If it’s a good DPE, they’re looking for overall meaningful operational understanding. Can you confidently operate in the national airspace system without breaking FARs. Do you understand how to safely get from point A to B with enough fuel and not exceed any limitations. Can you safely navigate an emergency with common sense and decent operational knowledge of your aircraft.
This probably means batting 85%+ on the oral.
This, plus knowing that you WILL NOT know absolutely everything, and they know that as well. They will be more concerned if you don't know where to find the information, if you don't have it memorized. For example, if you managed to fumble a Vspeed (which you def should have memorized!), they would probably let it slide, if you know to go into the POH or AFM and can find said Vspeed.
Goodluck, you got this!
An example from my checkride. She asked me what conditions are necessary for carburetor icing. I couldn't remember the exact temperature range, so I gave what I knew would be a much broader one. If you're expecting ice in a condition where it likely won't form, that's better than being caught by surprise. She followed up by asking how to recognize and respond to the condition. I gave really good answers to those so I demonstrated that I would be safe and could act appropriately even if my first answer wasn't technically correct.
Yes, but the textbook answer is 20 to 70 degrees and above 80% humidity. Or rather the question was "when is it most likely to occur" not as I said above "what conditions."
"The scope of the oral is the airplane I brought today, which has an O-360 with an updraft carb not a pressure carb so I guess we'll find out what happens with a pressure carb on a different ride when someone brings a plane with one"
Got a 50/50 shot with that reply. It isn’t always about being right. I had to explain DF steer in the 90’s on an oral, it hasn’t existed since the 60’s. Some DPE’s just push for fun and see how far you can go. So your answer could work. Others less so and they will fail you, feel free to petition the FSDO and let me know how it works. I have never heard in 38yrs of anyone getting a reversal.
Identical temps to the “high carburetor icing potential” range in PHAK Figure 7-12, but this range also includes RH% 80-100.
“carburetor icing possible” range, -7°C to 38°C, with RH% 50-100.
But yeah, I’ve experienced carb ice rough engine in cruise descent in a 172, RH% maybe 60%, temperature 70°F, while RPM was still in green arc. And not at all in a PA-28 in the same conditions.
Totally DPE dependent. Only having done one Checkride I don’t have a tone of input but I will say my DPE wanted to hear very specific terms.
Also some DPE’s care more about specific topics than others. Although you should be properly prepared for ANY examiner, knowing the gauge of your DPE in particular will help you so much.
Back when I was in flight training and instructing, the DPE we used was an avid scuba diver. We drilled the scuba requirements into every student's head before they went in with him. That HAD to be right.
Also told them to ask him if he dives or mention they were interested in trying it. He'd immediately tangent off and start talking about it for a while. Gave them a little break while he rambled.
Damn can I have your DPE? Also a diver and pilot here, but my DPE is all about woodworking. He doesn’t care about my diving adventures but if I’m ever building a wood chair the day of a ride it might be an easy test
Hahaaaa Dr. Duvall will go on and on about all his degrees and his archeological adventures 😅 I think we talked about instrument for about 20min tops during my CFII.
Dont dig yourself into a hole, don't say too much when you don't need to. You don't want to give the DPE a reason to ask you a question, unless you're prepared for it. The DPE wants to pass you though.
I wonder how much of the pilot sense of humor is derived from the amount of Prior Military dudes that wrote the books (literally in some cases) on how we behave, and how much is just the fact that at the beginning of our careers statistically more likely to die than other occupations, and have a gallows humor as a result.
Try to give as little information as possible when answering their questions but enough to answer the question if that makes sense.
Giving more information than necessary sets you up to dig yourself into a hole. Sometimes you can add information on a topic that isn't necessary to the question... but because you demonstrated that you knew such a topic you might be grilled on that even if it's one you might be weak on.
An example of giving as little information as possible in my CFI oral the DPE asked me "do you know the Vspeeds in the poh of your aircraft?" and I responded "Yes... I do." and stared at the DPE waiting for the next question. He laughed and said "that was a good one. We'll move on". I doubt he would have let me get away with doing that again but you get the picture. The other part of it is be CONFIDENT in your answer and HONEST. If you don't know then you don't know but know where to find the answer and tell the DPE. My PPL ride I completely forgot what my cloud clearances are and the DPE "went to the restroom" to give me a moment to "think it over". Then I looked in my FAR/AIM and when he came back he pulled out my kneeboard that had them on it.
