Examiners' responsibilities?
I am quite surprised at the number of PPL applicants who ask questions on PPRuNe about hours needed and other training requirements after passing their Skill Tests. Surely it's the Flight Examiner who conducted the test should have checked that the applicant was eligible to take the test before conducting it?
Personally I charge £150 for conducting a Skill Test, but for that the applicant gets a full review of all paperwork both before and after the test. If he/she hasn't got the requisite hours (unlikely, I agree) before the test, then I won't do the test. But that means the applicant must present an up-to-date personal flying logbook for me to check whilst he/she's doing the nav planning!
Are some FEs really so callous that they just take the money, do the test, fill out the report and that's it? If so, then no wonder so many PPL applications get spat out for paperwork errors....
Surely it's a part of our contract with the applicant to ensure that he/she has got everything prepared to send off to the CAA - just the odd signature needed? That way hopefully we might find the waiting time for licence issue starting to decrease?