FAA Checkride Florida- Cancelled by examiner due to weather
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: London
Posts: 44
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
FAA Checkride Florida- Cancelled by examiner due to weather
I was due to have my ppl check-ride at 1pm today in Ft.Pierce, been informed it has been cancelled by the examiner! I am so disappointed but the weather is looking really bad!
It has been scheduled for Wednesday, but if I fail, I leave on Thursday!!!
The weather in Florida is not all it has been cracked up to be, out of 5 1/2 weeks I have had 15 days bad weather, unable to fly!
This will be the third attempt at taking my check-ride, it has cost me a new flight back to the uk, 7 days extra at the hotel, I think about an extra $2000 in total!!!! So much money.
Has anyone else had these problems? The really annoying thing is the examiner knew the weather was going to be bad 5 days ago and I kept telling them, schedule for a day later, but no one would listen!
Maybe a good way of making money from uk students! or just bad luck! They also do not tell anyone that instructors fee's are ontop of the all inclusive package price! Beware!
It has been scheduled for Wednesday, but if I fail, I leave on Thursday!!!
The weather in Florida is not all it has been cracked up to be, out of 5 1/2 weeks I have had 15 days bad weather, unable to fly!
This will be the third attempt at taking my check-ride, it has cost me a new flight back to the uk, 7 days extra at the hotel, I think about an extra $2000 in total!!!! So much money.
Has anyone else had these problems? The really annoying thing is the examiner knew the weather was going to be bad 5 days ago and I kept telling them, schedule for a day later, but no one would listen!
Maybe a good way of making money from uk students! or just bad luck! They also do not tell anyone that instructors fee's are ontop of the all inclusive package price! Beware!
I doubt your instructor gets any kickbacks from the airlines or the hotels, if you have to return to Americaland... but, yes, I agree that if they've advertised "all inclusive", then that should include all fees and charges.
Point that out to them, and ask for a refund of all the 'hidden extras'.
I personally think that booking a flight home within a day or so of your test is folly: Remember the expression "Time to spare? Go by air!". Plan for weather related delays, including when scheduling how much time you need in the country. Ideally, youll be done in time and can spend a couple of days sightseeing, but otherwise you're glad of the buffer. Its like putting fuel in your tanks - you carry reserves, too, in case of the unexpected, right?
Point that out to them, and ask for a refund of all the 'hidden extras'.
I personally think that booking a flight home within a day or so of your test is folly: Remember the expression "Time to spare? Go by air!". Plan for weather related delays, including when scheduling how much time you need in the country. Ideally, youll be done in time and can spend a couple of days sightseeing, but otherwise you're glad of the buffer. Its like putting fuel in your tanks - you carry reserves, too, in case of the unexpected, right?
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Amsterdam
Posts: 4,598
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
This will be the third attempt at taking my check-ride, it has cost me a new flight back to the uk, 7 days extra at the hotel, I think about an extra $2000 in total!!!! So much money.
Must be far cheaper than $2000 that way.
(Edited to say sorry for the above. I now see you're there for the FAA PPL so the above is irrelevant.)
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: uk
Posts: 919
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
If your examiner knew the weather was going to be bad 5 days in advance he is in the wrong career, more likely he had a forecast of the weather which in Florida means very little, the weather in Florida is very changeable and during hurricane season for example the forecast will say storms every day but there isn't, if all flights and tests were not booked because of forecast weather, not very many would take place at all.
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: London
Posts: 44
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I did not return to the uk, stayed in the usa but it has been really bad weather, so I was meant to go home a while ago and the school keeps booking unrealisted check-ride times! I had left loads of time of check-ride and any error that may have occured.
Anyway, if all fails, I have met all requirements for my ride, do you know how much it costs in the uk to take FAA check ride?
Anyway, if all fails, I have met all requirements for my ride, do you know how much it costs in the uk to take FAA check ride?
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: E Anglia
Posts: 1,102
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
About £150.00
But beware:You can only take the initial FAA checkride in the UK in an N reg aeroplane, unless the examiner is both JAR/FAA qualified in which case you can take it in a G reg.
And dual FAA/JAA examiners as opposed to instructors in the UK are as rare as hens' teeth.
You need an examiner for the initial issue of the pilot certificate, whereas an instructor can do the BFR.
The joys of trying to cram it all in in USA , eh?