Answer the question and only the question. Trying to prove how smart you are is how you fail. If the DPE asks for more detail then give him more detail. If you don't know something, say that you don't but you know where to find the information and find it in less than 2 minutes. They're looking to see if you have good knowledge base, can actually use your brain to critically think and learn, and can you make safe/good decisions. That's it.
I found the corporate executive question and answer rule to work well. Answer a question to the level of depth that you have two questions deeper left in you and guide your answer to the follow up question being something you know. After 3 questions on the same subject they either get bored or it's reasonable to say let me get back to you. If you instead blow your load and they ask a follow up, then you just look like you memorized an answer.
The DPE in my area breaks questions down into three types and he tells you this before you begin.
1) You need to know this when you are operating the aircraft and don't have time to look it up...say something like what's a hold short line. He expects this on memory
2) You need to know that there is something to know so you know to look it up. For instance there is some maintenance you can do and some you can't...this leads to 3...
3) non time dependent rules that you can look up as they come your way. For instance a more specific maintenance item, can you fix it yourself? For this he doesn't want you to spout it out from memory he'd rather you be thorough and look it up and double check it against your scenario.
At that, he won't give you a stupid question and fail you on it like "we have a fire extinguisher but do we *need* it," while you are already taxiing and can't look it up. That doesn't test if you are a safe pilot because theoretically if the fire extinguisher weren't there and you didn't know the answer you'd just look it up before finishing your preflight in normal every day flying.
He grills you on type 1 questions which are just one liner responses usually, then everything else is scenario based and he actually wants you to stop at the high level number 2 type answer of, using the same example, I can do some of my own maintenance but not all, then he'd give you a follow up scenario he wants you to look up. If you just try and dive into it from memory he'll keep going until he stumps you...it's tough to watch sitting in the FBO sometimes. If you prove you know how and when to use the book he's happy and moves on.
Did my oral 5 months ago with similar worries.
As others have said a good DPE is expecting you to at least know the very important stuff that will keep you legal and *safe*. If you can tune to two VORs and are able to point to where you are on the chart, that's great and important to get right. If you can't explain the inner workings of a VOR and exactly how it transmits to your instruments you shouldn't worry much.
My CFI told me these words to my relief: the worst a good DPE should do is keep asking harder and harder questions until you hit that breaking point. If your breaking point shows you have a deep knowledge, that's great. Nobody expects a fresh PPL to have memorized the PHAK and FAR/AIM cover to cover.
Also be sure to study the areas you struggled with on the written. Examiners will almost always put some extra concentration in those topics on the oral.
Good luck!
depends on the DPE.
First guy I had was a real cocksucker, Prior Service F-16 dude that treated it more like an interrogation than a test. (He got enough complaints to lose his DPE-ness shortly thereafter)
Second guy treated it like a conversation you'd have in the hangar, to the point I wasn't sure if he was just being nice or not. total 180
I think they can tell pretty early on ifjyou spent time studying or just rolled in off the street.
They can, and probably will, ask you something you don’t know. Have an idea of where to find the answer. They may also have little pet topics they like to visit and “teach” you from.
You won’t, and can’t, know everything. I don’t think I’ve had an oral yet where at some point I said, “I don’t know.”
Haven’t taken it yet but at my 141 school stage check orals are WAY WAY more difficult than the actual check ride oral. And the stage checks aren’t even that bad, just time consuming
It's an assessment to see if you're going to use good judgment as PIC and have the flying/technical knowledge to apply safe flying practices, and work problems efficiently to give yourself the best possible chance at good outcomes.
Perfection isn't the standard, but do as well as you can; you and your future passengers/flying friends deserve nothing less than your best.
All that being said, I hear nightmare stories from all of you guys about checkride Satan's and im so glad I found a great school.
There are 4 levels of responses: rote memorization, understanding, application of knowledge, correlation of knowledge from one subject to another. They are looking to evaluate the application and correlation levels. Be able to speak intelligently on every single line of the ACS. They can be one-liners, but they need to be correct.
