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Well you do need the 500 multi hours. There are no waivers I am aware of.

usajobs.gov, search for job series 2181 with the FAA, that should return the correct results. I think they're just posting them under "Airplane Pilot" right now, so you have to read the description.
 
hindsight2020 said:
Interesting, TIL that. Not sure what "full qualification" means in the context of that job. All the OPM "2181" occupational series I'm familiar with (Air Reserve Technicians, CBP AMO, AF civilian support pilot aka "straight GS/non-ART") have all been GS-13 for most meat servos thru instructor qual. Some GS-12 in some developmental positions (Aircraft commander non-instructor) and dedicated sim instructor positions (non-flying). GS-14 has always been reserved for managers/O-6 equivalent.
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That's the DOD for you. In my experience similar jobs between the DOD and DOT seem to be lower graded in the DOD.

"Full qualification" (my terminology) here means fully signed off and passed a check ride as an Airspace System Inspection Pilot, and therefore qualified to certify the facilities, approaches, etc.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
Do you ever check the +V (advisory) part of any rnav approaches?
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Sort of. For an LNAV-only procedure, we check the Vertical Descent Angle (usually the 3.00 degrees that's published). We intentionally fly this a dot below glidepath to simulate poor flying. Unlike an LPV glidepath which gets narrower toward the runway, a VDA like this maintains a linear width and therefore would impact the ground prior to the runway. We fly it this way (dot low) down to 200 ft AGL then transition onto a normal glidepath. If we encounter any obstacles (typically trees) that we would not clear when doing this, the procedure gets the note "Visual Segment - Obstacles" and the VDA is not published.
 
Brad Z said:
How many nights a week do you sleep at home? Can you teach me how to submit an E2 authorization on the first try?how much of your flight inspection work, if any, can you do under IFR? What are your weather minimums?
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I'm probably in hotel rooms an average of 8 nights a month. Trips are generally 4 days, Tuesday - Friday, and 2 or 3 of those a month on average.

I am very proficient at submitting E2 authorizations...

We can do some work IFR. Higher stuff like some parts of a VOR inspection, airways, SIDs, STARs, DME/DME evaluations. Sometimes we can do ILS inspections IFR if ATC is willing to work with us, their MVA is low enough, and their traffic permits (since of course IFR requires more separation). Anything requiring obstacle evaluation (so, any approach work) has to be VFR.

Several of our inspections occur at 1500 AGL, so that requires a 2000 ft ceiling or higher to stay VFR. That's pretty much our most common "weather minimum". For others, we can go a little lower if, for example we're checking the final segment on an approach and say the FAF is at 1500 AGL, then if we can stay IFR and be cleared for the approach, as long as we are visual at the FAF for the obstacle check we can work with that - so a 1500 AGL ceiling in that case might work.
 
ateamer said:
Do you fly the approaches under the hood or in IMC?
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We do not fly approaches under the hood, there would be nothing to be gained by that. We do have an IPC every 6 months, either as part of recurrent training or a standalone IPC. For me, being type rated in two airframes, I'm back in the sim every 6 months anyway, so that keeps me current with IPCs.

It is possible to do some of the inspection work in IMC (see my other answer above), but we generally don't do very much of it. For one, our inspections tend to clog up the airspace somewhat, and if it's IMC, ATC really doesn't want us around. So we come back another day.

So we do fly a lot of approaches (I probably flew 12-15 this week) but very few of them are in IMC. However, we do fly actual (not inspection) approaches like any other airplane when we're getting to and from places.
 
WDD said:
Where can one get a current / up to date list of working VOR's?
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That... I'm not really sure. I mean, I'm sure our inspection tracking system could be used to pull that data out somehow, but I have no idea. That certainly wouldn't be publicly available. To answer that I'd just have to Google like anybody else.
 
Drop me a line if you ever come to CHA or nearby and have some time!
 
pfarber said:
What constitutes a failure? Are their grades or is it pass/fail?
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Our most typical pass/fail would be something like an ILS. For both the Localizer and Glideslope, we are measuring various parameters - signal strength, modulation, course width, symmetry, signal "structure", etc. Each of these has tolerances the signal has to meet. If it doesn't, a technician on the ground (there during our inspections) makes an adjustment and we re-fly it as necessary until it's back in tolerance.

This is reasonably common on an ILS, for signals to drift as components age and such. They adjust it and now it passes.

Very occasionally, they can't fix it on the spot, and need more engineering study or parts or something. In that case the system is NOTAMed OTS and we come back later once they have (hopefully) fixed it.
 
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