Great pilots have all their bases covered. If you don't come to an oral exam with all of your bases covered then you have no business being awarded A Private Pilot certificate. For me it was a great opportunity to prove my capabilities to an examiner. Worst case scenario is that I fail and I have to go back and do more homework and try again the next time. There is absolutely nothing to fear.
@@daveshangar6820 A few things. For some, these exams are a bit stressful because they don't know what to expect. Another giant problem is that many airlines only allow one failed checkride. That includes PPL, Commercial, Instrument, multi, and possibly CFI if you went for it. Failure isn't much of an option for a PPL, in this situation.
I watched this video before and after I became a pilot. I came again here to listen to this guy one more time to see if I can understand now 🤣 and yes I do and I feel good. It’s too easy guys if you want to be a pilot just go for it. Good luck
@@capt_jack9949 ok thats good to know. My ground school said for diversions just plug it into the gps. Im like ok cool, but what if he asks me to donit manually.... is that still a thing?
Max Sperlich yes it can be. The examiner might fail the GPS on you because they’re trying to test your pilotage skills, but there’s no harm in using it up until the point it “fails.” Same goes for an ipad with foreflight. After a while they may tell you that your “battery has died”
+Bobby Creager He didn't know the mandatory beacon rule and the examiner had to prod him three different times to choke up the word "detonation," (for high engine temps), but the DE finally had to ask, "have you heard of detonation?" I think this is legit.
This man has helped lots of people advance their aviation careers and he gave me my instrument checkride almost 10 years ago.......Allan retired off the B773 and was typed in many different jets. He will be missed by myself and countless others in the Chicago area. RIP.......
pwkpilot hello there.. It's really nice you had the honor to meet this gentleman... He was a very honorable man.. I have finished all of my flight requirements for private pilot and im awaiting a mock checkride, then a check ride.. I have been using this video to prepare for my oral..
Took mine a few months ago. All I can say it's just like this, he'll ask almost the same questions but he won't be that scary you'll probably get a nice guy. Examiners want you to get your private license so they won't asking anything too hard and don't expect you to know everything because nobody is perfect. Relax have fun and you'll get you Private certificate at the end of the day
I disagree. My DPE asked me trick and very difficult questions. Even more difficult than this oral. My oral was 3.5 hours. It was also closed book. Not allowed to look the FAR-AIM or other FAA material.
This is nothing to how the checkrides are conducted today. Today, they are 4 hours longer and they even ask you more complicated and in depth questions. The DPE's now want to trip you up
This was a training video produced by Airway Flight Services back in the 90s for the benefit of their student pilots. AFS was based at Palwaukee (PWK) airport which is now Chicago Executive. Bill, the "student," was one of the CFIs. E. Allan Englehardt was the designated pilot examiner for my private and instrument checkrides. RIP.
PhilHorace this makes so much more sense. It’s nearly impossible for a private pilot candidate to nail every single question without any hesitation like this kid does.
@@homertalk Englehardt died of prostate cancer in 2016 at age 69. He retired from United Airlines in 2007 as a Boeing 777 pilot and also worked as a DPE out of Chicago Executive Airport since the 1990s.
@@chrisd2076 That is really sad. Was he as thorough and spot on as he was in the video? I am at SWA. I skimmed through this just to see what I could remember from this level as he asked questions. It killed some time in the dealership while getting an oil change. Haha! It was that or watch Judge Judy on the TV in the waiting lounge.
@@jblee344 It is impossible. You are absolutely right. It was probably scripted as well. That being said it's a great tool to study with and good to have all the answers correct so a student prepares accordingly. The reality is that a student will stumble through some of these questions. I hate orals!