PM me for a url of a FAA examiner (N reg only) in UK.
Hope it goes well on Wednesday.
Cusco
But beware:You can only take the initial FAA checkride in the UK in an N reg aeroplane, unless the examiner is both JAR/FAA qualified in which case you can take it in a G reg.
And dual FAA/JAA examiners as opposed to instructors in the UK are as rare as hens' teeth.
You need an examiner for the initial issue of the pilot certificate, whereas an instructor can do the BFR.
The joys of trying to cram it all in in USA , eh?
PM me for a url of a FAA examiner (N reg only) in UK.
Hope it goes well on Wednesday.
Cusco
Join Date: May 2001
Location: 75N 16E
Age: 54
Posts: 4,729
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
and the school keeps booking unrealisted check-ride times! I had left loads of time of check-ride and any error that may have occured.
I had to stay an extra week for mine due to low cloud and fog in California. Still I would go up ontop with the instructor and practice and then do a bit of instrument stuff on the way down.
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: Yorkshire
Posts: 1,040
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
and the school keeps booking unrealisted check-ride times! I had left loads of time of check-ride and any error that may have occured.
I had a school has the aircraft go u/s on me once and then almost did a second time when I was about to go home. Unfortunately the Chief Pilot try to BS me on what caused it, what he didnt realise was that I am in engineering anyway. A few stern words to him and next thing the parts required were couriered to the school and I took my test on time. Dont think they were happy as it cost them a bit of money but there again they should have kept their aircraft maintained and not rely on fixing them only when they break!
When the visiting DPE used to attend the UK I heard figure of £600 upwards mentioned. I know Tom Hughstone is now a DPE and apparently there in someone at Bournemouth who is also a DPE but no idea of their identify I am afraid!
J.
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: EuroGA.org
Posts: 13,787
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
"Someone at Bournemouth" would be a new development! The situation with UK FAA checkrides has never been transparent, since I started working down that path in 2003.
The problem with getting aggressive with a U.S. school is that the school's name is
- on one's M1 Visa
- on the TSA approval process
- on all other paperwork
so they have you by the g00lies.
One can open up a new training request on the TSA website, another $150 or whatever wasted, and apparently there is a process for getting the Visa changed over (but despite enquiries I never found out any details). But it will waste at least a week.
IMHO Florida is very much over-rated. Training in the USA must be regarded as an all-out get your head down and get on with it project, no boozing, no sh*gging, just a few weeks of solid work. So, best go to a place like So Cal or better still Arizona where the weather is good and you can guarantee 2-3 flights per day. You fly from 7am or 8am, so one may as well stay on UK time and do a bit of study before leaving the hotel. Last flight will be ~ 5pm so you go to bed 2 hours later.
The school in Florida are also very busy nowadays, reportedly processing millions of students from India etc.
Training in the USA is not the pushover which European/JAA elitists keep saying it is. It is damned hard work and one cannot afford to lose time.
The problem with getting aggressive with a U.S. school is that the school's name is
- on one's M1 Visa
- on the TSA approval process
- on all other paperwork
so they have you by the g00lies.
One can open up a new training request on the TSA website, another $150 or whatever wasted, and apparently there is a process for getting the Visa changed over (but despite enquiries I never found out any details). But it will waste at least a week.
IMHO Florida is very much over-rated. Training in the USA must be regarded as an all-out get your head down and get on with it project, no boozing, no sh*gging, just a few weeks of solid work. So, best go to a place like So Cal or better still Arizona where the weather is good and you can guarantee 2-3 flights per day. You fly from 7am or 8am, so one may as well stay on UK time and do a bit of study before leaving the hotel. Last flight will be ~ 5pm so you go to bed 2 hours later.
The school in Florida are also very busy nowadays, reportedly processing millions of students from India etc.
Training in the USA is not the pushover which European/JAA elitists keep saying it is. It is damned hard work and one cannot afford to lose time.
