Flying solo to checkride

edessa said:
I am getting ready for my PPL checkride on Monday the 24th. Is it possible to fly solo XC to the airport where the DPE is? Or does someone with at lease a PPL have to go with me? will be going from KLPR to 16G.
Thank you in advance.
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Simple answer: It is. I flew solo to another airport for my private checkride. It was apparently not that unusual where I trained.

I'll leave arguments about problems which might come up to the others,
 
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I was solo xc to my check ride. Not a big deal. I just figured everyone did it that way if the dpe was not based at same airport... I mean. How else you going to get there if you don’t fly and why on earth would you want the instructor there costing you money. You’re a one hour flight away from being a certified pilot. Flying to the DPE without your instructor should be a non event.
 
Lindberg said:
How did the applicant get there in the first place? If you disagree that the aircraft is unairworthy, and presumably you do because you flew out there, you fly home. If the DPE points out a problem you missed that you agree makes it unairworthy, you thank him and get it fixed or get a ferry permit. In neither case has the DPE grounded the plane or made it unairworthy. In either case the aircraft is legally in the same position as if the had DPE never looked at it.
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The difference is after the DPE shows you why the aircraft is not airworthy, if you get back in it and fly anyway, what is that telling him about your ADM? Screwing up and unknowingly flying an unairworthy aircraft is bad enough, but to follow that up by doing it on purpose shows bad decision making as well as missing the airworthiness item.
 
If the DPE has already signed and passed you and you’re now a private pilot you have the right to determine if the plane is not safe. You have the right to determine if you fly it back or not.

It sounded like the DPE in this case didn’t really find anything wrong - he just was finding fault with how the paperwork was signed so truth be told he wanted all to know he was king of the tarmac.
 
Salty said:
The difference is after the DPE shows you why the aircraft is not airworthy, if you get back in it and fly anyway, what is that telling him about your ADM?
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It's immaterial. If I fly away, it's because I don't agree with his assessment of the aircraft's airworthiness. So I'll either be persuading him that he's wrong or flying with a different examiner. If he finds something actually wrong with the aircraft, it just means whoever is responsible for maintaining it f'd up. That has nothing to do with the DPE. I'm not an A&P or a CFI and I haven't been a student pilot in a long time, but even I know plenty of stories of BS claims of unairworthiness. Is the A&P going to redo a log book because one DPE doesn't like how he signs off ADs? No. You're going to find a different DPE.
 
Salty said:
The difference is after the DPE shows you why the aircraft is not airworthy, if you get back in it and fly anyway, what is that telling him about your ADM? Screwing up and unknowingly flying an unairworthy aircraft is bad enough, but to follow that up by doing it on purpose shows bad decision making as well as missing the airworthiness item.
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For reference, here's the post that started this discussion:

Something everyone missed...what if the DE decides the airplane is not airworthy? The airplane is grounded.
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And I disagree. The DPE has no authority to "decide" the airplane is not airworthy and ground it. It either is or it isn't. I assumed from the language "the DE decides" that we were not taking about a genuine issue. But if your concern is that a DPE away from home will find a legitimate airworthiness concern that you're unaware of, you're doing it wrong.
 
Lindberg said:
For reference, here's the post that started this discussion:



And I disagree. The DPE has no authority to "decide" the airplane is not airworthy and ground it. It either is or it isn't. I assumed from the language "the DE decides" that we were not taking about a genuine issue. But if your concern is that a DPE away from home will find a legitimate airworthiness concern that you're unaware of, you're doing it wrong.
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Why would a DPE come up with something you as a trainee disagree with? As a trainee, I’m going to defer to a DPE with decades of experience in. Why would you expect a DPE to make something up?

my assumption is the DPE isn’t a douche, and he just noticed something you hadn’t noticed.
 
Salty said:
Why would a DPE come up with something you as a trainee disagree with? As a trainee, I’m going to defer to a DPE with decades of experience in. Why would you expect a DPE to make something up?

my assumption is the DPE isn’t a douche, and he just noticed something you hadn’t noticed.
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Sometimes **** just happens. When I went to the FSDO to get my initial CFI the safety inspector tried to red tag the arrow I was flying because it didn’t have shoulder harnesses installed. It took about three hours of playing grab ass at the fsdo but ultimately the guys boss told him the airplane was airworthy and he should complete my check ride. So perhaps a dpe wouldn’t make stuff up but I’ve had the FAA make up crap.
 
Tarheelpilot said:
Sometimes **** just happens. When I went to the FSDO to get my initial CFI the safety inspector tried to red tag the arrow I was flying because it didn’t have shoulder harnesses installed. It took about three hours of playing grab ass at the fsdo but ultimately the guys boss told him the airplane was airworthy and he should complete my check ride. So perhaps a dpe wouldn’t make stuff up but I’ve had the FAA make up crap.
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I don't doubt that it happens, but for the sake of the discussion, why would you assume that was the case? I assumed it was a real airworthiness issue, not douchebaggery.
 