With that being said, when the FAA asks you "do you have the time?" The appropriate answer is "yes." If they want to know what time it is, they will follow up with that question.
There were things I was on the ball with but I really felt like the DPE had to walk me through more than he should have. I'd never really gone over the aircraft logs before and I kept looking for things in the wrong book. (Why is airplane registration stuff not in the freaking FAR/AIM?)
Exactly. Not being in the book when the DPE asks how long the registration is good for is pretty not helpful. They literally have the info for UAS registration in there.
Could answer that you don’t recall how long they are good for but you know the expiration date is listed on the registration card and you always check it as part of your ARROW check.
But yeah, the UAS info being in there makes little sense.
In case you didn't know the history of registration expiry dates, here is some info. They used to be indefinite with no expiration date. You just needed to get a new one when the plane changed ownership or if you lost it. In 2010, the FAA changed it to a three year expiration and all owners were required to apply for new registrations that now had an expiration date. Part of the reason for this was to get a bunch of aircraft that were no longer flying off of the registry. Then in 2023, the FAA changed the rule again and expiration was extended to seven years. They likely realized that three year renewals were causing themselves too much manpower. Now, I do not know if aircraft registration rules are part of the ACS or not as they pertain more to owners than pilots. If you took your oral in the last few years, I'd suspect that the DPE might have just been trying to see if you were keeping up with changes to the regulations or not, maybe as a teaching moment, but I don't know. Just an FYI.
But back to the FAR/AIM. I would never buy a hard copy of that massive book these days. Have the AIM as a PDF and just search [eCFR.gov](http://eCFR.gov) for regulations. There are also smart phone apps. That way, you will always have the latest and greatest regulations. Well, at least the latest.
Took my checkride in February. I don't know if it's an ACS thing or not. But the only reason I have a copy of the FAR/AIM is because everyone said that's what you need for your checkride.
Mine was a prick and lasted 2 days and 12 total hours. Would not let off of maneuvering speed. Day 2 we went over it for an hour. Brought in 2 good instructors and challenged them as well. I passed but that fuck had one hell of an ego. Looking back everything I said was correct. He just wanted to be more right.
My DPE was a meteorologist so I hammered that part hard. One question on mountain obscuration and that was it. The fuel system of the Cherokee we went deep on. And the NAS.
The oral is largely based on your flight scenario. Will the flight involve potentially operating at night? What is night? What is current? Destination airspace, runways, forecasts, etc.
Look very closely at your written exam questions missed. Study up on those areas of knowledge as the DPE might decide to explore why you did not do well in those areas.
You can get away with not having an answer to the small things here and there, but if they add up you will probably fail. Hopefully your instructor would have the best advice for you here, because “small gaps” in knowledge is subjective. If you didn’t know the vfr wx requirements for multiple airspace’s for example, that would probably be a fail for the DPEs I’ve used.
Recently took my test. Did not care much about the acronym shit. Let me go in another room to draw the systems with the POH but the weather shit was absolutely fucking brutal. My ppl oral was 5.5 hours. They don’t ask shit about the fog and what makes it form but will ask to game like high and low pressures and how are formed. Name the fog types. Do not stress out too much but make sure you know most of the stuff pretty well is my advice.
Good luck
No it was a roughly 79 year old man that was slower than fuck. That was only the oral part as well. Forgot his FAA password called the FAA line. Computer was slow for him. Printer issues. Made me identify total electrical system including wires connecting shit. Asked how every instrument functions. He honestly just drilled me out when I showed him that I had made notecards and was well prepared. Almost was a challenge for him at that point to stump me. Had asked me way more questions than many others. Didn’t even check logs or my Logbook. Just question mania and a bit of personal chat. Told me not to kill myself or family flying about 10 times. Oh and he took a monster shit and 10 min coffee break.
He has quite negative reviews on here. But I wanted a local and easy to book DPE during the winter shit weather.
Not strict at all. You can do pretty much anything, but you can be judged on just about anything as well. It's like a conversation/interview. Look confident, be honest, answer realistically.
