FAA Check Rides-You Lose! Pennywise and Pound Foolish. A Corrupt and Vile System. A Change Is Coming!
- rmriter
- Oct 4
- 28 min read
FAA Check Rides-You Lose! Pennywise and Pound Foolish. A Corrupt and Vile System. A Change Is Coming!
Hello my fellow aviators and beloved mechanics! Since the beginning of my career in aviation I have thought that the flight training process was ass backwards. In the thirty years of operating a flight school my views have only been confirmed.
My career in aviation was that of running a flight school, and being a corporate pilot. The main focus was always on my students. It did not matter if they were preparing for the airlines, or just earning a pilot's license to enrich their lives. A pilot is a pilot. Does not matter if they are flying a Cessna 152, or the captain of an Airbus. The responsibilities are the same.
The question that I would like to pose is this. What is more important? Signing off a student pilot for solo flight, or signing off a student pilot that meets standards for their license? We flight instructors evaluate and sign off thousands of student pilots each year to solo. These students are no where close to meeting the standards of a private pilot. Yet, this is solely the responsibility of the flight instructor. Then when the student pilot has obtained all the necessary skills for a license we use a Designated Pilot Examiner (DPE). A DPE that has not had anything to do with the student's training. Not being there when the student plays hop-scotch down the runway. No where to be found during the endless steep turns, stalls, and ground work. DPE's spending less than a couple of hours with our students, and get paid thousands of dollars based upon our hard work.
We flight instructors do all of the work. We have all of the liability. We endure all of the hardships. Then when the easy part comes of doing a check ride we are pushed aside. Letting someone outside of the flight instructor community reap all of the benefits. This has never made any sense.
I thought things could not get any worse for us flight instructors, but I was so wrong! The FAA and NTSB engaged in a horrific display of malice, deceit, and misinformation. In June, 2019 I lost a former student and dear friend of mine. He lost the critical engine on departure. The NTSB labeled him as a "reckless" pilot, and stated that he received flight instruction from a "Bad" flight instructor. Why was the flight instructor "Bad?" The only reason given was that the accident pilot failed the first attempt on each of his three check rides.
This led to a new FAA policy of going after any flight instructor with less than a 80% initial pass rate on check rides of their students. I was named as the cause of this new policy, and was quickly given the new call sign of "Duck That Guy!" I shortened it to just "That Guy" as I dislike fowl language. With that background knowledge in place let's take a closer look at FAA check rides! Surely you will lose as you roll snake eyes!
Pennywise and Pound Foolish
The field of aviation can best be described by watching the Stephen King movie "IT."
In this movie there is a demonic clown named Pennywise. This clown is full of malice and hate. It feeds upon the young children of the town. It blinds those to its influences even though young children are disappearing in the community. Through its influence many are harmed, and people turn against one another. The presence of Pennywise is known by the sight of a floating red balloon. How many young pilots disappear from our airports? How many aviators and pilots are terrorized by an evil presence? Have you seen red balloons floating around your airport? I have.
The parallels of this movie to aviation are frightening! We operate in a time when student pilots are being abused by a corrupt and vile system. The system of taking unfair check rides for thousands of dollars. Being buried alive in student debt to obtain a commercial pilot license. Only to find no employment because they do not have the minimum hours. The abuses of our young pilots go ignored by those of us that have endured the same abuses.
I have often heard from pilots that it is wrong. Only to be followed up with, "but I had to go through it! So everyone else should suffer the same abuse as I did!" I do not think this is the position that senior pilots should have. The role of a captain is three fold. To protect his passengers and crew. To protect and safeguard his aircraft. And lastly, to train and mentor those underneath his command. I fear that we captains have let this last duty fade away. Fearing the evil presence of a demonic clown everywhere we go. All it takes is getting one FAA employee upset with you, and a twenty or thirty year career is ruined. With the aviation saying "No One Cares" ringing in your ears.
In this article let's take an in depth look at the FAA check ride process. The check ride is no different from a young kid taking a driving test at the local department of motor vehicles. There is much more studying involved, and the training much more intense at times. But when the check ride is taken it comes down to simple maneuvers, fundamental understanding of the subject matters, and common sense. There is nothing magical about a check ride.
