Looking for your stories about checkrides & DPE searching

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dpe.flights

Filing Flight Plan
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May 5, 2025
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DPE Rating & Searching Team
Hello!
We`re re a young project studying the problem of selecting and finding Designated Pilot Examiners (DPE) and helping examinees who face this issue before their checkride.
Currently, we are looking for people who are ready to share their experience or who cover this topic. Share your stories! We look forward to connecting with you!
 
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Some DPE’s don’t want to give you a checkride, so they make the process more difficult. Some DPE’s love it and want to share their knowledge with you. Some DPE’s make a puppy mill out of it. Most DPE’s are professional pilots so you have to find availability in between trips and personal schedule so that limits availability. Then there’s the location. And then on top of that is the relationship between the DPE and CFI, which can heavily affect the checkride itself.
 
dpe.flights said:
Hello!
We`re re a young project studying the problem of selecting and finding Designated Pilot Examiners (DPE) and helping examinees who face this issue before their checkride.
Currently, we are looking for people who are ready to share their experience or who cover this topic. Share your stories! We look forward to connecting with you!
Click to expand...
My experience with a specific DPE was great. We have a DPE that regularly performs checkrides for students at the school I attended. He also performs them at other schools within the Houston area. He was very strict about safety, and fair according to ACS standards. If any student did anything that was considered unsafe (busting altitude, not performing preflight/before take off checklists, not making your point on shortfield take-offs, power-off stalls, etc) he would issue an automatic fail.

His debriefing sessions were also great and informative. He is very thorough on the oral/ground portion. This is the feedback that I've experienced from other students from my school and my own experience for both of my checkrides.

My first checkride expired due to not being able to complete the 2 items that I failed (on my initial C.R.) due to weather and time constraints (re-endorsements for my school and for my retest). He also tried to reschedule me 4 different times within 2 weeks to conclude my finish-up, but the weather just wouldn't permit it. The week after my C.R. expired, the weather was gorgeous and so he quickly put me on his schedule for a new C.R. I had to complete another full checkride w/ him, and he required an examination of an entire oral/ground session (2.5hrs) and practical (2hrs), according to the FAA rules. He was not happy that I had to complete another full checkride with him, but with all of the circumstances, neither him nor I could avoid it.

Some students that knew about what happened, felt a certain type of way, especially when they knew I was having refreshers before each of my reschedules (I was actively flying weekly to prepare for each checkride reschedule that could never happen bc of weather), and didn't quite think it was right that I had to redo everything again. The fact is, he doesn't make the rules. 60 days is the rule, although I personally don't agree with it, especially if weather is a deciding factor of weeks of delays. Although it was very trying and difficult for me to go through two full examinations and all the preparation and mental gymnastics I had to endure to try to get my initial C.R. done within the allotted time, I appreciate doing my C.R. with him. I appreciate his professionalism, his empathy and the fact that he's known for upholding aviation standards in all aspects of the C.R. (both of them).

The waiting times for him varied, and literally depend on the time of year (season) you have your checkride scheduled. There were wait times that extended from 8 weeks—2 weeks.

He is scheduled to handle our checkrides on M, W, F at my school. He was a CFII for 4 years before joining the airlines and flying for the airlines for over 20+ years (he also retired from the airlines as a captain).

My advice to student pilots who have never taken a checkride before is this:
- expect your expectations to be derailed
- weather is a main factor in disrupting checkride scheduling. Expect and prepare for it.
- focus on what you can control as a student: improving your own skill and knowledge as you wait
- patience is key
 
The best thing that happened to me in my aviation adventure was having two understanding parents. The second best was joining and becoming an active member of a local soaring club. That put me in contact with experienced pilots and CFIs. In addition to a priceless knowledge base and excellent training, those people put me in contact with a DPE who was familiar with the club's operations, and the CFIs' training methods.

Having the club's active support and backing and CFIs known to the DPE made booking and taking the required tests easier.

The club facilitated contacts for me with CFIs who taught -ASEL. That and my prior -G resume made contacts with another DPE easier. And it made finding a good CFI and renting aircraft to obtain a Commercial easier. Everything is connected to everything else, at least here in the Midwest. Everyone talks to everyone else. Everyone has an opinion on clubs, schools, FBOs, CFIs, and DPEs. Nothing exists in a vacuum.
 
