Checkouts in certain planes?

marcoseddi

marcoseddi

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So if I get checked out in a 152, is there a checkout certification for the 152? If I went to go rent a 172 do I need to get a checkout in 1. I Am pretty sure no, but I notice a lot of people talking about getting checked out, and wanted to know the deal do you have to get a checkout for each plane? Excuse me if it sounds stupid, thanks for your help.
 
First of all, the FAA doesn't care.. As long as it is a SEL with less that a 12,500 lb gross weight...

The Insurance drives this industry, as well as what you do safety wise.. It varies a LOT...
 
If you are renting, most likely yes, you would need a checkout in the 172. Anywhere you rent they will want a checkout, doesn't matter how many hours you have in a given model.
 
Any time you rent from a new FBO, you're going to have to do a checkout with them. This isn't required by the FAA or anything, the FBO just wants to make sure you're not going to bend their plane. It's nothing like a FAA check ride, usually just flying with one of the FBO's instructors for about an hour. And yes, you have to pay for the instructor in addition to the rental fee for this checkout.

In addition, if you want to change planes within the same FBO (from a 152 to a 172, for example) they are also going to want to do a checkout. The length of this kind of checkout will vary based on the "scale" of the change. 152 to 172 will be quicker than 172 to DA-20, for example.
 
Got it how do you get a checkout is there like a certificate, like once I get my PPL I tell my CFI lets fly the 172 does he give a checkout? What makes it a checkout?
 
No certificate or anything. As far as the FAA is concerned, a plane is a plane (though you do need an endorsement for higher power or "complex" planes with a constant speed prop or retractable gear - this kind of checkout is required by the FAA and gets endorsed in your logbook.)

The records of FBO required checkouts are kept by the FBO. Nothing gets sent to the FAA. You can have the instructor note in your logbook that the flight was a 172 checkout for the particular school, but it's not required.
 
Thanks, so if I from NJ was in CA and wanted to rent a plane showed them I flew 172 they would potentially rent it to me, depending on them flying with me first whatever their rules may be?
 
Sometimes the FBO will have insurance minimums that can't be waved. Probably not between a 152 and a 172, though.
 
marcoseddi said:
Thanks, so if I from NJ was in CA and wanted to rent a plane showed them I flew 172 they would potentially rent it to me, depending on them flying with me first whatever their rules may be?
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You will have to demonstrate to the FBO that you won't bend their plane.
 
Sometimes it's an insurance requirement, other times it's liability fright or just pure greed on the part of the FBO. I can tell you that when I was leasing my plane, the insurance company didn't strictly place any requirement for currency (beyond the FAA minimums) or checkouts, but the club insisted on them. In part, having a good safety record does help the club get a better shot at insurance.

Back 30 years ago when I learned to fly, if you had time logged in your book in a substantially similar aircraft, you might get a three trips around the pattern checkout at a new FBO. These days it's often more intensive no matter how much time in type you have.
 
There are some planes that require a proper checkout. A Pitts for example, if you have your tail wheel from flying a J3, chances are very slim that you would be able to hop in and be a competent pilot in an S2B.
 
marcoseddi said:
So if I get checked out in a 152, is there a checkout certification for the 152? If I went to go rent a 172 do I need to get a checkout in 1. I Am pretty sure no, but I notice a lot of people talking about getting checked out, and wanted to know the deal do you have to get a checkout for each plane? Excuse me if it sounds stupid, thanks for your help.
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Usually if you are increasing capacity it will require a check out. I have often had the deal where if I check out in the FBO's 172RG, that will satisfy the requirements for the 172 and 152/0 as well. The inverse has never been offered when checking out at a new FBO.
 
PBristolJr said:
There are some planes that require a proper checkout. A Pitts for example, if you have your tail wheel from flying a J3, chances are very slim that you would be able to hop in and be a competent pilot in an S2B.
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What do you consider a proper checkout on a Pitts S-1S? J-3 is as good a prep as any IMO.
 
Henning said:
Still not a Checkout, that's just a prerequisite, part of the preliminary education.
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You tell me who rents out single-seat Pitts's and I'll tell you what the checkout is.