I like the examiner, he asks a lot of practical questions without making the student nervous, he sounds more like a curious passenger than an examiner. I have my CPL helicopter check ride coming up and I hope my examiner is like this. ;)
Is that really hard though?... These questions are pretty basic. You are loosing electrical power. What would be a likely explanation? ... my alternator doesn't work... ok, and what does that means? Well... means I'm running on the battery! So I'll be out of charge momentarily... What can you do to increase the time you have? Shut down all non-essential, electrical components like radio #2, lights, etc... Will you be able to use flaps? Depends on the aircraft, but this is a basic cessna, and these have electric flaps, so no, no more flaps for you. Etc. I feel like most of these questions are actually logic more than anything else... Same thing with the pressure questions... Why would an altimeter gain a thousand feet overnight without the plane moving? Well as you go up, the pressure decreases. So if the altimeter indicates you are high than you actually are, thats because the atmospheric pressure dropped during the night! This is all just logic!
Obviously there are thing that just needs to be learned too that you can't just deduce from your logic, I'm not saying this is 100% easy, however, I really don't think this exam was THAT hard. I would love to see the same exam, but for an ATPL, like boeingdriver29 mentionned I'm sure THAT would be hardcore as hell!
Its not as bad. This was an overblown oral. It will over prepare you. The "student" is an instructor in real life. The Examiner was an actual Examiner but they rehearsed this and it was scripted. They made it this clean and thorough to provide the student a study guide and a way to prepare for the exam. It can go a lot less smoother than this and the examiner can still consider the student meeting standards and well prepared.
Hahaha he shouldn’t be freaked out by this it’s still a great journey to undergo. It’s rigorous simply because a lot goes into flying an aircraft, all these topics that were reviewed here in the examination will be learned periodically and he’ll have more than enough time throughout the course! I hope he continues the journey it’s worth it!! Good luck to your son!
@@skywarrior28 Mine was never scripted (I wish it was). My C.F.I and my examiner both grilled me so hard during my own Oral Exam ..... Yes, oral exams can be as tough as this one.
No, being a Doctor is hard. The private pilot is easy compared to anything medical. Heck, Hard to even figure out how to maintain my own body and keep all the gauges in the green so I can fly.
Wow! Even after all these years , this video still is the best checkride oral I have ever seen on YT! Possibly touched on any question a DPE will throw at you for your real PPL oral test. I just passed mine watching this video over and over again. My biggest tip is just pause and answer the question to yourself out-loud as if this was your DPE in real life. Helped me out a lot!!
I feel like I have to say, for those of you who are viewing this video in preparation for an imminent oral exam, that this is a pretty unrealistic expectation. To say this examiner was thorough would be an understatement. I've never in all my years of flying heard of an oral like this. Extremely in depth for a candidate who was very well prepared. Generally speaking, if you do well on the written, and get off to a good start on the first few questions of the oral, the entire thing should take 30-40 minutes, on average.
At times I feel like this is set up as a training session. Hope my oral isn't this in depth but you never know. I have been studying both asa and gleimm for my written but I suck at tests...hopefully I do good
bman2101 Agree totally, never had an oral like this. It also feels outdated in terms of the new style of situational scenarios. Plus the candidate seems unusually articulate on the answers, I know flight instructors that don't explain things that concisely. The fact that they recorded this at all makes it seem like a training tool.
Just passed my check ride, and this video was a MASSIVE help! The oral portion was almost identical to this. Felt very prepared after watching this a dozen times :)
Toxic Anomaly Nervous as hell whenever my CFI even brought it up lol. I delayed it a bit too, was in no hurry to fly by myself! They won't let you go until they are sure you are ready. If they say you are, you are. Trust them :) Also, don't get over zealous and flat spot a tire like I did on my final landing during solo ;) Just fly like you have been up to this point and you'll do fine.
+mdbuehler I was the exact opposite actually in my case I couldn't wait to solo and I was so excited as a 17 year old kid at the time I remember getting in the airplane and getting Clarence to taxi doing ally checks and double checking everything then getting clearance to take off then since I live in Oregon I flew around the rogue valley out of the 5 mile radius of our class D airspace and I was just amazed and so excited about it all.