All of the questions and tasks are clearly listed in the Airman Certification Standards (ACS). There is nothing on the ACS that is harder than what is on a driver's test. Unfortunately, the FAA has greatly mismanaged the check ride process. The FAA has in fact become Pennywise the Clown, and has made this process one of abuse and corruption. A system that is now used to destroy our young pilots. Destruction of a kid's career before they are given a chance to begin.
The Designated Pilot Examiners (DPE's). The Least Qualified Among Us.
May we ask who is qualified to conduct a check ride? Who is flying the training aircraft on a daily basis? Who is proficient in the flight maneuvers? Who knows the standards for each maneuvers? The only answer to this question is the Certified Flight Instructors (CFl's) who are doing the job! For the most part Pennywise picks airline pilots to be examiners for the check rides. These pilots are not flying the training aircraft. They are not teaching the basic
maneuvers on any regular basis. They do not have any proficiency, or much knowledge of the training aircraft being used. On a check ride they are strictly prohibited by the FAA from teaching, so the years of experience they have matters not. For they are not allowed to share this experience! These senior pilots are reduced to a secretary checking off boxes on a form.
Checking off boxes on a form is really what a check ride is all about. Does the student know how to do a weight and balance? Can they do a stall and recover? Can they do a steep turn and hold altitude? Does it really require an airline captain to sit in the right seat to do this? Can this not be done by another independent CFI?
No where else in aviation, do we have pilots in charge of flights, in aircraft that they are not proficient in flying. No where else is someone put in charge of a process completely ran by other people. No where else do we pay thousands of dollars for half a day's work. Work that consists of merely following a check list. To review someone's basic skill levels.
DPE's Breaking aircraft.
I have ran a flight school for well over 30 years using my own aircraft. I was solely responsible for the maintenance. Every part coming out of my salary. Every repair determining my paycheck at the end of the month. This has given me a very different perspective on Designated Pilot Examiners (DPE's). These DPE's do not own and operate the training aircraft. As such, they do not understand how easy it is to break them. Nor do they care. When they knowingly break an aircraft on a check ride they do not report it. This leads to many safety concerns, and millions of dollars in loses every year to our flight schools. I could give you thousands of examples! Here are just two examples of this happening.
My True Love. The Loss of My Soulmate.
A DPE thought up all on his own that STOMPING on the rudders was okay on multi-engine check rides. Never mind that if you did this with a CFI he would pop you in the ribs. Making you squeal little a little piggy! This stomping was to simulate an engine failure on take off. Normal procedures are to pull one of the mixtures to idle. The student then takes appropriate action by reducing throttles. Then the instructor pushes the mixtures back up to full rich before the engine dies. Pretty simple. Pretty straightforward. How it has been done for decades!
This DPE thought why not just stomp the crap out of one of the rudders instead? What could go wrong? Did this DPE tell me he was STOMPING on the rudders on my Beechcraft Duchess? Ahhhhh HELL NO!!! It was only after the nose wheel linkage was damaged that I found out he was doing this.
Were there replacement parts available? Of course not. Was the aircraft down for months costing thousands of dollars? Of course! Was the DPE held responsible for the damages he caused? I better stop....l am starting to feel nauseous. My all time favorite twin engine trainer was scrapped, and lost to this DPE stomping on the rudders. When I informed this DPE of the damages he caused he put his nose in the air. Turned around and walked off pissed off that I should dare question his new techniques. He may have heard the words that were being shouted in my head. They were not nice words. No, not nice words at all. I still remember each word to this day. It is the reason why I have to go to confession often.
I was then without this twin engine trainer. This was a loss of over $200K at the time. Could I complain to the FAA FSDO? Only if I wanted to hear them laugh at me! Only if I wanted them to descend upon my flight school coming out to inspect my aircraft. Only to get red tags and violations for not having a airworthy plane. The nose wheel linkage is damaged they would say! Penny wise is one evil demonic clown!
I could no longer use that DPE for the sake of my other aircraft. However, I would keep running into this DPE at the airport. He was a middle aged guy that decided to take his mid-life crisis above and beyond. Way beyond the normal stupidity guys engage in. He was doing many check rides at the time with students from Egypt. He became obsessed with the ancient Egyptian culture. It started out slowly. Wearing black eye liner. Within no time at all one could see him wearing women's clothing. Yes sir! No panty lines to be seen at all. No fruit of the loom for this guy! There were only G strings! He was so ahead of his time! He really was.