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Yes, that was the first task. Found one pilot who shared a link to a dead site and told that it was a great idea but the project owner quarreled with one DPE and the project was closed. Can`t find the link now - send it a bit later
TCABM said:
Have you googled “find a dpe”, “dpe ratings, and similar phrases to see what already exists in this space?
Click to expand...
 
mandm said:
Some DPE’s don’t want to give you a checkride, so they make the process more difficult. Some DPE’s love it and want to share their knowledge with you. Some DPE’s make a puppy mill out of it. Most DPE’s are professional pilots so you have to find availability in between trips and personal schedule so that limits availability. Then there’s the location. And then on top of that is the relationship between the DPE and CFI, which can heavily affect the checkride itself.
Click to expand...
Availability is a huge issue we try to solve to make pilots lives easier. A lot of feedback connected to troubles with finding DPE to a particular date. So many foreign pilots have to overpay for living in the US waiting for a free one
 
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billsgs126 said:
The best thing that happened to me in my aviation adventure was having two understanding parents. The second best was joining and becoming an active member of a local soaring club. That put me in contact with experienced pilots and CFIs. In addition to a priceless knowledge base and excellent training, those people put me in contact with a DPE who was familiar with the club's operations, and the CFIs' training methods.

Having the club's active support and backing and CFIs known to the DPE made booking and taking the required tests easier.

The club facilitated contacts for me with CFIs who taught -ASEL. That and my prior -G resume made contacts with another DPE easier. And it made finding a good CFI and renting aircraft to obtain a Commercial easier. Everything is connected to everything else, at least here in the Midwest. Everyone talks to everyone else. Everyone has an opinion on clubs, schools, FBOs, CFIs, and DPEs. Nothing exists in a vacuum.
Click to expand...
You`re right, that`s a good point. Didn`t you face the problem with DPE availability which we discussed earlier?
 
Nobody can control the weather, and predicting it is as much art as science. The club made the first call for my Private-G and told me what to do after contact was made. That exchange went off exactly as scripted and the short amount of time I waited -because good anything's or anyone's are busy - was just more time to hone my skills. Having that experience, I was able to handle the -ASEL on my own. It went pretty smooth, I had to wait longer - DPE was likely busier - and we had to reschedule due to weather once but nothing major. (Oh plezzze, CFI Farmer Brown, don't make me fly more!!!)
 
Tai said:
My experience with a specific DPE was great. We have a DPE that regularly performs checkrides for students at the school I attended. He also performs them at other schools within the Houston area. He was very strict about safety, and fair according to ACS standards. If any student did anything that was considered unsafe (busting altitude, not performing preflight/before take off checklists, not making your point on shortfield take-offs, power-off stalls, etc) he would issue an automatic fail.

His debriefing sessions were also great and informative. He is very thorough on the oral/ground portion. This is the feedback that I've experienced from other students from my school and my own experience for both of my checkrides.

My first checkride expired due to not being able to complete the 2 items that I failed (on my initial C.R.) due to weather and time constraints (re-endorsements for my school and for my retest). He also tried to reschedule me 4 different times within 2 weeks to conclude my finish-up, but the weather just wouldn't permit it. The week after my C.R. expired, the weather was gorgeous and so he quickly put me on his schedule for a new C.R. I had to complete another full checkride w/ him, and he required an examination of an entire oral/ground session (2.5hrs) and practical (2hrs), according to the FAA rules. He was not happy that I had to complete another full checkride with him, but with all of the circumstances, neither him nor I could avoid it.

Some students that knew about what happened, felt a certain type of way, especially when they knew I was having refreshers before each of my reschedules (I was actively flying weekly to prepare for each checkride reschedule that could never happen bc of weather), and didn't quite think it was right that I had to redo everything again. The fact is, he doesn't make the rules. 60 days is the rule, although I personally don't agree with it, especially if weather is a deciding factor of weeks of delays. Although it was very trying and difficult for me to go through two full examinations and all the preparation and mental gymnastics I had to endure to try to get my initial C.R. done within the allotted time, I appreciate doing my C.R. with him. I appreciate his professionalism, his empathy and the fact that he's known for upholding aviation standards in all aspects of the C.R. (both of them).

The waiting times for him varied, and literally depend on the time of year (season) you have your checkride scheduled. There were wait times that extended from 8 weeks—2 weeks.

