I figured I would add some feedback from my checkride. I heard some negative feedback before about him, but I found none of that to be true. My background is a military instructor pilot on KC-10s. I got all of my FAA certificates (Commercial-SE land, ME land, instrument, and MEI) through military conversion (simple matter of paperwork and a knowledge test). I wasn't qualified to get my CFI (single engine instructor). So I decided to train to get it. This wasn't my first FAA checkride as I took my ATP two years ago before the rules changed. But anyway here is my review of Jeremy "Jay" Auslander.
Overall: Great evaluator. I met him at CDW on a hot afternoon. I flew in and met him there. Most of the 1st hour was spent meticulously combing through the documentation (as he should) to verify my logbook, medical, certificates, and application were good. There were a few minor discrepancies, which he pointed out, and we corrected them properly on the spot. No big issue. He then talked to me about the checkride standards and what we have to accomplish. The overarching theme with Jay was to take his time and make sure it was all correct and fully explain everything so that everyone is on the same page. There were even times it was so quiet, I didn't know if I was supposed to be teaching him something or he was expecting me to take charge and lead a briefing. I think he was actually thinking about what else needs to be checked or talked about before jumping in the plane.
Next he reviewed the maintenance forms. No problem. (In fact this was probably the part that confuses me the most, so I was glad he didn't have any questions.) Next we got into endorsements (since we have to talk about them). We started talking about why have certain endorsements and why they are important: It was more of a conversation than one-by-one questions. He asked why we require CFIs to take spin training and then asked me during which maneuvers would I expect a student to put me in a spin. Next, he asked me why we do demonstration stalls and what phases of flight to expect them to happen in. They were very appropriate questions to ask someone who wants to teach new pilots and I enjoyed that conversation because it was totally relevant.
We went into the preflight portion where we actually talked about the flight. I was really unfamiliar with CDW local operations (other than what was in the AFD), but he was okay with that and told me what to expect and which area he liked to fly out to. He really liked how when I arrived and the tower directed me to the "Square Lake" and I told them I have no idea where that is. Seemed like he had frustrations with the tower controllers and how they expect all pilots to know their local-isms. Next, I wanted to initiate a discussion about takeoff engine failure options around that busy city. I asked to talk about where to put the aircraft when we lose an engine on takeoff and he gladly discussed possibilities from either end and what he has discussed in the past. On one end, you have golf courses, but on the other end it is all populated areas with the exception of the highway and the river. I was uncertain about the obstructions on a busy NJ highway, but he assured me the roadway was clear enough.
Out to the aircraft we went and I started my preflight. He let me choose which seat to sit in, so I chose the left seat. Preflight & start were insignificant. On taxi, ground control was being picky about something I was saying in the taxi clearance, I never exactly figured out what they wanted me to do, but apparently it wasn't a big deal. It seemed like a local thing and he wasn't bothered by it. On run-up, I went through the normal stuff and before pushing up the RPMs I announced "Clear fore and aft" and he seemed to like that I was looking for things behind me I could damage (this was simply a common thing to do in military pilot training and honestly i'm not sure if most people do this on the civilian side or not - I just wasn't expecting a verbal approval and positive reinforcement for that after all the times my military IPs just treated you like dog**** all the time only when you missed that step).
Takeoff and transit to the area was easy, with the exception of a few departing aircraft we had to avoid. Out in the area, we started with steep turns. I looked up the altitude out there and confirmed that we had clearance for the performance maneuvers. Did clearing turns, and again, he was all about taking your time to get setup. He really didn't want me to rush. I instructed a left and right steep turn to him. He was satisfied. He then asked if I wanted to do lazy eights or chandelles. I was more confident in my lazy eight so I taught and critiqued myself through that maneuver. First 180 turn went pretty well, on altitude and airspeed upon completion, but the second one, I finished about 200' high, but he liked how I critiqued why I ended up like that and how to fix it.