One busy day I was walking with my hands full. Our paths crossed. My right hand was full
of flight gear. I stretched out my left hand to shake hands out of professional courtesy. He was instantly repulsed. Looking at my left hand like it still had fecal matter on it from wiping my ass. We both stopped looking at my left hand. Turning our gaze upwards to meet each other's eyes. The look was so very intense. Neither one of us could look away! Without thinking about it I said, "Instead of using my left hand how about I use your tongue?"
He looked me up and down. Much like asking a pretty girl in a bar if you can buy her a drink. It was clear that he was out of my league. He quickly turned around and walked off in silence. I know, I know! How rude! He should have put his hand on my shoulder and gently explained that it was him. It wasn't me. That he was not emotionally available for a relationship right now. At a minimum he should have flicked his hair in the air and said, "I have a boyfriend!" We never spoke again. At the time, I considered it for the best. I later came to regret my actions of not pursuing this relationship.
About a year later I heard that the FAA FSDO had called him into the office.
Reports of rather bizarre behavior were being reported. Most of you have never had the experience of being at the FSDO office. It is very similar to being on lay off status for several months. Then speaking with an ex wife about the several missed alimony payments. Yep, it's kind of like that! Following the standard operating procedures, the FAA goons were there taunting, ridiculing, and pissing the guy off. Frankly speaking, I would not have the balls to piss off any guy wearing black eye liner. However, the FAA have no such concerns.
The DPE finally snapped. He reached across the table. Grabbing one of the FAA clowns around the neck, and started choking the crap out of him! When I heard about this I knew right away that, "he completed me." He was the "One." My forever "soul mate." Looking back I should have pursued him more. Offering up more aircraft for him to destroy. Had my students throw thousands of dollars at his feet. Our relationship had a chance. It really did! If only I had not been so blind. Truly, life is one of loss opportunities, and many regrets.
The FAA sent him to anger management classes. As far as being a DPE conducting check rides was concerned, "He was the right stuff!" The abuses of students continued. More aircraft were damaged. And the age old aviation saying was taught to all. "NO ONE CARES!"
Short Field Crash!
The second example is about a DPE that let the student lose control of my twin engine plane on a short field landing. They landed so hard that they sheared two bolts on the landing gear! The bolts looked like they were made of butter, and had been cut with a hot knife! The DPE decided to just pass the student, and not deal with the damage that was just done. Instead he told me how well they did on the check ride. He even added, "You're such a good instructor!" After being told this I should have known better.
The plane had issues with the gear retracting after the check ride. The DPE watched me trouble shoot the landing gear over the next month or two.
Replacing the power pack for thousands of dollars. Checking the hydraulic lines, electric connections, etc., etc. Only to find the broken bolts when jacking the aircraft up for another swing test. The aircraft would have been totally lost if the main gear had folded. This was a very bad safety issue that he personally knew of. Yet, not a word was said. Was the DPE held responsible for this? Of course not. Had the gear folded I would have been held completely responsible. My aircraft surrounded by FAA and NTSB personnel. Personnel doing their best to see how many violations they could issue.
This is one of the reasons why most flight schools do not have a twin engine airplane. The flight schools and Multi-Engine Instructors (MEi's) are very protective of their twins. When the twin goes on a check ride all bets are off! A flight instructor is held responsible for the aircraft they fly. A DPE is not held responsible at all, nor does anyone care what a DPE does to a flight school's aircraft. This situation is occurring across the nation. It is costing millions of dollars in broken parts and broken planes. This cost is in turn placed upon the students. Adding thousands of dollars to each student's training. Money that benefits no one at all. Just another reason why our students lose when it comes to FAA check rides.
Weaponization of the Check Ride
The FAA intentionally limits the number of DPE's to a very few people. This creates an extremely high demand for DPE's. This lack of examiners allows them to charge insane fees. Why does the FAA limit the number of DPE's? Because it
is work for them to train and monitor a DPE. It is much better to have very few of them, so their work load is reduced. The fact that it greatly harms our young pilots is of no concern at all.