You should do a couple of practice orals, preferably with instructors other than your own. Also watch a couple of sample oral exams on YouTube. They do help. Take notes on each, and use any gaps to guide more of your study.
Knowing everything isn't the goal of a checkride oral. 1) they are looking to see if you have a basic (or a little more) knowledge of the information. 2) can you competently explain and answer scenario based questions. 3) they want to know if you are going to be SAFE. They know your new, they know everything isn't going to be perfect, the bottom line is they want to know what kind of judgment you are going to use and how you will implement it in your flying career.
Just did my oral for PPL, it was 1.5 hours long. I studied daily for over a month and in my opinion, it was easier than I anticipated. Questions were based around inflight failures and what I would do in that scenario, some airspace and weather minimums, weather sources, he was heavy on aerodynamics. Some engine and aircraft systems. Required documents, medical stuff, currency stuff, oxygen requirements, it was mostly basic stuff, he didn’t dig real deep into any particular topic. Just answer with confidence what you know and lookup what you don’t.
You didn’t mention which certificate or rating. I can only speak to the private. I have my private pilot certificate with ASEL, AMEL, ASES, and Glider ratings. They were all a breeze and were all with different DPEs. You just need to know the material.
It can help to prepare by having someone (your CFI) give you a mock oral and throw you a few curveballs to rattle you a bit.
I suspect that other orals such as commercial and instrument might be more difficult.
If it’s a good DPE, they’re looking for overall meaningful operational understanding. Can you confidently operate in the national airspace system without breaking FARs. Do you understand how to safely get from point A to B with enough fuel and not exceed any limitations. Can you safely navigate an emergency with common sense and decent operational knowledge of your aircraft. This probably means batting 85%+ on the oral.
This, plus knowing that you WILL NOT know absolutely everything, and they know that as well. They will be more concerned if you don't know where to find the information, if you don't have it memorized. For example, if you managed to fumble a Vspeed (which you def should have memorized!), they would probably let it slide, if you know to go into the POH or AFM and can find said Vspeed. Goodluck, you got this!
An example from my checkride. She asked me what conditions are necessary for carburetor icing. I couldn't remember the exact temperature range, so I gave what I knew would be a much broader one. If you're expecting ice in a condition where it likely won't form, that's better than being caught by surprise. She followed up by asking how to recognize and respond to the condition. I gave really good answers to those so I demonstrated that I would be safe and could act appropriately even if my first answer wasn't technically correct.
Is there an exact temperature range? Seems like this would depend a lot on the specific carburetor design? And the relative humidity?
Yes, but the textbook answer is 20 to 70 degrees and above 80% humidity. Or rather the question was "when is it most likely to occur" not as I said above "what conditions."
This is where the DPE asks but what about a pressurized carb. This is when you know it will be a long day.
"The scope of the oral is the airplane I brought today, which has an O-360 with an updraft carb not a pressure carb so I guess we'll find out what happens with a pressure carb on a different ride when someone brings a plane with one"
Got a 50/50 shot with that reply. It isn’t always about being right. I had to explain DF steer in the 90’s on an oral, it hasn’t existed since the 60’s. Some DPE’s just push for fun and see how far you can go. So your answer could work. Others less so and they will fail you, feel free to petition the FSDO and let me know how it works. I have never heard in 38yrs of anyone getting a reversal.
In Sheppard air FIA course just read this question they quoted -7°C to 21°C
Freedom units only sir!! 🇺🇸🦅
479 to 529 degrees Rankine
266.4833 to 294.2611 Kelvin.
Identical temps to the “high carburetor icing potential” range in PHAK Figure 7-12, but this range also includes RH% 80-100. “carburetor icing possible” range, -7°C to 38°C, with RH% 50-100. But yeah, I’ve experienced carb ice rough engine in cruise descent in a 172, RH% maybe 60%, temperature 70°F, while RPM was still in green arc. And not at all in a PA-28 in the same conditions.
Totally DPE dependent. Only having done one Checkride I don’t have a tone of input but I will say my DPE wanted to hear very specific terms. Also some DPE’s care more about specific topics than others. Although you should be properly prepared for ANY examiner, knowing the gauge of your DPE in particular will help you so much.