In any event, a "checkout" is whatever the party requiring it says it is. That party could be the owner, or the insurer, or the party to whom the operator is contracted. It could be anything from once around the pattern to a week in school, sim, and airplane.

But typically, if you're a pilot who learned in a 152 and you want to rent a 152 somewhere else, expect 30-60 minutes including some basic maneuvers like steep turns and slow flight, an engine failure/emergency approach, and 3-5 takeoffs and landings of various types. If that same 152 pilot is looking to rent a 172 from a place where s/he's been flying their 152's, probably a couple of hours including more maneuvers and more landings. If that same 152 pilot is looking to rent a type s/he's never flown before in a place s/he's never flown before, it might be 3-5 hours, including a short XC just to see their nav and radio skills.
 
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That seems a little longer than my experience.

A checkout on a 172 when current in type seems to be around 30 minutes. Mainly, they want to make sure you can put the aircraft down safely under emergency and nonemergency conditions. I.e., one normal landing and one engine-out. One FBO told me up front that they wanted to be sure I could land in the first third of their sloped runway, and that's it.

I'm in the middle of a checkout on a 182 with no prior experience in type. It looks like it will end up being about 2.5 hours, including the HP endorsement. Frankly, there isn't all that much to it.

I'm not sure how I would ever be checked out in a 152. With me and full fuel (and I really don't want much less on a 152), there is about 120 lb left for an instructor. While that's not impossible, it's pretty small.
 
As others have noted, the "checkout" can be anything from minimal to excessive, mostly depending on the insurer, though not always.

A few days after I got my PP, having trained in a Warrior and a 172, I wanted to rent the FBO's 150. ("FBO" was a bit of a misnomer, since it was one guy who owned the business, the planes and was my instructor.)

We did a couple trips around the pattern, then went out a few miles and did some steep turns, slow flight and stalls. Took maybe 15-20 minutes. I then dropped him off and was free to do whatever I wanted.

When I did my checkout in the 182 and high-performance endorsement, it was five hours, dictated by the club and insurance. I learned most of what I needed in the first hour.

Now, doing my complex endorsement and checkout in the Mooney, it's 10 hours. I'm not entirely sure that'll be enough. The plane is a handful.
 
I just signed up to be notified of this new service. Apparently, there's a company out there that partners with FBOs across the country. When you get checked out in a Cessna at a partner FBO, the company lets the other FBOs around the country know that you're capable of flying that particular Cessna. This way, you can show up at a partner FBO and rent their Cessna to avoid having to do a checkout.

Seems like it won't takeoff, though.
 
As stated by others, checkouts are whatever the person responsible for renting the aircraft says they are.

Shortly after moving to Chicago a family emergency required a short-notice rental to fly back to ND. I started calling around mid-afternoon and found a C-182 available at Midway (KMDW). By 6 pm I was at MDW loading the plane with our stuff. My checkout was flying with the FBO owner from KMDW to KJVL (en route to ND) so the owner could pick up a plane he needed to get back to MDW. One takeoff, a 35 min. flight and one landing. He jumped out and my wife and I continued on to ND. I'm not sure what his contingency plan was if I wasn't qualified, but at that point in time I probably had close to 1,000 hours TT and several hundred in 182s, so he probably bet accordingly.
 
HerrGruyere said:
I just signed up to be notified of this new service. Apparently, there's a company out there that partners with FBOs across the country. When you get checked out in a Cessna at a partner FBO, the company lets the other FBOs around the country know that you're capable of flying that particular Cessna. This way, you can show up at a partner FBO and rent their Cessna to avoid having to do a checkout.

Seems like it won't takeoff, though.
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Nice idea for the consumer, however why would the FBO want tothrow away the $ they would make from an instructional flight?
 
PBristolJr said:
Nice idea for the consumer, however why would the FBO want tothrow away the $ they would make from an instructional flight?
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The assumption is that they would pick up more business, as someone already checked out in the system might actually rent a plane when they are out of town... As opposed to dropping 500-1000 on a checkout and one rental that they will never use again....
 
ja_user said:
The assumption is that they would pick up more business, as someone already checked out in the system might actually rent a plane when they are out of town... As opposed to dropping 500-1000 on a checkout and one rental that they will never use again....
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Exactly. I'd love to rent once in Raleigh to take my buddies/family up, but I'm not going to shell out hundreds of dollars for a checkout to go fly for less than an hour.
 