This leads to check rides taking months to schedule, and in rare cases even up to a year to schedule! It is common practice for a student pilot to have to travel to another airport just to get a check ride. This results in hundreds of dollars in unnecessary aircraft rentals, hotels, meals, and so on.
Recently, I have been made aware of something even more sinister. The FAA is having the DPE's act as informants. Looking over a flight training plane in great detail. Looking for the slightest imperfection. A questionable maintenance log entry or typing error. A missing screw. Some instrument found to be inoperative. Anything at all to ground the aircraft. Especially if the plane is from a Part 61 flight school. The FAA has been waging war against Part 61 flight schools for decades. They are on a war path to have ALL flight schools be Part 141.
Let's give you a recent example of this. A student pilot had to fly from SNA to AJO to take a check ride. The DPE accepts the money for the check ride upfront. Then the DPE goes out to the aircraft to inspect the aircraft. He is an airline pilot not an aircraft mechanic. Then based ONLY upon his opinion he stops the check ride. He thinks the brake linings are too thin. The right aileron needs to be lubricated some more. That was it, and with that he tells the student the check ride is over as the aircraft is not "airworthy." With that the check ride is stopped. Come back soon with another $700 to $1000 for your retest! Telling the student, "/ will do my best to fit you in right away!" The words dripping like honey all the while smiling like Pennywise! The student asks the DPE if the plane is not airworthy, "how am I supposed to get home?" The DPE responds, "Oh, it's okay to fly back to SNA." So much for the plane being not being airworthy! The DPE walks away with over $1,200 for an hour of his time!
The student then goes back and lands at his home airport. He walks back into the flight school mad as a wet cat. Chewing and scratching the eyes out of anyone that dares to be in arms reach. Then yelling at the staff and owner of the flight school, "How could your send me to the check ride in an aircraft that was not airworthy!!!" The flight school has no defense. The student goes to everyone on the airport to tell the story of being screwed over by the flight school. The DPE not even being mentioned.
The the student is out another couple hundred dollars. Maybe even a thousand dollars in aircraft rentals, flight training for the retest, and other expenses. Can you imagine the damage caused to the flight school? Does anyone stand up for the flight school? Does anyone come to the aid of the student? Is there anyone out there trying to put a stop to such abuses? Not at all. One only sees a red balloon floating across the ramp.
The next following week the FAA FSDO personnel in the shape of Pennywise descend upon the flight school. If it was a Part 141 school the FAA would take no actions. But this is a Part 61 school that has not "bent the knee" yet. As such, they need to be dealt with severely! The FAA FSDO shuts down the school for a couple days to a week. All due to a claim of a thin brake lining, and an aileron needing lubrication.
Maintenance log books of ALL the planes are reviewed in great detail. Mostly looking for clerical issues such as typo's, and anything at all to give a violation. The mechanics thoroughly interviewed, and then observed closely on an inspection. The flight instructors rounded up and questioned. Made to feel that their presence at this flight school may be the end of their flying career. Many considering leaving the flight school. The accusation of the flight school being "unsafe" being implied or told all over the airport.
The flight school owner suffering financial loses into the tens of thousands of dollars! All the planes grounded. Not making the three to four flights a day.
Each flight bringing in around $500 per flight. The employees have to be paid while FAA FSDO employees ask repetitive questions over and over again. The thousands of dollars in new parts being replaced just due to a FAA inspector's opinion. The expensive insurance and facility costs coming in despite no flights happening.
Then there is the real damage. The damage of clients leaving and not returning. The flight school's name is dragged in the mud. Only to have the other flight schools, and airport businesses talk about how unsafe the flight school has become. This rumor actively spread by the FAA inspectors. I pray that you are starting to see why there are so few flight schools left anymore. This is brutally at its best!
Falling From Heaven
By the way, just an update on this wonderful DPE from Corona Airport that did this to the student and flight school. A couple months later this DPE was doing another check ride over the practice area off the coast of Long Beach, California. The owner of the flight school was observing the check ride on FlightAware.
The school owner watched as the DPE lost control of the aircraft with the student. In horror, he watch helplessly as the plane fell from thousands of feet in the air. I am sure a red balloon was floating in his office! By the Grace of God alone, the DPE and/or the student recovered the aircraft just a few hundred feet above the water.