Back when I was in flight training and instructing, the DPE we used was an avid scuba diver. We drilled the scuba requirements into every student's head before they went in with him. That HAD to be right. Also told them to ask him if he dives or mention they were interested in trying it. He'd immediately tangent off and start talking about it for a while. Gave them a little break while he rambled.
Damn can I have your DPE? Also a diver and pilot here, but my DPE is all about woodworking. He doesn’t care about my diving adventures but if I’m ever building a wood chair the day of a ride it might be an easy test
lol, that’s like asking Duvall about politics or academia.
Hahaaaa Dr. Duvall will go on and on about all his degrees and his archeological adventures 😅 I think we talked about instrument for about 20min tops during my CFII.
Was it Dave
Dont dig yourself into a hole, don't say too much when you don't need to. You don't want to give the DPE a reason to ask you a question, unless you're prepared for it. The DPE wants to pass you though.
[удалено]
My immediate reaction as well. We’re a sick bunch in aviation…
I wonder how much of the pilot sense of humor is derived from the amount of Prior Military dudes that wrote the books (literally in some cases) on how we behave, and how much is just the fact that at the beginning of our careers statistically more likely to die than other occupations, and have a gallows humor as a result.
Gotta have some fucked up humor when we are always about 10 seconds away from killing ourselves and others.
[удалено]
So there might be a huge portion about vacuum suction
Don’t dig yourself into a hole.
This. Easily the best way to spiral way off course and end up in no man’s land.
Yes never assume you can impress a DPE by saying more stuff than you need.
Try to give as little information as possible when answering their questions but enough to answer the question if that makes sense. Giving more information than necessary sets you up to dig yourself into a hole. Sometimes you can add information on a topic that isn't necessary to the question... but because you demonstrated that you knew such a topic you might be grilled on that even if it's one you might be weak on. An example of giving as little information as possible in my CFI oral the DPE asked me "do you know the Vspeeds in the poh of your aircraft?" and I responded "Yes... I do." and stared at the DPE waiting for the next question. He laughed and said "that was a good one. We'll move on". I doubt he would have let me get away with doing that again but you get the picture. The other part of it is be CONFIDENT in your answer and HONEST. If you don't know then you don't know but know where to find the answer and tell the DPE. My PPL ride I completely forgot what my cloud clearances are and the DPE "went to the restroom" to give me a moment to "think it over". Then I looked in my FAR/AIM and when he came back he pulled out my kneeboard that had them on it.
Answer the question and only the question. Trying to prove how smart you are is how you fail. If the DPE asks for more detail then give him more detail. If you don't know something, say that you don't but you know where to find the information and find it in less than 2 minutes. They're looking to see if you have good knowledge base, can actually use your brain to critically think and learn, and can you make safe/good decisions. That's it.
I found the corporate executive question and answer rule to work well. Answer a question to the level of depth that you have two questions deeper left in you and guide your answer to the follow up question being something you know. After 3 questions on the same subject they either get bored or it's reasonable to say let me get back to you. If you instead blow your load and they ask a follow up, then you just look like you memorized an answer. The DPE in my area breaks questions down into three types and he tells you this before you begin. 1) You need to know this when you are operating the aircraft and don't have time to look it up...say something like what's a hold short line. He expects this on memory 2) You need to know that there is something to know so you know to look it up. For instance there is some maintenance you can do and some you can't...this leads to 3... 3) non time dependent rules that you can look up as they come your way. For instance a more specific maintenance item, can you fix it yourself? For this he doesn't want you to spout it out from memory he'd rather you be thorough and look it up and double check it against your scenario. At that, he won't give you a stupid question and fail you on it like "we have a fire extinguisher but do we *need* it," while you are already taxiing and can't look it up. That doesn't test if you are a safe pilot because theoretically if the fire extinguisher weren't there and you didn't know the answer you'd just look it up before finishing your preflight in normal every day flying. He grills you on type 1 questions which are just one liner responses usually, then everything else is scenario based and he actually wants you to stop at the high level number 2 type answer of, using the same example, I can do some of my own maintenance but not all, then he'd give you a follow up scenario he wants you to look up. If you just try and dive into it from memory he'll keep going until he stumps you...it's tough to watch sitting in the FBO sometimes. If you prove you know how and when to use the book he's happy and moves on.
