what does a checkout entail?

korben88

korben88

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Just curious, if you wanted to rent a 172 what do you have to do for the checkout and how much does it usually run?
 
It depends on the requirements of whomever you're renting from but I've usually done a mini-check ride. Steep turns, stalls, a few landings, etc. They want to ensure you're competent to fly their aircraft without damaging it.
 
The checkouts I've done have always been short and sweet. Slow flight, stalls, steep turns and a few laps around the pattern. At an uncontrolled field it can be done in less than an hour if you're already familiar with the systems and v-speeds.
 
Depends upon the type of plane, your experience (overall and with that type of plane) and the requirements of their insurance.

For a 172 the answers above are spot on.
 
People blame insurance all the time, but frankly in years of dealing with leasebacks, it was never the insurance company that set the checkout requirements, it was the school/fbo/club.
 
I treat the checkout like a mock checkride. We do maneuvers, landings, and some ground
 
I think the last time I got "checked out" in the US, they gave me the pre-solo student quiz (this was at BJC so the power settings were WOT, WOT, WOT, WOT, 1700 abeam the numbers on descent). Did a few stalls and a few landings and that was it.

When I got checked out in Australia we did more landings but the instructor had this strange idea of approach speeds in the 172. I told him I'd be more comfortable if we just used the book numbers. His were way too fast and while the runway was long enough to float to slow down, it really isn't the right way to do it. In prep for my trip to Australia and the fact that I hadn't flown a 172 in ages, I did a checkout with a local instructor. The guy shows up in bib overalls and weighed about 300 pounds (I turn to Margy and say "Bubba CFI")> Oddly, I learned stuff about the 172 I hadn't known in decades of flying them. You can always learn something during a checkout if you have the right instructor.

By the way, Bubba lost a lot of weight in the interim...I hardly recognized him the last time I saw him.
 
Prices will vary at every FBO you go to.

As others have said, it's usually a rundown of the local procedures, airspace and then the flight is basically like a BFR.
 
LevelWing said:
It depends on the requirements of whomever you're renting from but I've usually done a mini-check ride. Steep turns, stalls, a few landings, etc. They want to ensure you're competent to fly their aircraft without damaging it.
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^^^this.

Lando said:
The checkouts I've done have always been short and sweet. Slow flight, stalls, steep turns and a few laps around the pattern. At an uncontrolled field it can be done in less than an hour if you're already familiar with the systems and v-speeds.
Click to expand...

^^^this.

wayne said:
Depends upon the type of plane, your experience (overall and with that type of plane) and the requirements of their insurance.

For a 172 the answers above are spot on.
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^^^this.

flyingron said:
People blame insurance all the time, but frankly in years of dealing with leasebacks, it was never the insurance company that set the checkout requirements, it was the school/fbo/club.
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^^^wtf??!!??

jordane93 said:
I treat the checkout like a mock checkride. We do maneuvers, landings, and some ground
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^^^this.

Ryanb said:
Prices will vary at every FBO you go to.

As others have said, it's usually a rundown of the local procedures, airspace and then the flight is basically like a BFR.
Click to expand...

^^^this.

so there you have 5 helpful answers and 1 derail. welcome to PoA.
 
flyingron said:
People blame insurance all the time, but frankly in years of dealing with leasebacks, it was never the insurance company that set the checkout requirements, it was the school/fbo/club.
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When I was instructing, the owner of the 172 we had wanted at least a 5 hour checkout if the renter had not flown a 172 in the last year. If the renter showed competency I would shorten it to 2 hours. They told me to tell renters that it was an insurance requirement, but in reality it was just AP for the owners. (AP-additional profit)
 
flyingron said:
People blame insurance all the time, but frankly in years of dealing with leasebacks, it was never the insurance company that set the checkout requirements, it was the school/fbo/club.
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Zeldman said:
When I was instructing, the owner of the 172 we had wanted at least a 5 hour checkout if the renter had not flown a 172 in the last year. If the renter showed competency I would shorten it to 2 hours. They told me to tell renters that it was an insurance requirement, but in reality it was just AP for the owners. (AP-additional profit)
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I also know of a flying club that was mostly controlled by a few CFIs. They also blamed the number of hours for the more complex aircraft on insurance but I later found out that was not the case. What was the case is that the CFIs wanted the additional money and hours that those rules provided them. Selfish a-holes.
 
Is the cost typically the same as the rental? Say if a rental price is $110/hr wet and your checkout ride is 1 hour, you pay $110 for the checkout?
 
In addition to what others have noted, if you were planning on flying the airplane IFR I would verify some basic level of IFR proficiency.
 
abqtj said:
Is the cost typically the same as the rental? Say if a rental price is $110/hr wet and your checkout ride is 1 hour, you pay $110 for the checkout?
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Plus the cost of the CFI :)
 
Most operations charge the same for checkouts as they do for regular rentals/instruction. We actually in our club had a reduced rate for checkouts of certain newly acquired aircraft (like my Navion) to encourage people to check out in them.
 
SkyDog58 said:
I also know of a flying club that was mostly controlled by a few CFIs. They also blamed the number of hours for the more complex aircraft on insurance but I later found out that was not the case. What was the case is that the CFIs wanted the additional money and hours that those rules provided them. Selfish a-holes.
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Unethical.