Next we had to do ground reference maneuvers. Again, he asked me to pick the ground ref. maneuver. I picked Eights On Pylons, simply because I seemed to do them well during training and I like doing them. I FINALLY found two points and he helped me figure out the ground elevation. On the descent down he had me talk to him about what pivotal altitude is. I told him about it and the theory behind it and then we looked up what it was for our speed. I started and it was going well, but my power wasn't quite set high enough. During the maneuver we slowed down from 100knots to about 80 knots and he asked me to increase the power, I thought maybe I had made him uncomfortable with it and failed, but nothing came of it. He asked me some questions about how far the points should be apart and how long you should roll out for before starting the other pylon. I knew the distance answer, but didn't know the time. I wasn't very pleased with how I performed it, but it was good enough. So that was more of a critiqued maneuver overall with learning points for the future.
The last thing we did in the area was a demonstration stall/slow flight. He said to pull the power to idle and configure for slow flight. I was expecting him to go through the full slow flight and then demonstration stall, but we were in slow flight for like 2 seconds and then he asked me to pull the power back to idle. He then started running the trim nose up (as he told me he would) and told me to not let the nose come up. He then asked me how to recover from an elevator trim stall and I simply demonstrated that I push the yoke in to counter the forces. lol. We talked about how these happen and when students will do it.
We headed back to CDW for a touch and go. First one was a soft-field landing. Had extended downwind for traffic straight in, so I left flaps retracted. He recommended that I don't let students do that at such a low airspeed in the pattern. Winds picked up and were a crosswind of about 10 knots. He liked how I continued to fly the airplane through all the bumps. I could have done better with crosswind controls throughout the touch and go however. Next one was a normal landing same sort of deal. Then the last one was a power off landing. Pointed towards runway, dumped flaps, slipped it in (he asked me about which direction to slip, answer put the wing down into the wind - didn't know that one, but makes sense to be closer to your crosswind controls).
After we landed, we taxied back to parking. I almost missed the taxiway ground told me to taxi back onto, but he caught it and it didn't seem to phase him. When securing the engine he showed me what they used to do as part of the checklist to check the mags are working properly. He demonstrated checking the grounds and if your engine doesn't quit how dangerous it can be for someone who may be near the prop as it could fire even with the switch out. I secured the engine and then he shook my hand and congratulated me.
He worked with me through the paperwork, stamped a hole in my old instructor certificate and issued me the temporary cert. He signed my logbook and we were on our ways.
Overall, I liked flying with Jay. He seemed fair and he had a big picture mindset to flying. This was the same thing I heard from a friend of mine who checked with him for his ATP. I would recommend this evaluator to anyone and will recommend him for my students.
Overall: Great evaluator. I met him at CDW on a hot afternoon. I flew in and met him there. Most of the 1st hour was spent meticulously combing through the documentation (as he should) to verify my logbook, medical, certificates, and application were good. There were a few minor discrepancies, which he pointed out, and we corrected them properly on the spot. No big issue. He then talked to me about the checkride standards and what we have to accomplish. The overarching theme with Jay was to take his time and make sure it was all correct and fully explain everything so that everyone is on the same page. There were even times it was so quiet, I didn't know if I was supposed to be teaching him something or he was expecting me to take charge and lead a briefing. I think he was actually thinking about what else needs to be checked or talked about before jumping in the plane.
Next he reviewed the maintenance forms. No problem. (In fact this was probably the part that confuses me the most, so I was glad he didn't have any questions.) Next we got into endorsements (since we have to talk about them). We started talking about why have certain endorsements and why they are important: It was more of a conversation than one-by-one questions. He asked why we require CFIs to take spin training and then asked me during which maneuvers would I expect a student to put me in a spin. Next, he asked me why we do demonstration stalls and what phases of flight to expect them to happen in. They were very appropriate questions to ask someone who wants to teach new pilots and I enjoyed that conversation because it was totally relevant.
We went into the preflight portion where we actually talked about the flight. I was really unfamiliar with CDW local operations (other than what was in the AFD), but he was okay with that and told me what to expect and which area he liked to fly out to. He really liked how when I arrived and the tower directed me to the "Square Lake" and I told them I have no idea where that is. Seemed like he had frustrations with the tower controllers and how they expect all pilots to know their local-isms. Next, I wanted to initiate a discussion about takeoff engine failure options around that busy city. I asked to talk about where to put the aircraft when we lose an engine on takeoff and he gladly discussed possibilities from either end and what he has discussed in the past. On one end, you have golf courses, but on the other end it is all populated areas with the exception of the highway and the river. I was uncertain about the obstructions on a busy NJ highway, but he assured me the roadway was clear enough.