@@TheSisi786 Really? Mine was never scripted (I wish it was). My C.F.I and my examiner both grilled me so hard during my own Oral Exam ..... Yes, oral exams can be as tough as this one.
Wow, was there an accident?, he seems pretty young in the video but I realize that it's the 90's time frame. He was very well-read. He was very prepared.
@@jstMir such a great examiner, i wonder how many he had to flunk out ? and once out what the % of them that retried and flunked out a 2nd time, 3rd time, etc.
It's fun to go back and see this video again. Allan was a member of our club and his enthusiasm for teaching aviation was unsurpassed. He was known as a tough DPE, as were other 777 Captains, but he was so giving of his time to ensure we all knew our "stuff". We are all better pilots because of the bar he set and we achieved because of his help. We miss him and will never forget him. And thanks to this video, we can still learn from him.
As long as you study, it's pretty simple. My examiner was fantastic - UPS 767 Captain, which helped since we had a common love for airliners. He basically pulled up sections from the PTS he had to test me on, read through them - then asked me questions on the subject that was on the screen. I studied weather the least and that showed - but not bad enough to fail. Also my mind went blank when he asked where do I find the AD's!! The rest of it I had been through so much, it was like repeating it to my CFI again. It really is like a conversation - which mine included a lot of very, very silent and awkward moments. That's meant to be something he does to see if you'll continue talking and berry yourself ha. Just keep it simple, don't panic if they stop speaking after you've answered! The flying part of it I forgot he was next to me at times. I put the wrong squawk in on the ground - SoCal corrected me on departure and I concurred, no big deal. The departure was completely different to what we planned due to traffic, but no problems there. Eventually got through Ontario's charlie airspace to do the maneuvers in Rialto. The airport I did my short/soft field stuff at, had the sun level straight down the runway. So admittedly I was almost guessing the soft field landing and got lucky. The CTAF was the same as French Valley's and there was tons of traffic there, none at our airport. So I kept going to say "French Valley Traffic" rather than Rialto ha. Thankfully I stopped myself saying it when it was at the tip of my tongue.... If you get yourself in the right mind set, it's a really fun but challenging day out flying. The most rewarding one yet for my career!
Guys, I had the same exact reaction you did when watching this video for the first time. I know I can't speak for every DPE, but the experience I had for my check ride oral portion wasn't NEARLY as in depth as this. Get yourself an ASA - Oral Exam Guide book by Michael D. Hayes, look through it a little every day and you will be fine! And don't be afraid to ask the examiner to re-phrase a question. He or she should be happy to!
When I did my private practical 20 years ago, I had a really good oral exam. When going out to the airplane , I started my spiel with something like. "As I walk up to the airplane, I like to take a good look as I walk up and look for anything that might cause concern...." The examiner said, "O.K. that's fine. Now, this is not rocket science, so let's just focus on doing the preflight and flying. I will ask you for any questions I have." In other words, shut up and just do what you are going to do without sounding like you actually know something at 63 hours. LOL!
Watching this makes my stomach ache. Been there done that, was the most stressful days of my life but also the most exciting and fulfilling as well. Love flying.
This was the most helpful video for my test! I watched it about 10 times, memorized all of it, and then went in very confident! Would definitely recommend
Well, I have taken seven check rides over the last few years and besides my Initial CFI. I have never had to elaborate in such great detail on systems and operations; nor have I been able to answer every question flawlessly. This video is a great learning tool, but don't fool yourself into thinking this is what is expected of each private pilot applicant. "Perfection is not the standard" straight from the mouth of my FAA DPE on my CFI check ride.
Did you by any chance go through ATP Flight School? The time frame you've taken your check rides in is reflective of ATP lol plus I've heard that saying at ATP many times
It was a lot less thorough. Except for the obvious stuff (required inspections, instruments, and main safety stuff), make sure you have a strong understanding of weather resources and the sectional.