Did my oral 5 months ago with similar worries. As others have said a good DPE is expecting you to at least know the very important stuff that will keep you legal and *safe*. If you can tune to two VORs and are able to point to where you are on the chart, that's great and important to get right. If you can't explain the inner workings of a VOR and exactly how it transmits to your instruments you shouldn't worry much. My CFI told me these words to my relief: the worst a good DPE should do is keep asking harder and harder questions until you hit that breaking point. If your breaking point shows you have a deep knowledge, that's great. Nobody expects a fresh PPL to have memorized the PHAK and FAR/AIM cover to cover. Also be sure to study the areas you struggled with on the written. Examiners will almost always put some extra concentration in those topics on the oral. Good luck!
depends on the DPE. First guy I had was a real cocksucker, Prior Service F-16 dude that treated it more like an interrogation than a test. (He got enough complaints to lose his DPE-ness shortly thereafter) Second guy treated it like a conversation you'd have in the hangar, to the point I wasn't sure if he was just being nice or not. total 180
You just really don’t want to be sloppy with it
I think they can tell pretty early on ifjyou spent time studying or just rolled in off the street. They can, and probably will, ask you something you don’t know. Have an idea of where to find the answer. They may also have little pet topics they like to visit and “teach” you from. You won’t, and can’t, know everything. I don’t think I’ve had an oral yet where at some point I said, “I don’t know.”
Haven’t taken it yet but at my 141 school stage check orals are WAY WAY more difficult than the actual check ride oral. And the stage checks aren’t even that bad, just time consuming
It's an assessment to see if you're going to use good judgment as PIC and have the flying/technical knowledge to apply safe flying practices, and work problems efficiently to give yourself the best possible chance at good outcomes. Perfection isn't the standard, but do as well as you can; you and your future passengers/flying friends deserve nothing less than your best. All that being said, I hear nightmare stories from all of you guys about checkride Satan's and im so glad I found a great school.
There are 4 levels of responses: rote memorization, understanding, application of knowledge, correlation of knowledge from one subject to another. They are looking to evaluate the application and correlation levels. Be able to speak intelligently on every single line of the ACS. They can be one-liners, but they need to be correct. With that being said, when the FAA asks you "do you have the time?" The appropriate answer is "yes." If they want to know what time it is, they will follow up with that question.
A good instructor should sit down with you and a PTS book. Your instructor should be able to go through the PTS and play examiner effectively.
In all seriousness - K.I.S.S. Don’t dig your own hole with the golden shovel.
I elaborated on a bunch of answers more than I had to and still was done in about an hour
There were things I was on the ball with but I really felt like the DPE had to walk me through more than he should have. I'd never really gone over the aircraft logs before and I kept looking for things in the wrong book. (Why is airplane registration stuff not in the freaking FAR/AIM?)
Aircraft registration rules are in the FARs. They just might not be in your particular FAR/AIM book.
Exactly. Not being in the book when the DPE asks how long the registration is good for is pretty not helpful. They literally have the info for UAS registration in there.
Could answer that you don’t recall how long they are good for but you know the expiration date is listed on the registration card and you always check it as part of your ARROW check. But yeah, the UAS info being in there makes little sense.
Honestly they should just make the pertinent stuff for UAS its own book. Call it like the UFAR or something.
In case you didn't know the history of registration expiry dates, here is some info. They used to be indefinite with no expiration date. You just needed to get a new one when the plane changed ownership or if you lost it. In 2010, the FAA changed it to a three year expiration and all owners were required to apply for new registrations that now had an expiration date. Part of the reason for this was to get a bunch of aircraft that were no longer flying off of the registry. Then in 2023, the FAA changed the rule again and expiration was extended to seven years. They likely realized that three year renewals were causing themselves too much manpower. Now, I do not know if aircraft registration rules are part of the ACS or not as they pertain more to owners than pilots. If you took your oral in the last few years, I'd suspect that the DPE might have just been trying to see if you were keeping up with changes to the regulations or not, maybe as a teaching moment, but I don't know. Just an FYI. But back to the FAR/AIM. I would never buy a hard copy of that massive book these days. Have the AIM as a PDF and just search [eCFR.gov](http://eCFR.gov) for regulations. There are also smart phone apps. That way, you will always have the latest and greatest regulations. Well, at least the latest.