The school owner called the local FAA FSDO to file a complaint against the DPE. At first the clowns at the local FSDO said he was just making it up, and did their best to cover this indecent up. However, the school owner provided a print out of the FlightAware data to the FSDO. At which time they just said, "Ohhh..."
What actions were taken? Did the DPE lose his job? I bet you already know the answer by now. That's not how Pennywise the demonic clown works. The DPE just had to take a flight with a FSDO employee. Being on his best behavior. Bending the knee, and kissing whatever was placed in front of him. And with that the FSDO employee stated that the DPE was "good to go!"
For those of you who will claim that we need to use DPE's for safety reasons. I pray that this example will show the errors of this argument. In fact, I would dare say this argument does not hold altitude. It should face a watery grave. Yes sir! When this argument comes up about safety, and it will, I will do my best not to mock and ridicule that person. Remember, I just said I will do my best. No promises!
How easy it is for Pennywise to Influence the results of your check ride! Corruption of the Check Rides
We would like to believe that check rides are fair, balanced, and conducted without any bias. That your efforts of studying, and performance on the check ride will determine the outcome. How naive we have become! Let's explore the difference between the Part 61 and Part 141 flight schools. The part 141flight schools have had a policy requiring a 80% pass rate on the initial check rides. Many of the Part 141flight schools have their own DPE's to do their check rides. These DPE's have to maintain at least a 30% failure rate to be seen as doing their jobs. So the Part 141students magically have a 85 % to 90% pass rate. Then any applicants coming from the surrounding Part 61 flight schools have a 60% pass rate! The problem of needing a 80 percent pass rate in the Part 141schools solved! I have had to endure this situation for decades as a Part 61 flight instructor. How do I know this is going on? I have been told to my face many times over the years. Some of the examiners just explaining to me that it is "part of the game." Just shut up and take it. It's the student's money not yours after all. You will make more money preparing the student for the retest! No one seems to care as a red balloon slowly drifts by.
Now I am hearing that the big Part 141 schools are hand picking the DPE's. They "invite" a DPE to fly out to their school to do several check rides at $2,000 each. An examiner is allowed to do two check rides a day. And if it happens to be a CFI check rides that's $2,500. So the DPE can make between $4,000 to $5,000 per day. And no shortage of applicants lined up to pay cash! The only catch? They need to maintain an initial pass rate of 95%. If a DPE does not li
ve up to this unwritten agreement they are just not "invited" back to the school.
Does the DPE face any consequences? AHHHH HELL NO! They return to their hometowns and get their failure rates back in line by failing the Part 61 applicants. No one sticks up for the Part 61 school! Especially the FAA FSDO employees!
The local FSDO encourages the abuses going on against the Part 61 schools. They are not bending the knee to become an "approved" flight school. The Part 141flight schools have become the holy grail according to the FAA. During the decades of having a Part 61 flight school there was always this bias against me. The Part 61 flight schools are slowly becoming extinct due to this prejudice, and malice on the part of the FAA.
Show Me the Money!
Let's dive into the additional costs to our young pilots during the 2017, 2018, and 2019 years. Remember, the FAA was not forthcoming with this information. It took about two years to obtain it through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. This FOIA was specifically focused on the Riverside FSDO area of operation. The 2019 Hawaii accident NTSB report reflected the national check ride pass rate of 75%. Was this true? Or did the FAA and NTSB engage in misinformation?
In 2019 the Riverside FSDO came under intense pressure from FAA Headquarters in Washington D.C. This resulted in an "All Hands" meeting of ALL the CFl's within the Riverside FSDO area. This meeting was put on by all the Riverside FSDO's air operations safety inspectors. At this meeting I watched the influence of the demonic clown Pennywise. As a red balloon drifted across the stage. We watched DPE's change their stories. Once telling me about the 35% failure rate, but now telling us that there was never a quota imposed by the Riverside FSDO. Trying to keep their jobs. Watching the evil demonic clowns staring at them.
Well, numbers do not lie. Nor can the statistics be manipulated. After 2019 the initial pass rates for the Part 141schools all of a sudden jumped up to 95%. I believe that this is a fair pass rate, and that only about 5% of students actually fail their check rides on the first attempt. Here are those numbers and statistics.