I cannot believe I just spent an hour and a half watching a test I will never take. It was just so interesting and a great insight as to what pilots have to know and how much effort is spent making sure they know it. Jusy a fabulous video, and thank you to textsa for posting.
He was my instructor for a long weekend ground school in the mid ‘70’s. He was fantastic! As I said it was a long weekend, however his presentation kept the class glued to their seats. I could not say enough great things about him. I do remember hearing he was very active at PWK.
"What would you do if there was a thunderstorm over the airport and the pilot ahead of you reported a 30 kt loss?" "Well Allan, I'd just say fuck it, let's rock and roll and crab that puppy at full power into a nice ramp strike."
I remember watching this years ago before I knew anything about what they’re discussing now as a soon-to-be ATP applicant, Citation Sovereign pilot, it’s amazing to reflect on how much I’ve learned and how easy this oral exam would be for me now.
I had the honor of listening to Captain Englehardt at Airway flight services at palwaukee airport, 1990s. He was truly an icon on the aviation and meaningful aviation training.
I love this video. I'm a private pilot and I come back to this video occasionally and go through it as a refresher, answering the questions before the student does who then confirms my answer. It's more entertaining than reading my very lengthy notes. Very thorough exam and very good job on the part of the student.
Passed my Check-ride almost a month ago and watched this video everyday for a week before my check-ride and the oral was much easier then expected! Remember o feel free to use you FAR AIM thats why its there!
Some people are scared of the flying portion of the check ride, for me the scariest part was the oral. If you're scared of the flying portion means you're not ready to be a private pilot. This video is probably 33% the reason I passed the check ride. The other 66% was studying for the written and from my notes. The other 1% was luck.
Same... The oral is the scariest portion. The flight has its own stresser, but ultimately, the flight is the least of my worries. Just stay within PTS for all the maneuvers... The oral can be so ambiguous. I passed my Private Pilot checkride several years ago at this point. I'm about to do the commercial pilot checkride. I wish there was a video for that.
+ERAUPRCWA please let me know if you find one, I'm barely starting my instrument, but I'd like to plan ahead and have the commercial ready, because these videos are really really helpful.
Absolutely WRONG. If you're scared of the oral or flying (because you aren't 100% familiar with the answers/procedure) you shouldn't be a pilot. I hope you're not flying around with only 90% of the knowledge. Good luck with the FAA in that case. You'll be meeting them soon. Like someone said above it's normal to be nervous on tests. It's human instinct. You want to pass.
By way of contrast. My oral exam was, "what's this thing?" I answered "that is the oil cooling radiator" ..."Okay you passed". ..And that was it. That was in the mid 70s. But the examiner talked to me the whole time while in the flight test. It took 48 min.
Renewing my license one time, I happened to be demoing an aircraft in our factory demonstrator to a CFI to see if their airschool wanted to buy it. I mentioned whilst flying I had to do the renewal for my license in the next few days. He replied, "you just showed me how to execute a perfect hammerhead stall, half cuban and a flick roll in this thing, just give me the papers, and I'll sign you off". I replied "but I haven't shown you my cross country skills yet". Lol, aviation.
Took my check-ride today (did fine), I watched this video at least dozen times. It was similar questioning, but more relaxed and not as detailed follow-up questions. Learn this video, I was much more at-ease having watched this. If you can answer these questions, you will have it no problem. Know the charts!!!
This is a terrific example and source of review AFTER you have studied your coursework. I believe this may have been developed as a training video by a couple of flight instructors, or examiner and instructor. Either way it is a terrific reference and I appreciate the person who posted this.
Had the pleasure of meeting Allen. Amazing aviator and great guy all around. Learned more from him in an hour than my instructor all semester. Truly a shame he passed. F
The comments on this video amaze me. It's awesome to see how many pilots just want to help other pilots. The aviation community will always be the most laid-back and supportive group of people I've ever had the pleasure of being apart of. Love you all.
i had my checkride yesterday. My oral was over 2 hrs long. Watching this video about 20 times helped me pass it. I also converted this video into an MP3 to listen to in my car. Trained hard, studied hard, and passed my check-ride.