Salty said:
I don't doubt that it happens, but for the sake of the discussion, why would you assume that was the case? I assumed it was a real airworthiness issue, not douchebaggery.
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Because the OP said the DPE didn’t like the way it was written - DPE didn’t point out where the wing would fall off. And the DPE didn’t like that guy who owned the plane. So I took it as a bogus pedantic issue
 
Salty said:
I don't doubt that it happens, but for the sake of the discussion, why would you assume that was the case? I assumed it was a real airworthiness issue, not douchebaggery.
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to be honest I’ve seen enough over the years that I don’t have much of an opinion. Sometimes it’s the DPE/ASI. Sometimes it’s the applicant. Anecdotally I have seen it be the applicant more often than the evaluator. Either way if I was sitting at the airport and a student pilot told me they were worried about flying to their check ride or a cfi told me they were were worried about their student flying solo to a check ride the first word that I would think of... ***** (a weak, cowardly, or effeminate man). Then I would leave to get more coffee and hopefully end the conversation.
 
I did my PPL checkride at an airport other than the home airport. It was just over 27 nm away. It was my first time flying to that airport.

The planes were used regularly for flight instruction, so went to checkrides regularly as well. Tabs were in the logbook to show all the needed parts, annuals, 100-hr, etc. Plus we went over it with the CFI a day or so before the checkride. I think I actually found an issue that had to get addressed, or maybe that was for my instrument checkride. Since we verified a day or two ahead they ran it over to the mechanic and got it updated.

The checkride went well.
 
Salty said:
Why would a DPE come up with something you as a trainee disagree with? As a trainee, I’m going to defer to a DPE with decades of experience in. Why would you expect a DPE to make something up?
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How about an examiner who believes the logs should document every AD at each inspection, including inapplicable ADs, noting why they are inapplicable? Unless it is the student's own plane and he's also the A&P/IA signing off on everything, I would expect him to make a phone call and figure it out. If a DPE didn't like how my log books look (my plane), I'd call my A&P and hash it out. If my A&P says the DPE is FOS, then I'll skedaddle. If it's a rental, I'd call the owner and same deal. A DPE might point something out to you about the logs, but he has no power or authority to ground the plane.

my assumption is the DPE isn’t a douche, and he just noticed something you hadn’t noticed.
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Unless the OP owns the plane, which is possible but rare for PP checkrides, then it seems likely others have taken checkrides in the same plane....
 
edessa said:
I am getting ready for my PPL checkride on Monday the 24th. Is it possible to fly solo XC to the airport where the DPE is? Or does someone with at lease a PPL have to go with me? will be going from KLPR to 16G.
Thank you in advance.
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I did the same thing. Have your CFI sighn you off in your log book for the XC back in case you dont pass.. by the way I did my PPL checkride at 16G alos. Brad is a realy good DPE, very fare guy!
 
murphey said:
Something everyone missed...what if the DE decides the airplane is not airworthy? The airplane is grounded.
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This is an important consideration, the club I learned to fly with had a DPE declare a plane airworthy for lacking a POH Supplement for an STC. (There is a lot more to it, but that's the short version.).

As for the ferry permit suggestion, even if one is issued, can a student pilot solo a plane on a ferry permit?
 
One thing to think about... I did my checkride recently at an airport about 30nm away. My CFI came with me and only charged me for flight time. He said that, while it's a low probability, having someone fail the checkride and have to then fly back by himself might not be the safest situation depending in the mental state of the student. I can imagine that if you bust, you might not be excited about having to immediately jump back in the plane and fly home...

Might not be a factor for some, but it's worth consideration.
 
So my CFI gave me the endorsement to fly to the DPE. Got it done on the 1st of September and passed the checkride. Thank you to all for their input. Hope this information will help others.
Now on to bigger and better things.
 
Congratulations! You now have a license to learn :)
 
Lindberg said:
A DPE can ground a plane?
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No. He is a faa designee to evaluate pilots. Not a airworthiness inspector. However, he can refuse to give the ride and could cause some big problems for you with the faa. I would not push the issue with a dpe. Even when doing a ride with the feds, if the examiner has an issue with the logs or the plane he/she will bring in a asi to make the call. If an asi grounds it, it’s grounded until the issue is cleared up.
 
edessa said:
So my CFI gave me the endorsement to fly to the DPE. Got it done on the 1st of September and passed the checkride. Thank you to all for their input. Hope this information will help others.
Now on to bigger and better things.
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Congratulations and welcome to the club! Go Fly!
 
edessa said:
So my CFI gave me the endorsement to fly to the DPE. Got it done on the 1st of September and passed the checkride.
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Good going! I have a friend that just began training. His instructor told him when the time came he would fly the training aircraft to the DPE for his test. The instructor knows the DPE and the DPE likely has flown a number of exams in that same aircraft. If the DPE is being a professional he will certainly do his diligence to make sure all is in order but they also want the student to pass the check ride. I had a really great DPE years ago that was very thorough yet had the great ability to help me calm down as he wrung me out. It was actually quite exhilarating!
 
edessa said:
So my CFI gave me the endorsement to fly to the DPE. Got it done on the 1st of September and passed the checkride. Thank you to all for their input. Hope this information will help others.
Now on to bigger and better things.
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What?? You mean to tell us the DPE didn't create some random conflict out of thin air to cause endless drama and justify another eight pages of debate by the assembled chorus of Talmudic scholars? How terribly disappointing. Now someone will need to just make something up -- oh, wait. Already done.

On the bright side, you have a certificate now, so congratulations and enjoy!
 
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