Traveling for the check ride / DPE

jbrinker

jbrinker

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Jbrinker
Just had a couple good cross country flights over the past week, and my instructor and I worked trough the remaining requirements. He feels I'm getting close to check ride, and after checking off the night flight requirements, wants me to do some more XC's to airports near Rome NY.

His reasoning is that's where he will send me for the check ride (Griffis RME), cause that's where the DPE is.

I'm fine with this, and certainly fine with doing a few more solo XCs to RME, and surrounding fields to get a little familiar with the area at least.

But what I'm wondering is- How many had to travel (Fly) to another airport for the check ride? Is there really only one DPE around here? I should have asked my instructor, but I didn't get to thinking about it until now.

One other thought - so let's say I get signed off. And bust the checkride. Now I have to fly back to home base. That would be a little weird (I know, don't bust then...)

Just looking for thoughts and experiences surrounding the logistics of the check ride out of town.
 
I flew about an hour to take my check ride, I passed the first time thankfully. My buddy flew there as well a few days later and failed the oral..he had to fly home and back a few days later to try again!
 
Your student signoff to fly to the airport in question (and back) doesn't go away if you fail the checkride, as far as I know.
 
You can search for DPE's using this:
http://av-info.faa.gov/DesigneeSearch.asp

jbrinker said:
One other thought - so let's say I get signed off. And bust the checkride. Now I have to fly back to home base. That would be a little weird (I know, don't bust then...)
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You're not going to fail, but in the unlikely event that you should, you wouldn't be the first in this position.

Fortunately, the DPE is only 12nm away from my home drome.
 
For my PPL and IR I went to another airport. They were only like 10-15 minutes away though. For my private, my CFI came with me and waited at the FBO. For the instrument, I just went by myself.
 
Hopefully the CFI is sending you to a DPE that is known to him, thus knowing what the DPE expects and how he conducts himself and has had favorable results. I would take that with a long XC travel vs a complete unknown even though all DPE are supposed to follow the same standards.

My IFR DPE was a complete power trippin jackwaggon....even though I passed I regretted taking convenience of schedule over another known DPE recommendation.
 
Traveling for a ride is pretty common.
 
Shawn said:
Hopefully the CFI is sending you to a DPE that is known to him, thus knowing what the DPE expects and how he conducts himself and has had favorable results. I would take that with a long XC travel vs a complete unknown even though all DPE are supposed to follow the same standards..
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Yes, this is what I thought might be the case. At any rate it will be a month or two till I'm ready.
 
jbrinker said:
How many had to travel (Fly) to another airport for the check ride? Is there really only one DPE around here?
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More common than not since DPEs may not want to travel to your field. The DPE will expect you to do a preflight check as if the plane were cold before your flying portion so don't make the mistake of assuming you are good to go because you did it before your solo to the checkride field.
 
jbrinker said:
One other thought - so let's say I get signed off. And bust the checkride. Now I have to fly back to home base. That would be a little weird (I know, don't bust then...)
Click to expand...

If you don't pass the checkride you're going to need a solo endorsement to get you home. Hopefully your instructor has thought of that and will give you the endorsement regardless of whether you end up needing it or not.
 
I suppose the real cool thing about taking the ride at a distant field is that if I do pass, I'm a real PPL and can make my real first flight home after. More incentive to study/practice like crazy...
 
To answer your question regarding traveling to a DPE for the checkride, I'm at about 50/50. Traveling for a checkride is quite common. From a flight instructor's standpoint though, I think it is a whole lot easier if the DPE is on site for coordination reasons.
 
jbrinker said:
I suppose the real cool thing about taking the ride at a distant field is that if I do pass, I'm a real PPL and can make my real first flight home after. More incentive to study/practice like crazy...
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Regarding failing. You should have two endorsements for solo flying before you get to your checkride. One for initial XC the other should list distance and airports you can solo to and from so make sure your distance/airports solo endorsement lists the airport where the DPE will meet you. Then you can fly home as a student with solo endorsement.
 