In 2017 the following numbers:
Original Issuance:
480 Approved which was 62%
184 Disapproved which was 38%
Added Ratings:
435 Approved which was 74%
117 Disapproved which was 26%
Totals for all check rides
915 Approved which was 67.2%; 301 Disapproved which was 32.8%
For this year out of the 301 failures there should have been only 46 failures for the initial pass rate to be 95%. That means 255 applicants were disapproved on false pretenses. For each failure the student pilot was subjected to the following unnecessary expenses:
Re-examination fee charged by the DPE: $500 to $700
Aircraft Rental: $180 per hour times 3 hours: $540
Additional Instruction by CFI under FAR's 61.49: $100 and upwards
Minimum Addition Costs: $1,140
Total Minimum Costs Endured by Applicants: $290,700 (255 X 1140)
In 2018 the following numbers:
Original Issuance:
695 Approved which was 72%
197 Disapproved which was 28%
Added Ratings:
522 Approved which was 77%
125 Disapproved which was 23%
Totals for all check rides
1217 Approved which was 74%; 322 Disapproved which was 26%
For this year out of the 322 failures there should have been only 62 failures for the initial pass rate to be 95%. That means 260 applicants were disapproved on false pretenses. For each failure the student pilot was subjected to the following unnecessary expenses:
Re-examination fee charged by the DPE: $500 to $700
Aircraft Rental: $180 per hour times 3 hours: $540
Additional Instruction by CFI under FAR's 61.49: $100 and upwards
Minimum Addition Costs: $1,140
Total Minimum Costs Endured by Applicants: $296,400 (260 X 1140)
In 2019 the following numbers:
Original Issuance:
734 Approved which was 69%
232 Disapproved which was 31%
Added Ratings:
682 Approved which was 77%
123 Disapproved which was 18%
Totals for all check rides
1416 Approved which was 75%; 355 Disapproved which was 25%
For this year out of the 355 failures there should have been only 71failures for the initial pass rate to be 95%. That means 284 applicants were disapproved on false pretenses. For each failure the student pilot was subjected to the following unnecessary expenses:
Re-examination fee charged by the DPE: $500 to $700
Aircraft Rental: $180 per hour times 3 hours: $540
Additional Instruction by CFI under FAR's 61.49: $100 and upwards
Minimum Addition Costs: $1,140
Total Minimum Costs Endured by Applicants: $323,760 (284 X 1140)
Remember, these are just the minimum costs our young pilot's had to come up with in this one FAA FSDO district! We have roughly 100 FAA FSDO offices across the United States. Let's take a low ball amount of $250,000 per FSDO in additional testing costs. That's a staggering $25,000,000.00 wasted funds paid by our young pilots! This is how much harm is being done to our student pilots by this check ride system of DPE's! And this is a conservative number!
This issue alone is costing our student pilots in the millions of dollars!
Students sacrificing their futures with student loans. Using up the savings of their parents and/or family members. Students that are the most vulnerable among us. Being abused by a corrupt system. Students with no voice, no representation, and placed under a FAA that couldn't care less about their hardships and suffering.
The Retesting of Students.
In the 2019 Hawaii accident, which I referenced at the beginning of this article, the accident pilot had failed on the first attempt on his check rides. The NTSB claimed that this alone proved he was an unsafe pilot. That the CFI was clearly negligent in his duties! What a "Bad" CFI. Is this true? Or is it another a shocking headline? Let's take a closer look at the accident pilots failures, and his retesting? I think it will cause you some concern.
The accident pilot had failed his Private Pilot license on the first attempt. His retest consisted of 0.3 flight hours. Then a retest for his Instrument Airplane of 0.5 flight hours. For his retest on multi-engine commercial it was 0.7 flight hours [see: NTSB Accident Report, WPR19MA177, OPERATIONS ATTACHMENT 6 - PILOT LOGBOOK, pages 9, 14, and 17]. When you subtract start up, run-up, and taxi times we are looking at 6 minutes for retesting his Private Pilot skills. About 12 minutes for his Instrument rating, and then 30 minutes for his multi-engine commercial rating.
Does this sound like an unqualified pilot? Can an initial failure demonstrate the lack of being a pilot, and then be corrected in mere moments? I believe what this shows is corrupt system in play. A system of just making up check ride failures for the sake of check ride failures. Is it right to have bias against a student for failing a check ride on the first attempt? Especially when a retest is nothing more than a flight around the traffic pattern? Harming someone's reputation on such claims is irresponsible, and perhaps even evil. Something a demonic clown named Pennywise would do.
