ospam (Rosspilot) wrote
I went to Van Nuys Airport and picked an FBO (it's no longer there). My
checkride was 3 hours long...
By the time I was finished and signed off to rent,
I was too damn tired. I just left and never went back.

When I used to travel commercial a lot and didn't own a plane, I used
to like to check out locally to do some flying. I always made it a
point to call in advance and find out what kind of checkout was
required. Sometimes I would hear "Oh, usually an hour with a CFI."
That was OK. When I called Caldwell Flight Academy at CDW in New
Jersey, I was told three to five hours. I decided not to bother.
Clearly they did not want my business. However, they get points for
being up front about their policies.

A 3 (or 5, or even 7) hour checkout in a light single is not
reasonable. A checkout that takes longer than the flight portion of
an FAA checkride is never reasonable. It's a different story if
transition training is required - a 'checkout' in a tailwheel airplane
for someone who has only flown trikes can reasonably take 5-10 hours.
But if you already have significant make&model experience and the
instructor can't get your checkoput done in an hour, he's either
milking you or incompetent. It's just that simple.

Michael