Sport Pilot Talk

drseti wrote:My only grandson just turned five a few days ago, Bill. I never realized how wealthy he is!

Well, folks, I arrived in OKC last night, and today completed the first day of my DPE training. 22 students and 6 instructors (pretty good ratio).

Good Luck drseti!

Glad you made it!

Are these just Sport DPEs, or is the intro class for all DPEs?

(22 would be a huge class of Sport DPEs...)

No, this class is all DPE candidates. As it happens, I am the only student wanting to do SP exclusively. Two more will do SP if called upon, but mainly want to do PP, CP, Instrument, and Multi. The rest flat out don't want to do SP. (No wonder the LSA movement is suffering!)

Extrapolating from this experience, it appears only about 10% of all DPEs will be willing to give SP checkrides.

Here I am in DPE class, giving a practice oral exam to a classmate. (Spoiler alert: he passed!)

drseti wrote:Here I am in DPE class, giving a practice oral exam to a classmate. (Spoiler alert: he passed!)
practice.jpg

Where's the rubber hose?

I just did a search of FAA records, to ascertain just how widespread the SP DPE shortage really is. For my data sample, I used the FAA Eastern region (which encompasses the coastal and near-coastal states from South Carolina to Maine). There are a total of 33 SP DPEs in the Region, spread among 19 Districts. There are 6 Districts which each have zero SP DPEs, 3 that each have 1 examiner, 2 that have 2 SP DPEs each, 4 Districts that each have 3 examiners, and 4 that have 4. In the Eastern region, the average number of SP examiners per FSDO is 1.73.

I'm pretty sure the Eastern region is typical.
Houston, I think we have a problem.

So Paul, are you now a DPE who can do checkrides, or is there still more paperwork to be completed at the local level?

Oh, there's quite a bit more to go, Tom. When I get home, I still have to take the online final exam (and pay for it). Then, I have to send my training certificates to the local FSDO, who then has to request me. Finally, an FAA inspector has to observe me giving a checkride, before I can be appointed. After that, I have to attend a FSDO meeting every year, and a renewal course every two years. This in addition to the usual FIRCs and flight reviews. (It's no wonder DPEs charge as much as they do!)

I'm pleased to report that, as of today, I am now an official DPE - in celebration of which, all Sport Pilot checkrides booked on April First will be free!

Happy Easter Fool's Day.

Well, folks, today I passed my Initial DPE Course final exam, and received this Certificate of Training:
Which means I've now jumped through all the hoops I can navigate on my own. The ball's presently in my FSDO's court. I'll let you know what the next steps are, just as soon as I figure them out.

Congrats Paul...

That's great, Paul . . . keep us posted on the rest.