When I do a checkout with someone who has time in the plane, we'll TO, go to the practice area for a stall or two, slow flight/MCA, steep turns, simulated forced landing, and back to the pattern for a couple of T&Gs. Unless the person wants more such as some hood working, navigation etc.

Someone who hasn't flown the plane at all or low time might require more time or even more flights. Just depends on the particular pilot.
 
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korben88 said:
Just curious, if you wanted to rent a 172 what do you have to do for the checkout and how much does it usually run?
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depends. I had to be checked out in a C162 in Mesa, AZ (KFFZ) last spring before being able to rent it solo. they examined my logbook and pilot cert and then the CFI and I sat down for about 15-min and chatted about the airplane, the airspace we would be flying through and a bit of Q & A to test my knowledge . the flight itself entailed 1 t/o and landing, a couple of steep turns and slow flight. since this was also a new geographic area for me the FBO wanted to make me aware of this and that in the area. the checkout portion of the flight ran maybe 30-minutes. the balance of the time was some sightseeing. in general the rental agency wants to be sure you are competent to fly the plane.
 
gismo said:
Open Airplane is making an attempt to reduce the cost of renting from multiple FBOs. If I didn't have my own airplane I think I'd be active there.

http://pilots.openairplane.com/
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It's a cool idea, only issue is the FBO owner is responsible for the aircraft, some of which may not be his, many will want to see you fly for themselves.

But yeah, it's like a hour plane + instructor! plus you'll also get some area familiarisation
 
Thanks for responses guys. I'm still a ways off from worrying about such things but just wanted to know for when the time comes.

I've looked into that openairplane thing because there's a school not far from here that participates and it seems like most locations charge more for rentals than you can get in the same area or even same airport.
 
...and if you are spending the money...you can do your BFR in conjunction with a checkout. If you are spending the money with a CFI flying maneuvers, might as well put that towards resetting your BFR clock.
 
Shawn said:
...and if you are spending the money...you can do your BFR in conjunction with a checkout. If you are spending the money with a CFI flying maneuvers, might as well put that towards resetting your BFR clock.
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That too!
 
korben88 said:
Thanks for responses guys. I'm still a ways off from worrying about such things but just wanted to know for when the time comes.

I've looked into that openairplane thing because there's a school not far from here that participates and it seems like most locations charge more for rentals than you can get in the same area or even same airport.
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A lot depends on you. How many hours do you have? He or she will certainly want to see your log book. Are you comfortable flying it, stalling it, landing say in 2500 feet or do you need a six thousand foot runway for a 172?
Pattern work, using the radio correctly, etc. An instructor with some hours behind them will be able to read you pretty quickly.
 
I find a checkout in a basic aircraft I've never flown before is an hour or so, provided I've done my homework, read the POH and made my checklist. More for HP or especially complex.

A remote checkout in a 172 might be an hour, but more commonly, it seems to be less than that. Best I got was 30 minutes Hobbs at Vancouver, WA. I had 100 hours in type at the time, and the just instructor wanted to make sure I wasn't an idiot. Flew over the river, did a couple of turns, one power off stall, then came back and landed. I suppose if I'd bounced the landing or screwed up stall recovery, he might have wanted to see some more. He looked in my logbook for high altitude experience, since I said I wanted to go flying around the Cascades. That was it.

OpenAirplane is trying something important, but in practice, the prices seem REALLY high.
 
I once met a CFI who wanted to do a 5 hour 172 checkout with a 2 hour XC as part of a checkout. I told him thanks but I'll rent from someone else.
 
I've had them range from a trip around the pattern to almost an hour on the ground followed by over an hour in the air.
 
MAKG1 said:
I find a checkout in a basic aircraft I've never flown before is an hour or so, provided I've done my homework, read the POH and made my checklist. More for HP or especially complex.

A remote checkout in a 172 might be an hour, but more commonly, it seems to be less than that. Best I got was 30 minutes Hobbs at Vancouver, WA. I had 100 hours in type at the time, and the just instructor wanted to make sure I wasn't an idiot. Flew over the river, did a couple of turns, one power off stall, then came back and landed. I suppose if I'd bounced the landing or screwed up stall recovery, he might have wanted to see some more. He looked in my logbook for high altitude experience, since I said I wanted to go flying around the Cascades. That was it.

OpenAirplane is trying something important, but in practice, the prices seem REALLY high.
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Are we supposed to track flight level in our log books? I cant recall ever having to do that so trying to figure out if that is something that you really track and how? Maybe just an endorsement?
 
mulligan said:
Are we supposed to track flight level in our log books? I cant recall ever having to do that so trying to figure out if that is something that you really track and how? Maybe just an endorsement?
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Flight level? 172s can't make it to the flight levels without a lot of help from mountain waves or other rising air.

Do you mean the high altitude thing? No formal endorsement, but many folks will want some experience if you're going into terrain. In my case, the evidence was several landings at Big Bear and Lake Tahoe, plus a bit of questioning to make sure I knew how to cross a ridge, and so on.

You have to convince the FBO that you aren't going to wreck their airplane. There is no checkout PTS. Local needs vary.
 
mtuomi said:
I once met a CFI who wanted to do a 5 hour 172 checkout with a 2 hour XC as part of a checkout. I told him thanks but I'll rent from someone else.
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Another item in the laundry list of why GA is in decline.
 
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