I flew to a field about 12nm away. It actually helped calm the nerves a bit (oh yeah, I DO know how to fly this plane). My logbook was endorsed by my instructor to takeoff and land solo at any airports within 25nm from my home airport, so even if I had failed I would still be legal to fly home. You can also get an endorsement to land solo specifically at that airport and would be legal to fly home in case something unexpected happens to you (but you'll be fine, don't worry).
 
mondtster said:
If you don't pass the checkride you're going to need a solo endorsement to get you home. Hopefully your instructor has thought of that and will give you the endorsement regardless of whether you end up needing it or not.
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Wait...if you receive a solo endorsement to an airport for a XC trip you think that endorsement is only good for one way travel and not the way back home?
 
I am based out of KGTU (north of Austin, TX) and flew to Waco, TX to do my PPL checkride. I think for the most part schools have experience with certain DPE's so they know how to coach students, etc... on what to expect. I flew with a newly minted CFI who did several checkrides with the DPE I was using the day before flying up to do mine and she had a ton of great advice. You do have to get a XC sign-off and it would make sense to get it both ways in case something happens and you don't get your temporary before leaving. I actually did an extra XC (I had my own plane for most of my PPL training) to the same airport a few weeks prior once it was scheduled and actually flew the simulated XC I knew he was going to ask me to fly (based on giving the same scenario for every PPL candidate). It was about a 30 minute flight for me - so no big deal...and any reason to get a little extra flying time works for me. It was pretty cool flying home as a private pilot. :)
 
I traveled 12 NM for mine. Was a little nervous so left way early... Why sit in my home drone when I could sit there. Approached did the pattern announced my positions. Radio chimed and got "hey Sara don't botch the landing... I'm watching" of course the DPE was just as early. I sweaked the landing.
 
Shawn said:
Wait...if you receive a solo endorsement to an airport for a XC trip you think that endorsement is only good for one way travel and not the way back home?
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NO, I definitely did not think that. I just meant it would be a crappy ride home thinking about busting the check ride.
 
Shawn said:
Wait...if you receive a solo endorsement to an airport for a XC trip you think that endorsement is only good for one way travel and not the way back home?
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Depends on how it is written.
 
jbrinker said:
NO, I definitely did not think that. I just meant it would be a crappy ride home thinking about busting the check ride.
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Yup, and for that reason, I don't think it's a good idea. IMSAFE and all that.

Coming off an adrenaline high is also seriously fatiguing. I was useless for a whole day after my (successful) primary checkride.

But it is done a lot.
 
jbrinker said:
Just had a couple good cross country flights over the past week, and my instructor and I worked trough the remaining requirements. He feels I'm getting close to check ride, and after checking off the night flight requirements, wants me to do some more XC's to airports near Rome NY.

His reasoning is that's where he will send me for the check ride (Griffis RME), cause that's where the DPE is.

I'm fine with this, and certainly fine with doing a few more solo XCs to RME, and surrounding fields to get a little familiar with the area at least.

But what I'm wondering is- How many had to travel (Fly) to another airport for the check ride? Is there really only one DPE around here? I should have asked my instructor, but I didn't get to thinking about it until now.

One other thought - so let's say I get signed off. And bust the checkride. Now I have to fly back to home base. That would be a little weird (I know, don't bust then...)

Just looking for thoughts and experiences surrounding the logistics of the check ride out of town.
Click to expand...
do a
i had to do a short XC...roughly 50-nm...to take my SPL check ride. it was no big deal because my CFI and I had known about this for a while and had been practicing in that area for a week or so prior to the CR. and as you say, don't bust the ride. you'll be fine.
 
Most people have to fly to a different airport for their checkride. The number of airports where people learn to fly in the US is far greater than the number of DPEs.
 
DutchRoller said:
Most people have to fly to a different airport for their checkride. The number of airports where people learn to fly in the US is far greater than the number of DPEs.
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Most DPEs will drive to a neighboring airport if it isn't too far. Some will drive great distances if you pay expenses.

Around me, there are four different FSDOs within reasonable driving distances, and each has a couple of DPEs.