He is scheduled to handle our checkrides on M, W, F at my school. He was a CFII for 4 years before joining the airlines and flying for the airlines for over 20+ years (he also retired from the airlines as a captain).

My advice to student pilots who have never taken a checkride before is this:
- expect your expectations to be derailed
- weather is a main factor in disrupting checkride scheduling. Expect and prepare for it.
- focus on what you can control as a student: improving your own skill and knowledge as you wait
- patience is key
Click to expand...
Thank you so much!
Can we post your story on our LinkedIn page https://www.linkedin.com/company/dpe-rating-selecting-team/?
 
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Contact as many students who recently took a check ride as you can and ask their opinions. Contact as many CFI's and get their opinions as well. Build your own custom list with pros and cons of each. Availability, fairness, approachability, distance, cost, quirks, what and how they give the test, etc. DPE's can vary quite a bit. Years ago one local DPE was failing half of the applicants; word got around on that one.
 
WDD said:
Years ago one local DPE was failing half of the applicants; word got around on that one.
Click to expand...
Was he failing them based on something beyond the ACS, or was he just not ignoring deviations from standard that other DPEs ignored?
 
MauleSkinner said:
Was he failing them based on something beyond the ACS, or was he just not ignoring deviations from standard that other DPEs ignored?
Click to expand...
"subjective interpretation of ACS performance" is what I was told. I don't believe that he was just unlucky enough to only get bad students, and that all other DPEs in the areas either always got the good ones, or all other DPEs in the area colluded to approve poor students.
 
WDD said:
"subjective interpretation of ACS performance" is what I was told. I don't believe that he was just unlucky enough to only get bad students, and that all other DPEs in the areas either always got the good ones, or all other DPEs in the area colluded to approve poor students.
Click to expand...
So probably just another way of saying not ignoring deviations from standard that other DPEs ignored
 
MauleSkinner said:
So you’re saying he had his own standards that didn’t match the ACS.
Click to expand...
No, YOU are saying that all the other DPEs are doing it wrong, and only he is doing it correctly. There is zero evidence to support a position that the majority of DPEs are ignoring their job requirements.

Apply Occam's razor.

As usual, you are taking a nonsensical position merely to be argumentative.
 
MauleSkinner said:
So you’re saying he had his own standards that didn’t match the ACS.
Click to expand...
Not with a DPE or CFI, but this seems to be a major theme in dealing with those who feel as if they have been anointed to positions of some small authority.
 
MauleSkinner said:
So probably just another way of saying not ignoring deviations from standard that other DPEs ignored
Click to expand...
Technically correct, practically or in practice no.
Was the DPE evaluating if the applicant flew to the ACS Standard?
or was the DPE evaluating if the applicant met the ACS Standard?

If an applicant lands 10feet long on short field landing but performed procedure flawlessly, Did the applicant fail the task? Was it a factor outside of the applicants control that caused him to land long? Did the applicant opt to land a bit long rather than force the plane down harder than necessary trying to meet the standard? i.e. do you penalize the applicant for making a good decision?

Here is one I had come up. The ACS recently (past few years) changed for Eights on pylons. If the applicant flew it perfectly for earlier ACS and how the diagram in the AFH shows it, does the DPE fail the applicant for the maneuver because it doesn't meet the new ACS, or let it slide and then go have a chat with the flight instructor?


Brian
CFIIG/ASEL
 
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brcase said:
If an applicant lands 10feet long on short field landing but performed procedure flawlessly, Did the applicant fail the task? Was it a factor outside of the applicants control that caused him to land long? Did the applicant opt to land a bit long rather than force the plane down harder than necessary trying to meet the standard? i.e. do you penalize the applicant for making a good decision?
Click to expand...
What did the other landings look like? Were they within 10 feet short of the limit, or more toward the middle of the target area? What factors outside of the applicant’s control would make landing outside the target area appropriate risk management rather than a go around?

What if an applicant exceeds the altitude tolerance on a steep turn? The ACS clearly states that it’s a gray area that the examiner can ignore or not. Is 120 feet high for 30 degrees of turn considered a “failure to take prompt corrective action?” Some examiners might say yes while the rest say no. They’re simply applying “subjective interpretation of ACS performance.” Same with 120 feet high with prompt corrections 10 times…how many times is considered “consistently exceeding tolerances?”