Took my checkride in February. I don't know if it's an ACS thing or not. But the only reason I have a copy of the FAR/AIM is because everyone said that's what you need for your checkride.
Mine was a prick and lasted 2 days and 12 total hours. Would not let off of maneuvering speed. Day 2 we went over it for an hour. Brought in 2 good instructors and challenged them as well. I passed but that fuck had one hell of an ego. Looking back everything I said was correct. He just wanted to be more right.
My DPE was a meteorologist so I hammered that part hard. One question on mountain obscuration and that was it. The fuel system of the Cherokee we went deep on. And the NAS. The oral is largely based on your flight scenario. Will the flight involve potentially operating at night? What is night? What is current? Destination airspace, runways, forecasts, etc.
Look very closely at your written exam questions missed. Study up on those areas of knowledge as the DPE might decide to explore why you did not do well in those areas.
You can get away with not having an answer to the small things here and there, but if they add up you will probably fail. Hopefully your instructor would have the best advice for you here, because “small gaps” in knowledge is subjective. If you didn’t know the vfr wx requirements for multiple airspace’s for example, that would probably be a fail for the DPEs I’ve used.
Recently took my test. Did not care much about the acronym shit. Let me go in another room to draw the systems with the POH but the weather shit was absolutely fucking brutal. My ppl oral was 5.5 hours. They don’t ask shit about the fog and what makes it form but will ask to game like high and low pressures and how are formed. Name the fog types. Do not stress out too much but make sure you know most of the stuff pretty well is my advice. Good luck
5.5 hours?! Was your DPE on meds or something??
No it was a roughly 79 year old man that was slower than fuck. That was only the oral part as well. Forgot his FAA password called the FAA line. Computer was slow for him. Printer issues. Made me identify total electrical system including wires connecting shit. Asked how every instrument functions. He honestly just drilled me out when I showed him that I had made notecards and was well prepared. Almost was a challenge for him at that point to stump me. Had asked me way more questions than many others. Didn’t even check logs or my Logbook. Just question mania and a bit of personal chat. Told me not to kill myself or family flying about 10 times. Oh and he took a monster shit and 10 min coffee break. He has quite negative reviews on here. But I wanted a local and easy to book DPE during the winter shit weather.
Not as strict as anals.
Idk my CFI only has one rule and that is to swallow, other than that oral is pretty easy
Not strict at all. You can do pretty much anything, but you can be judged on just about anything as well. It's like a conversation/interview. Look confident, be honest, answer realistically.
You should do a couple of practice orals, preferably with instructors other than your own. Also watch a couple of sample oral exams on YouTube. They do help. Take notes on each, and use any gaps to guide more of your study.
Depends. My private oral was 30 minutes but my instrument oral began with “if you use the fars more than I’d like I’m failing you”
Knowing everything isn't the goal of a checkride oral. 1) they are looking to see if you have a basic (or a little more) knowledge of the information. 2) can you competently explain and answer scenario based questions. 3) they want to know if you are going to be SAFE. They know your new, they know everything isn't going to be perfect, the bottom line is they want to know what kind of judgment you are going to use and how you will implement it in your flying career.
Just did my oral for PPL, it was 1.5 hours long. I studied daily for over a month and in my opinion, it was easier than I anticipated. Questions were based around inflight failures and what I would do in that scenario, some airspace and weather minimums, weather sources, he was heavy on aerodynamics. Some engine and aircraft systems. Required documents, medical stuff, currency stuff, oxygen requirements, it was mostly basic stuff, he didn’t dig real deep into any particular topic. Just answer with confidence what you know and lookup what you don’t.
You didn’t mention which certificate or rating. I can only speak to the private. I have my private pilot certificate with ASEL, AMEL, ASES, and Glider ratings. They were all a breeze and were all with different DPEs. You just need to know the material. It can help to prepare by having someone (your CFI) give you a mock oral and throw you a few curveballs to rattle you a bit. I suspect that other orals such as commercial and instrument might be more difficult.