The one I chose for my instrument ride had an office spitting distance from the airplane I used. For my private pilot ride, the DPE drove 30 minutes. It's expected.
 
Yeah, I flew about an hour away with my instructor on board. We went a day early and we flew 4 hours just getting everything nailed down. The next morning I was up early, completed my flight planning for the given "hypothetical" flight, drove to the airport and nailed the exams. When I was walking back out to the plane after the paperwork with the DPE was completed, my instructor said "Thanks for the lift - see you at home!". He turned to the left, jumped into a PC-12 sitting next to me on the ramp and shut the door. Apparently he brought the PC-12 up earlier in the week knowing that I would be he his lift back up to the service center in a few days.
 
I flew 80 miles from the home drome to the checkride.
 
I went about 30 miles to where the DPE was based. Was the first student my instructor had sent to this particular examiner, so he rode along to see how it went. Sat in on the oral with my and the examiners permission, then waited in the office during the ride. I passed, but was wrung out after, so my instructor flew the leg home, which I was grateful for. I don't think it's unusual at all to travel a bit for the ride.

Patrick
 
I flew an hour to take mine. The worst part about it for me was weather delays. If it had been local I wouldn't have had to reschedule (and study) 3 times.
 
18nm to my checkride. Not passing and having to fly home without my ticket didn't even cross my mind. My instructor was not around for my ride. I passed and flew home so I could drive an hour away to play a concert that night.

I think there are 3 or 4 DPEs to cover the entire central/southern portion of Illinois. Otherwise you have to go to Chicago or St. Louis. Not a lot of choices around here.
 
I had to travel to get my Instrument Rating. My wife had to pop over to the next airport to get her private. In both cases we actually lugged the instructor along, just in case there were problems.
 
I traveled to mine, only about a 20 minute flight each way though so not a huge deal, and actually kind of liked it because it gave me a little bit of time to fly off any jitters before the test.
 
I flew about 100 miles for mine. At the airport by 7:00 am and 22 mph crosswind 90° to the runway before I left. Bumpy ride down, bumpy check ride, bumpy ride home with a new ticket. Worst day of flying in my life but the best at the same time. I went home and slept for the rest of the day.
 
For my PPL check ride, I flew to an airport 61 miles from my home base. There were several examiners closer, but the Instructors in my Club, and the Chief Flight Instructor, preferred to send students pilots to this particular examiner (and one other), because a) he was familiar with our Club, our airplanes, our procedures, and b) he was thorough and fair, and c) always provided feedback to the Instructors after each ride. The other advantage for us student pilots - we had a chance to get feedback from other Club members who previously went to this examiner.

Your instructor will (presumably) sign you off for a round-trip X-C to the AP where the examiner is based, for your check ride. In the unlikely event you fail to pass the check ride, you are still a student pilot with a legitimate endorsement for the X-C, so you should have no issue with returning to your home base. You mention that your Instructor is considering signing you off for flights to APs near Rome NY. It would be a really good idea to do that - fly to the examiner's base AP, before the date of your scheduled check ride, so you can have a chance to fly the route, land at the AP, and 'scope things out', before you have to do it 'for real'.

I found that the ~45 minute flight to the examiner's base AP gave me a chance to get 'warmed up', to get in a take off and a landing before the ride started, and to relax. It was a successful check ride. And, to this day - 20 years later - I still remember the feeling of elation that covered me all the way back to my home base, after the ride. I am glad I had the chance to make that second 45 minute flight.
 
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I flew to my Private ride. Instructor joked, "I'm not signing this off round-trip for solo so you'd better pass!"
 
Yeah, no idea. I'll have to ask about it. I really don't mind the XC to check ride, I just hadn't thought about it before he mentioned it. He wants me to do 3 minimum XCs out to various airports near Rome (he specified them). Probably to get me familiar with that whole area (the diversion and so on). Plus he said they are some neat places to fly into.
 
Some areas are DPE poor. I regularly use a couple of DPEs and one of those, the most experienced guy, gets "pimped" out to the Nashville TN on a regular basis. There also seems to be a lack of FAA inspectors too.
 
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