Out to the aircraft we went and I started my preflight. He let me choose which seat to sit in, so I chose the left seat. Preflight & start were insignificant. On taxi, ground control was being picky about something I was saying in the taxi clearance, I never exactly figured out what they wanted me to do, but apparently it wasn't a big deal. It seemed like a local thing and he wasn't bothered by it. On run-up, I went through the normal stuff and before pushing up the RPMs I announced "Clear fore and aft" and he seemed to like that I was looking for things behind me I could damage (this was simply a common thing to do in military pilot training and honestly i'm not sure if most people do this on the civilian side or not - I just wasn't expecting a verbal approval and positive reinforcement for that after all the times my military IPs just treated you like dog**** all the time only when you missed that step).
Takeoff and transit to the area was easy, with the exception of a few departing aircraft we had to avoid. Out in the area, we started with steep turns. I looked up the altitude out there and confirmed that we had clearance for the performance maneuvers. Did clearing turns, and again, he was all about taking your time to get setup. He really didn't want me to rush. I instructed a left and right steep turn to him. He was satisfied. He then asked if I wanted to do lazy eights or chandelles. I was more confident in my lazy eight so I taught and critiqued myself through that maneuver. First 180 turn went pretty well, on altitude and airspeed upon completion, but the second one, I finished about 200' high, but he liked how I critiqued why I ended up like that and how to fix it.
Next we had to do ground reference maneuvers. Again, he asked me to pick the ground ref. maneuver. I picked Eights On Pylons, simply because I seemed to do them well during training and I like doing them. I FINALLY found two points and he helped me figure out the ground elevation. On the descent down he had me talk to him about what pivotal altitude is. I told him about it and the theory behind it and then we looked up what it was for our speed. I started and it was going well, but my power wasn't quite set high enough. During the maneuver we slowed down from 100knots to about 80 knots and he asked me to increase the power, I thought maybe I had made him uncomfortable with it and failed, but nothing came of it. He asked me some questions about how far the points should be apart and how long you should roll out for before starting the other pylon. I knew the distance answer, but didn't know the time. I wasn't very pleased with how I performed it, but it was good enough. So that was more of a critiqued maneuver overall with learning points for the future.
The last thing we did in the area was a demonstration stall/slow flight. He said to pull the power to idle and configure for slow flight. I was expecting him to go through the full slow flight and then demonstration stall, but we were in slow flight for like 2 seconds and then he asked me to pull the power back to idle. He then started running the trim nose up (as he told me he would) and told me to not let the nose come up. He then asked me how to recover from an elevator trim stall and I simply demonstrated that I push the yoke in to counter the forces. lol. We talked about how these happen and when students will do it.
We headed back to CDW for a touch and go. First one was a soft-field landing. Had extended downwind for traffic straight in, so I left flaps retracted. He recommended that I don't let students do that at such a low airspeed in the pattern. Winds picked up and were a crosswind of about 10 knots. He liked how I continued to fly the airplane through all the bumps. I could have done better with crosswind controls throughout the touch and go however. Next one was a normal landing same sort of deal. Then the last one was a power off landing. Pointed towards runway, dumped flaps, slipped it in (he asked me about which direction to slip, answer put the wing down into the wind - didn't know that one, but makes sense to be closer to your crosswind controls).
After we landed, we taxied back to parking. I almost missed the taxiway ground told me to taxi back onto, but he caught it and it didn't seem to phase him. When securing the engine he showed me what they used to do as part of the checklist to check the mags are working properly. He demonstrated checking the grounds and if your engine doesn't quit how dangerous it can be for someone who may be near the prop as it could fire even with the switch out. I secured the engine and then he shook my hand and congratulated me.
He worked with me through the paperwork, stamped a hole in my old instructor certificate and issued me the temporary cert. He signed my logbook and we were on our ways.
Overall, I liked flying with Jay. He seemed fair and he had a big picture mindset to flying. This was the same thing I heard from a friend of mine who checked with him for his ATP. I would recommend this evaluator to anyone and will recommend him for my students.