Fail one check ride that is okay. Fail two check rides let's put your application at the bottom of the pile. Fail three check rides you are pretty much barred from being hired. The students that suffer the injustice of a rigged check ride system are greatly harmed.
How many of the 978 student pilots that were failed from 2017 to 2019 had their flying career ruined? A flying career ruined so a FAA could impose made up pass rates? Pass rates determined by a FAA employee making over $200K a year. A FAA that couldn't care less about protecting our young pilots. This is the true cost. This is just too heartbreaking to endure.
What happened to the FAA employee that told the DPE's to fail 35% of students? One might ask what actions were taken against such a horrible person? Were they punished? Were they fired? Unfortunately, that's not how the demonic Pennywise clown does things. I have over 20 years in federal service. As such I have a pretty good idea what happened to that person. They were given a $10K to $20K year end bonus for outstanding service.
We Ask Too Much.
There is no other way to conduct pilot certification other than a check ride. However, we need to adjust the attitudes and policies regarding failures. Why should a failure even matter? A failed check ride usually just involves one or two maneuvers to be tested again. It is not a big deal. At no time is the examiner even suggesting that the student should NOT be a pilot.
Before a check ride the student has already passed an in-depth written test.
A test full of trick questions and misleading statements. The correct answer hidden by just one word or number. It is a test designed to show one's ability to take a test. Not necessary the student's knowledge of aviation topics. Then at the check ride the young student is subjected to meeting someone he has never met before. An intimidating figure. Conducting a face to face interrogation. The DPE's try to make the student feel as comfortable as they can, but there is only so much they can do.
Where else do we see this type of testing? This face to face questioning is only done in the medical field when a doctor has his medical boards. A doctor that has already gone through six or seven years of university level training. For other professions this type of testing is only done at the graduate level. A four year college graduate does not face this same type of scrutiny.
In my experience, well over half the initial check rides that are failed just because the kid is afraid of the DPE. The student does not sleep the night before his check ride due to anxiety. Then they do not eat anything before the check ride. I would always force feed my students to eat breakfast, and I can not tell you how many students passed just due to a Grand Slam at Denny's!
They have never been subjected to this type of testing before. Then tested in a manner that they have never been exposed to before. I cannot count the number of times that I have heard a DPE say on the second attempt, "You are a completely different person on this check ride!" Can we bring common sense back into the check ride process? Can we be fair and balanced to our young pilots?
The Current Problems Facing Our CFl's
For too long have we allowed the role of the CFI to be one of misery and suffering. Making the CFI do all of the dirty work. Working countless hours getting a student prepared for licensing. Only to have some DPE making $300K at the airlines reap the benefits. Charging thousands of dollars for a couple hours of work! Work of a secretary marking boxes on a form. Not the work of a senior pilot.
The main problem with being a CFI is of course the money! It is ALWAYS been about the money. If we had financially stable CFl's many of the training issues and accidents would be resolved.
Issues such as CFl's leaving without notice. As soon as a CFI gets a job offer they are GONE! Leaving their students high and dry! It is now standard practice for a student to have multiple instructors for each license due to this. Each new instructor beginning over with the student. Claiming that only they conduct the training correctly! Costing the student thousands of dollars in aircraft rental and instruction. The student is stuck. Just being grateful they at least have another instructor.
At the big Part 141 schools I have had students come up to me for help. Their assigned instructor got a flying job, and they were literally gone overnight! No one at the school gave a damn. The student just wondering around the school asking for help for months. Their visa only good for a year. The school was paid up front for the training, so all interest in the student is gone. And there they sit without any hope. When I ran across this I would personally talked to the flight school owners. Owners who are mainly indifferent, but at least some of the students got another instructor assigned to them. If for nothing else than to shut me up! How many students end up in this situation? It is perhaps to heartbreaking to know?
The ONLY reason for many of our CFl's is to "build hours." This is a horrible reason to be a CFI, and yet it is standard practice of why people get a CFI rating. This leads to instructors only teaching when the engine running. Dumping students just prior to the check ride because they don't want to have a failure on their record. These are crushing problems in the flight training community! Problems that no one seems to even care about. Even though everyone knows about it.