+Yoann Anthony hey man, you don't usually need anything from school to obtain a PPL, but you will obviously need a good understanding of maths, physics and English to be able to understand the training's course-ware and to pass the exams. These days, the hardest part of getting your license is paying for it :p good luck bro
+Yoann Anthony if you have any knowledge of physics and maths that would help. ppl is arite but once you move a step ahead then it will be more of a challenge. and you need to have class 1 medical as well.
+A380 Domingo just have the money to pay for the training. The school will do the rest to train you, and also it requires the effort you put into studying.
Gua Ranteedallauthentic Don’t fret. Sometimes it’s a game of time. If you need to wait until you have more money or until you’re geographically in a place where flight training is cheaper, then so be it! It’s worth the wait.
Joe N. 😓 I 'm 40 now...got the chance to study when I was 29 yrs old the basic aeronotics meta data / aircraft balance and graph etc and lived in Madrid near airport until we have to move to the North (Basque Country) / boundary of France / Spain 😓
Gua Ranteedallauthentic See if you can find any type of flying scholarships, otherwise the best advice I can give you is to put a little money on the side every month toward a flight fund.
First time I saw this, it was the most daunting thing I ever endured. But that was at the beginning of my in depth research. As I learned more I realized that, this conversation is one of the most professional representations of a the aviation profession.
So, I just passed my check ride in late July. This video really helped me out! The young man in the video was like having instant correct answers to every question. Highly recommend this video. Thank you for the video!
I can't stress enough to private pilot students how important it is to be prepared for the oral portion of the checkride. WIth that said, 90% of examiners will not conduct an oral to this extent. Most examiners base their oral exam on how the student performed on the written, and how well the first few questions go. The examiner should know fairly quickly if you're prepared. If you struggle to answer a question, or don't answer it thoroughly, be prepared for several followup questions. Answer every question this way, and the oral gets deep and lengthy very quickly. On the other hand, if you're squared away, knowledgeable, friendly, and conduct yourself like a professional, the oral can be over with in under 60 minutes. Again, this is entirely based on the examiner, but is typical from my experience.
S4 Aviator Well said. I watched this whole video and to me these questions were extremely tough and too in-depth especially the answers the student is giving were too dead on which makes me think this video is staged. We're students and we shouldn't get drilled with questions like that because we're still in a learning process.
I knew Allen. We crossed paths a number of times over the years including a CFI renewal clinic he officiated about 15....maybe 20 years ago. I didn’t always see eye to eye with Allen, but he was a good guy as well as a highly competent and a respected DPE. He was tough....but thorough and fair. You can see a snippet of his fairness when the student failed to answer the night currency requirement properly but Allen stepped him through it without making him nervous or uncomfortable. “Good and dark”.....yup, that’s the point. No BS. He was rare breed of ATP that was actually committed to aviation (including General Aviation) and was not full of himself. The Aviation community....especially those of us here in the Chicago area, were very sorry to see him go.
I am just starting to take my ground school and this video haunts me. I am sure that after school and testing I could manage some of those questions, but i would be intimidated for sure.
Just had my checkride last week, and the oral portion was nearly 4 hours. The flight portion was about 2.5 hours. I knew all the material and passed easily, but I was exhausted at the end of the day. All of the CFI's at my flight school said they have never seen a check ride last that long. My DPE was a new examiner with less than 6 months experience, so maybe that's why. He went through every line of the PTS word for word. I hope my future check rides are easier!
+clof2001 Look at it this way. You got your moneys worth and you knew the answers. Which put you at the top of the class. As I would rather be tested hard then most. Then find myself guessing.