Join Date: May 2001
Location: 75N 16E
Age: 54
Posts: 4,729
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Training in the USA must be regarded as an all-out get your head down and get on with it project, no boozing, no sh*gging, just a few weeks of solid work
. Throttle to bottle time was pretty quick I seem to remember. I blame the Bacardi 151 myself......Lots of hazy memories of booze, rock bands, parties, hand guns, climbing palm trees, forgetting to pay a $500 bar tab (but it was ok because we were regulars and when we were reminded the next day we paid up)
I even woke up one morning with a stars and stripes on my bed, and I seem to remember walking through a drive through with some boys from the "hood" getting a bit upset, and the cops stopping us for walking.....ah they were the days. Who wants to come flying with us 
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: London
Posts: 44
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I agree the syllabus in the US haqs been alot tougher than I first expected, have met loads of uk ppl holders doing commercial licences and they keep telling me the detail in which an FAA PPl must know is getting into the realms of the atpl syllabus in the uk.
The oral is my fear 1-3 hours of being asked anything! One guy 4 weeks ago had 12 hours of oral exam with a DPE, took two days!!! The guys was pretty p....d off!!! Then the flight, again the english chaps keep saying wow thats tough, you'll be good at cross winds if you pass!!!
I have been flying in 27 kt winds, on my solo x country winds got up to 34 kts G40 Kts, I can tell you I was scared! But saying that had half the airport watching me land and it did feel good to know I was safely on the ground! Thanks for all the advise, look forward to passing and meeting you all at your airports through-out the uk.
D
The oral is my fear 1-3 hours of being asked anything! One guy 4 weeks ago had 12 hours of oral exam with a DPE, took two days!!! The guys was pretty p....d off!!! Then the flight, again the english chaps keep saying wow thats tough, you'll be good at cross winds if you pass!!!
I have been flying in 27 kt winds, on my solo x country winds got up to 34 kts G40 Kts, I can tell you I was scared! But saying that had half the airport watching me land and it did feel good to know I was safely on the ground! Thanks for all the advise, look forward to passing and meeting you all at your airports through-out the uk.
D
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: KBOS
Posts: 57
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
"I have been flying in 27 kt winds, on my solo x country winds got up to 34 kts G40 Kts"
Were these winds straight down the rwy? Must be getting pretty close to the demonstrated X-wind component of a small GA AC. ADM (Aeronautical Decision Making) is a box that needs to be checked in order to get your private ticket too!!
Were these winds straight down the rwy? Must be getting pretty close to the demonstrated X-wind component of a small GA AC. ADM (Aeronautical Decision Making) is a box that needs to be checked in order to get your private ticket too!!
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Sale, Australia
Age: 80
Posts: 3,832
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Has anyone else had these problems
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: London
Posts: 44
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I didnt pass!!!! Sorry it has taken so long to come back, I need to speak with the uk examiner! Problem stems from the US, no proper ground school was given! You can try and remember so much!
The examiner was a nice bloke, but he asked some very difficult questions relating more to Gulfstream commercial pilots, according to friends!! I just didnt have the really indepth knowledge he was looking for and he was deviating from the set syllabus!
Watch out for these schools in the US in Florida as they dont give any ground school, just DVD videos. The flying trainning is very good and the planes well maintained, but they dont tell you that instructors cost extra per hour ontop of your ppl!!!!
The examiner was a nice bloke, but he asked some very difficult questions relating more to Gulfstream commercial pilots, according to friends!! I just didnt have the really indepth knowledge he was looking for and he was deviating from the set syllabus!
Watch out for these schools in the US in Florida as they dont give any ground school, just DVD videos. The flying trainning is very good and the planes well maintained, but they dont tell you that instructors cost extra per hour ontop of your ppl!!!!
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: uk
Posts: 919
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I assume then you were doing an FAA PPL and you failed the oral exam, did you have the PPL oral exam guide, if you know that cover to cover you should be ok, no instructor is really going to teach you all that as most of it is learning from the FAR/AIM, airspace requirements etc
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Land of the Raj
Age: 69
Posts: 350
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Sorry to hear you failed the oral, as an examiner myself I can assure you that there is no desire ever to fail a candidate, not being there I do not know how a Gulfstream came into play but that does sound odd, perhaps if you look at the PTS and go to the local FSDO you might get someone to point out where the error occurred. The examiner should have given you a pink slip with the failed area(s) annotated, match these to the PTS and see where you went wrong.
Do not be bitter about a failure, many have had it happen to them before you and many will following you. Take stock, refresh the weak area(s) and do it over again, I am sure you will be sucessfull.
Good luck
KW
Do not be bitter about a failure, many have had it happen to them before you and many will following you. Take stock, refresh the weak area(s) and do it over again, I am sure you will be sucessfull.
Good luck
KW