We Need To Have a Professional CF/ Position Within Aviation
All we would have to do to fix this situation is to have CFl's conduct the check rides. If CFl's could conduct check rides the money would be there. The competition would bring down the cost of a check ride down to about $500. I believe this would be a fair price for a check ride. If a CFI did just ten check rides a month that's $5,000. This would be on top of his pay for lessons given. Making a monthly salary of about $8,000 per month. Overnight the pay for CFl's would be on par with other professional flying jobs.
A CFI could do such amazing things as make a car payment, rent a place to live, and maybe not have to eat every single meal out of the lobby vending machine! Imagine a world where a CFI, the one training our newest members, actually making a living. I know! What a crazy concept!
This would in turn save our students thousands of dollars! No need to fly to other airports. The long delays for check rides disappearing. Aircraft not being damaged or destroyed by DPE's. Most importantly, to remove the ability of Pennywise to manipulate the check rides! I see popped red balloons on the tarmacs of our airports! Now we have bloated bureaucrats clogging the system to a stand still. DPE's and FAA FSDO personnel being incompetent, engaging in malicious behavior, and having no empathy for our young pilots.
Corrective Actions. Can A Change Be Made?
The corrective actions needed may be easier than we think? We could have a department at the airman certification branch dedicated to check rides. Available to our CFl's to assist in the paperwork for certification. There to answer questions in a timely manner. Being helpful, kind, and most importantly...COMPETENT!
On the flying side how hard would this be to accomplish? Not hard at all. We already have the FAR's set up for such a change. Under FAR's 61.195 (h) (1) (2) the guidance for doing this is already there. This FAR is the basis for a CFI teaching another CFI. It dictates that the CFI holds flight or ground instructor for 24 colander months, and has given at least 200 hours of dual instruction. This would be sufficient for CFl's to conduct check rides. After all, flight instructors are responsible for English standards, solo flight, and all the knowledge and flight skills for the check ride. Why would it be out of line to have them do the check rides?
Could we not have a professional core of flight instructors? What if we went from a punitive system of harming our young pilots, and instead mentored them? Instead of funding FAA FSDO inspectors could we not have our own experienced CFl's conduct training and mentoring? Can you imagine being trained by someone that cares? Someone that is not just concerned about building hours, and then leaving as soon as possible? These are hard questions. They are real life questions that we need ask. A better way of doing things is within our grasp. If only we demand to have positive change.
I have no intention of leaving this mess to the next generation of pilots. I will not back down. This request for change will be made directly to Mr. Chris Rocheleau, who is our new FAA Administrator. I pray that he strives to make the FAA better. I will also be bringing this topic up to the Aviation Sub-Committee. This sub committee is chaired by congressman Mr. Troy E. Nehls of Texas. It will be unpleasant for these people to recommend such a harmful process to continue. If you would like to get involved please contact me at my email at: rmriter@aol.com. There are roughly 41 congress people involved in the Aviation Sub Committee. We need to have each one provide us with their response on this topic. I will be attending these Aviation Sub Committee meetings in person, and reporting back to you what I have learned. Perhaps, I might be the ONLY pilot and/or mechanic at the hearings?
Your future as a pilot or aircraft mechanic is very important to me! You deserve to be treated fairly. The FAA needs to follow all federal and state laws, follow FAA Policies and Procedures as set forth from the FAA Administrator, and most of all conduct itself in a fair and balanced manner. Is this too much to ask? Let's find out together!
If you have enjoyed this article please consider me for your next flight review, or maybe some flight instruction! If you get a couple pilots together I can come out to your airport.
After doing the flight reviews or training I would be more than happy to speak to your group about aviation issues. More importantly how we are going to fix them!
The flight patches you see are for free. Just shoot me an email with an address. I will ask for a donation! They are expensive to make, but we general aviation pilots and mechanics should have our own patches! You are the future of aviation. I have the most confidence and admiration for you! For you will be the next generation of "Silent Heroes!"
God Bless! Keep Flying Speed! Captain Robert "That Guy" Riter Email: Rmriter@aol.com
YouTube: Capt.Robert"ThatGuy"Riter
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