+clof2001 That's almost what I would describe as brutal. My Oral was supposed to be 3 hours. It lasted 2. My CFI told me if my DPE kept me on my check ride for over an hour, he has some concerns, but 2 hours is the max he'll go. If you can't prove you know what you're doing in 2 hours, he'll fail parts of your exam and pass what he feels you've mastered. I was up and down in one hour and he declared me a Private Pilot. I think wearing out a brand new pilot as he/she makes that transition from student to PP is just stupid and dangerous ... let alone discouraging.
+Caleb Niederhofer yes, it was insane. And what possible reason would I have to lie about that, on RU-vid, to people I don't know? I was the DPE's second ever applicant, if that helps. I'm sure his subsequent tests have been much shorter.
Just passed my checkride this week! My oral was probably about two hours but my answers were not as in depth as his were. It's true what they say, don't talk yourself into a hole! Answer what they ask and that's it!
Almost 3 hours, that is how long mine went for. I was later told that he was trying to find something I would get incorrect. He didn't. 100% on the written, no mistakes on the oral, fantastic on the flying, but my landings were less than stellar. I told him, "I think it's not windy enough. All I have been doing is practicing landings on windy days, and today is calm." Learning to fly was the greatest thing ever though. Anyone considering it, should get it done!
I watched this video at least 15 times , if you memorize his responses you will pass the oral portion . I am a new private pilot as of 11-23-15 and this video helped me tremendously! Thanks
Memorizing answers will not be the same as having a working knowledge. Your performance will clearly show during an emergency. Lives are depending on your understanding of the material.
I've been flying for 35 years both in the Air Force and the Airlines and now I've been retired for several years. If I get back into GA, I have a lot to relearn. This was an excellent oral exam. I learned a lot of information that IFR pilots don't really get into. Thank God for dispatchers.
At age 54 I finally found the time to get my license. It took 15 months with work and weather not cooperating. Naturally my examiner was selected by the FAA to be examined giving me my exam! So what was supposed to be about a one hour oral exam turned into a 3 hour 20 minute oral exam. I was fried and glad we were not going to fly that day because of the weather. The FAA guy was actually really nice and made it clear he was not there to examine me. He actually called the exam by telling my examiner to just "let the poor guy go home". I had studied like a maniac for three months prior and came very prepared which was the key to getting past it in front of the FAA. And yes...he showed up the next day for the check ride and sat in the back mute while I was made to go through every single move possible including a forced landing with total electrical failure and on fire.
Passed my checkride! This video was a big help. Remember that the DPE is on your side. They don't expect perfection (unlike this video may indicate), they just want to see good judgement and preparedness. Good luck to everyone doing their checkride soon, you are going to do great!
Airline Transport Pilot Certificate #1695899 - Type rated: Boeing 747-400, Boeing 757, Boeing 767, Boeing 777, Falcon 10. Damn right hahaha, 5k hours on the 777
Wow what a great video resource this is. I've watched this a few times, stopping after each question and I try and answer it myself. Thank God for this video!!
When I was working for my PPL, I had watched this video and I was surprised and worried about my test that would be able to take an hour and half, because english is not my language. However my oral took almost 3 hours. good memory.
I found this video as I began my PPL training and was overwhelmed with the amount of information required. I now come back to this after months of studying and training one last time before my check-ride. It's been quite the journey but we've only just begun 😎
For a private pilot planning a cross-country flight in a Cessna 182, this pilot's range and depth of knowledge is staggeringly extensive. Would think it would dissuade anyone thinking about becoming a private pilot.
I've watched this video when it was uploaded and now watch this video when I'm a bit older and more mature, I realized that I was not mentally ready to be a pilot back then. Such an eye opener.
+NHRHS2010 , hey man I just saw your comments on this checkride video. Who was your DPE, Peggy? she flies her own Bonanza and she is 70. She is going to be my checkride examiner. Can you fill me on details? I'm taking my checkride at Essex county airport.
***** lol, exactly. Well can you tell how was Peggy? Was she easy going, how long was oral and practical? Does she ask a lot of questions. I'm taking my checkride next week. Can you fill me in?