There’s a lot of wiggle room in the ACS, and an applicant who passed with one examiner could very legitimately fail with another without being an “examiner problem.”
 
StraightnLevel said:
No, YOU are saying that all the other DPEs are doing it wrong, and only he is doing it correctly. There is zero evidence to support a position that the majority of DPEs are ignoring their job requirements.

Apply Occam's razor.

As usual, you are taking a nonsensical position merely to be argumentative.
Click to expand...
I'm never understood what people think a DPE gains by improperly failing applicants.
 
MauleSkinner said:
What did the other landings look like? Were they within 10 feet short of the limit, or more toward the middle of the target area? What factors outside of the applicant’s control would make landing outside the target area appropriate risk management rather than a go around?

What if an applicant exceeds the altitude tolerance on a steep turn? The ACS clearly states that it’s a gray area that the examiner can ignore or not. Is 120 feet high for 30 degrees of turn considered a “failure to take prompt corrective action?” Some examiners might say yes while the rest say no. They’re simply applying “subjective interpretation of ACS performance.” Same with 120 feet high with prompt corrections 10 times…how many times is considered “consistently exceeding tolerances?”

There’s a lot of wiggle room in the ACS, and an applicant who passed with one examiner could very legitimately fail with another without being an “examiner problem.”
Click to expand...
Exactly, mirrors much of what I tell my applicants.

Busting an altitude or heading or landing spot is not an automatic failure. Not correcting or acknowledging that it happened is or can be a failure.
if you bust an altitude by 30 feet and correct it but don't say anything is harder for the DPE to evaluate than if you say oops lets fix that. Of course the DPE is going to consider how the rest of the maneuver was performed as well and how well you understand what the maneuver is.

I had one examiner tell me he did a check ride where the applicant rolled into the steep turn and immediately busted the altitude, aborted the maneuver looked over at the examiner and said. Sorry You said you wanted a Steep Turn, I don't know what that was, but it wasn't a steep turn.

I have to admit as a private pilot applicant I was terrible at this, I was not a talker. But the best way to do any maneuver on a check ride is to describe the maneuver to the examiner before performing it.
DPE: Show me a Steep turn
Applicant: Ok the Steep turn is a 360 +/-10 degree turn at 45 degrees of bank +/-5 while maintaining altitude +/-100 and our airspeed +/-10.
let's use 4500 feet for our altitude and we will line up on this road about 180 heading. We now roll into the 45 degrees of bank using a bit of rudder to keep it coordinated and a bit of power to maintain our airspeed of about 100mph and help with the trim, we can also trim up to help maintain our altitude.
There is 90 degrees we are about 20 feet low so I am pulling back a bit more and maintaining the 45 degrees of bank
There is 180 degrees I over corrected and went a bit high and got a bit shallow in the turn so going back to 45 degrees and lowering the nose slightly.
Going through 270 I finally got things stabilized looking pretty good.
coming up on 360 so we roll out with a bit of rudder reduce the power and trim as necessary and we are back on our original heading and altitude.

Hint: if you stop talking it probably means you stopped scanning the horizon, landmarks and instruments.

Most private applicants probably aren't going to talk that much through the maneuver but the more you can the better. But most of all telling the DPE what going to happen before you doing tells him you have been well trained and know the maneuver and what is expected. It also helps prevent any confusion. I can't tell you how many times I have asked pilot to show me a soft field landing and they do a short field landing. How does a DPE evaluate that? if he asks for soft field and you describe a short field he has a chance to correct you before it happens.

Brian
CFIIG/ASEL
 
I was apart of the process of drafting the most recent FAA bill. I specifically wrote some legislative text on the topic of DPE's. DPE's are now going to be regulated on the national level instead of the local. Many DPE's have the ability to do checkrides but for whatever reason elect not to. There is currently a window of opportunity available for people looking to become DPE's to submit their application.
 
What is the research for? Paper, study, professional??

As others commented here and the past, we have various DPE challenges. Not enough geographically, not enough for various ratings, DPEs who do many dozen rides and some that apparently do very few, and many more examples here on PoH. I’ve heard of “failures” for trivial reasons, but not the DPE side of what else was going in the cockpit.

A friend just passed his private after a 3 month ride delay due to a weather cancellation. The DPE was just that backlogged.

There was another lengthy thread on DPE not too long ago too.
 
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