Thanks, guys!
The DPE was relaxed and friendly and wasn't anywhere close to some of the horror stories I've heard. In between oral questions and flight maneuvers, we chatted about a bunch of things. He started by taking care of the paperwork. Then, we went over airworthiness requirements. I showed him our ARROW requirements and showed him my W&B calculations. He then asked questions about maintenance and inspections. We looked at those, and he was satisfied.
He also asked about the plane. I gave him the overview of the plane (engine, hp, etc.). He asked a few more questions about the plane and was satisfied. He also asked specifically about the NAV options we have.
We then talked about the flight plan to KDAB. I explained the entire flight plan, and since we were in a 152 with only 20 gal of fuel, we'd probably stop in Gainesville (KGNV) to check fuel burn and fill up. He asked about how we'd be sure we wouldn't wander through the restricted airspace near KDAB. He was satisfied with that. I planned for 7,500, and he asked, "Well, why not 14000?" I told him the plane would probably struggle to get that high, and then our brains would be useless without oxygen. He seemed good with that answer.
He asked a bunch of questions from the PTS (aeromedical factors). I found he tested me very much using scenario-based questions. He said it would be quite cold at 7500 and if we had heat. I said yes, to which he asked what the risks were. We went over CO poisoning, and that was that. We talked more about the weather and the forecast for today, and he also asked some other things from the PTS. Then: "Let's go fly."
Outside, I ran my normal preflight and checked the checklist after. We fired up and headed out. The first takeoff I had to abort due to my seatbelt tail banging against the door. Fixed it and tried again. We headed out eastbound to KGNV, marked my first checkpoint and then we diverted about halfway to the next. He says, "Let's go to Cairo." Okay, great. I dialed in the NDB for Cairo and crosschecked with the GEF VOR. After a few minutes, he said, "Nevermind. Let's go to Thomasville." Done. I found a big lake on the map and used that to find my way there. (At this point, he tested my nav skills via NDB, VOR and pilotage all in two simple instructions).
We made a full stop in Thomasville, got out and headed over to this aviation museum. That turned out to be closed, so we took a quick break and then went to the pattern there to do a short field takeoff and landing and a soft field takeoff. After the soft field takeoff, we headed back to Tallahassee. On the way, we knocked out the hood work, slow flight, steep turns and power on and off stalls. All went fine with no comments from him (a good sign). After that, we headed back to Tallahassee, did a soft field landing and parked. He waited while I tied everything up, we walked in and he printed out and signed my new league membership.
I'd say the oral was about an hour and the flight was 2 hours. I think I was quite over-prepared. I scored a 98 on the written, and I bought an AF/D and printed out taxi diagrams for the airports along the flight plan. I used none of it. He was quite ok with me using Foreflight on my iPhone to get weather information before flight and airport information in flight.
This really is a license to learn.