When I do a checkout with someone it really is about just familiarizing you with "This" airplane especially if you have many hours in that make model. Where is all the stuff you need, three touches and maybe a maneuver or two. Good to go. Now thats all dependent of course, but you get the idea.

I imagine that if you bent the airplane and insurance found out that you had not even had a fam flight that they would be answering questions.
 
I'd be willing to guess he was at least as interested in your XC abilities as your steep-turn abilities, and probably liked what he saw during your short trip. Unfortunately, the check-outs for planes to be used for travel are typically the same as those to be used for local flying or burger runs.

Without being intrusive, I try to determine the typical trips and usage contemplated by pilots after their checkout is complete, and incorporate some of the things that I think are important--fuel planning, autopilot and long-range nav functions, quick reference to W&B and performance/power-setting pages, aircraft idiosyncrasies (fuel gage needles sometimes require a tap on the panel)-- to help them transition and de-mystify the new plane.

Things as simple as the operation of a new-style audio panel are sometimes stumpers for them, so I preface all discussions with my desire to provide them with the best chance for a successful and uneventful trip by talking about the things they might want to know while sitting on the ramp without the meter running. When the check-out is complete, I make sure they have my cell number and know I'm available to help 24-7 in case they need it.

Some pilots have offered profuse thanks for the extra effort, some were already up to speed on the equipment and already had it figured out. I can only remember two calls over the years, both long before cell-phones were common. One was about a flat tire, the other was a failed hot start that had exhausted battery power.

LDJones said:
As stated by others, checkouts are whatever the person responsible for renting the aircraft says they are.

Shortly after moving to Chicago a family emergency required a short-notice rental to fly back to ND. I started calling around mid-afternoon and found a C-182 available at Midway (KMDW). By 6 pm I was at MDW loading the plane with our stuff. My checkout was flying with the FBO owner from KMDW to KJVL (en route to ND) so the owner could pick up a plane he needed to get back to MDW. One takeoff, a 35 min. flight and one landing. He jumped out and my wife and I continued on to ND. I'm not sure what his contingency plan was if I wasn't qualified, but at that point in time I probably had close to 1,000 hours TT and several hundred in 182s, so he probably bet accordingly.
Click to expand...
 
HerrGruyere said:
I just signed up to be notified of this new service. Apparently, there's a company out there that partners with FBOs across the country. When you get checked out in a Cessna at a partner FBO, the company lets the other FBOs around the country know that you're capable of flying that particular Cessna. This way, you can show up at a partner FBO and rent their Cessna to avoid having to do a checkout.

Seems like it won't takeoff, though.
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Yeah, that' s been "coming soon" for quite some time now.

Now, it's "before the end of the year." Not much time left there. And a rollout during the holidays seems kinda silly.

I'd love to take advantage of that, but it seems destined to fail.
 
Another thing to consider when getting checked out at a new location - if you are not routinely flying at that airport, the CFI will probably spend time with you explaining local procedures. Where the runup areas are for each rwy, for example, and any other situations unique to that airport. You won't get a refresher on wake turbulence at the 2500' grass strip, but if you start renting at the place with the 8000' rwy that handles a lot of jet traffic you just might.
 
MAKG1 said:
Yeah, that' s been "coming soon" for quite some time now.

Now, it's "before the end of the year." Not much time left there. And a rollout during the holidays seems kinda silly.

I'd love to take advantage of that, but it seems destined to fail.
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Pretty sure this is what you are talking about. I love the idea. I think they are trying to build there database before launching, so they have the biggest network possible.

http://www.openairplane.com/
 
Yeah, that's the place!

Matthew said:
Another thing to consider when getting checked out at a new location - if you are not routinely flying at that airport, the CFI will probably spend time with you explaining local procedures. Where the runup areas are for each rwy, for example, and any other situations unique to that airport. You won't get a refresher on wake turbulence at the 2500' grass strip, but if you start renting at the place with the 8000' rwy that handles a lot of jet traffic you just might.
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I did not even think of that. See, that makes perfect sense, then, to have a checkout.
 
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