I'll have a go. I've flunked two; my multi/commercial and my initial
CFI. They are both kind of funny, and both made me a better pilot, even
tho they were both 'borderline' bogus.

My Multi-Comm was weird. I went to an excellent 'flat-rate' program,
had a great MEI and did fine in the training. I went up with the
crusty, old, and brusque DE. Everything went OK (not great...I
certainly could have done better, but within the specs of the PTS),
until the engine-out localizer approach. I flew the approach reasonably
well (again not great), but when we got down, he said he'd have to fail
me because I didn't drop my gear at the outer marker. Now, I've since
added quite a bit of multi time, and talked to a few MEIs and
experienced multi pilots. All have said they wouldn't drop the gear in
a light twin if they had an engine out until they had the airport in
sight; certainly not at the outer marker. It wasn't in the checklist.
What *was* in the checklist was was he *should* have failed me for...I
forgot to turn on the fuel boost pumps (but he didn't even notice, or
say anything about it). So I didn't complain...just went back for
another lesson, did some time in the mockup and passed the ride the
next day. I later found out that this DE seems to have an interesting
pattern. He does most of the checkrides for this company; when I looked
at their checkride log sheet, I noticed that at the beginning of the
month (when money isn't too tight?) he had a first time pass rate of
about 85%, and a second time pass rate of an additional 10%. In the
last week of the month (when I took my ride, and when presumably money
is tight) he seemed to have a first time pass rate of about 45% and a
second time pass rate of about 35% additionally (totalling 80%), Did I
mention he charged 1/2 of his full checkride fee for a 10 minute retest
of the failed component? I'm sure it was all a coincidence.....

I took my initial CFI ride with DE who is reputed to be *very* tough.
After I passed the retest, he told me that he 'thought' the failure
rate for initial CFI should be over 50%...as it was in the 1960s, when
he said it was up near 90%; he told me he failed his initial CFI ride
(as did the above guy). This DE is very experienced, and had a *great*
knowledge of flying...even thought it was pretty grueling, I really got
a lot out of the 8 hour oral, even though it got kind of heated when we
were diuscussing the general relationship between
power/altitude/pitch/airspeed. I quoted Langeweishe and told him I
believe the throttle was the primary altitude control in normal cruise,
and that I liked the acronym "PAYS" Power-altitute Yoke-speed. He said
that was totally wrong and displayed a total lack of understanding of
how an airplane flys. I told him that that that was based on direct
quotes from 'Aerodynamics for Naval Aviatiors', which is a hugely
respected aerodynamics book. As I said, it got kind of heated...at one
point I offered to go outside into my 172RG with him right now...we'd
go out and establish level flight and trim it out...I'd add in power.
If power doesn't control altitude (yes, of course I *do* know it's a
balance with the relationship between lift and airspeed), then the
plane shouldn't climb...it should just speed up. And then when I
chopped the power, the plane shouldn't descend...it should just slow
down. I told him if we went and did that and the plane didn't descend
and climb, then I'd fail myself and just go home. This was after it
started getting heated. I know I probably could have passed by just
agreeing with what he said, but as an instcutor, if I'm *really* wrong,
I want to know about it...and if I'm not wrong, I'm not going to
pretend I am. We ended up basically leaving it with 'well, they are
clearly interrelated controls and concepts'...which didn't resolve
anything, but let us move on

*Then* I failed. The DE failed me on my lesson plans. LOL. I have never
met *any* CFI who was failed on his lesson plans. Specifically, he
failed me because I was presenting a lesson on '8's on Pylons' to a
putative commercial student. One of the concepts I explained was how to
estimate initial pivotal altitude, using the FAA's method published in
8083-3. He got visably angry and said that was BS. That nobody needed
to know how to calculate pivotal altitude...that you couldn't calculate
'true' pivotal altitude anyway, as that was a function of groundspeed,
which is of course a function of the specific winds wherever you are. I
agreed, but said that you use the initial pivotal altitude to calculate
your initial entry, then modify your altutide visually once in the
maneuver. At that point he told me that I had failed. I told him that
my Commercial DE asked me to calculate pivotal altitude. He said that
DE was wrong. So I asked him how he'd judge a commercial applicant
doing a pylon 8. He said the applicant *should* start out at a
reasonable altitude, and then judge pivotal altitude from the maneuver
itself....you find 'true' pivotal altitude by being able to perform the
maneuver properly. So I asked him what was reasonable. Would he be OK
with a student spiriling down from 12,000 feet in a 172RG to find the
proper altitude? He said I was just being silly. Anyway, I was pretty
furious at all this BS, so I told him I was going, and he told me to
call and reschedule. I told him that I was going to call somebody...the
FSDO and ask to have a checkride from a FSDO representative..and that
this was BS.

So I flew home, and calmed down. I talked with my training CFI and a
couple other CFIs who told me that yeah, it was BS...but I really
needed to go back to this guy and get it done. *Then* I could file a
complaint with the FSDO, and they'd support me.

So I swallowed my pride, and called the guy...rescheduled (no extra
charge). When I went back up, it was a *totally* different guy. He was
super-nice. He explained to me why he failed me...that he thought I'd
be a good instructor, but that I needed to get away from so much 'book'
stuff. I presented a fairly trivial lesson on turns-about-a-point for a
private student (which he didn't even seem to care about much...he
didn't comment at all, except to say 'good job' at the end.)

Then we went flying, and here is where he could have failed me. My
flying that day was lousy. I don't know if it was because I was upset,
but at least one of my maneuvers was not up to commercial standards,
and none were up to my personal standards. He showed me how to do a few
things differently (he was one *hell* of a pilot...the guy had the best
touch with an airplane I've ever seen). When we got down, he told me I
passed. I told him I could fly better than I did, and he said that the
CFI isn't about flying. He knows I can fly...otherwise I wouldn't have
gotten that far. He wasn't worried about my flying at all...he wanted
to see my teaching.

Very odd...he told me he thought I'd be a fine instructor, and that he
failed his initial CFI, as had almost all the other CFIs he knew and to
use this experience with my students, etc...and wrote me out my
temporary ticket. I ended up leaving with a pretty positive feeling,
and didn't even really consider making a complaint (altho my training
CFI wanted to...he was pretty angry). To this day I don't know what
exactly happened...was that all pre-planned as his 'CFI Initiation'?
Did I get him on a *really* bad day, and he turned into everyone's
favourite uncle when he thought I really would try to burn him with the
FAA (doubtful...I later found out he has some serious juice at both the
FSDO and the national level, with the FAA)? DId he really believe all
the stuff he told me? Did he just feel guilty about overreacting? Who
knows....

But when one of my students tanks a checkride someday, I'll certainly
be able to say "Yeah...I know how that feels...let me tell you a
story..."

Cheers,

Cap


Jon Kraus wrote:
Just curious as to how many of us are in the "Flunked a Checkride"
club.
It seems that the fail rate for the IFR checkride is more prevalent
than
the Private. So swallow that false pride and speak up. I'll be first.
I
flunked my IFR checkride by busting on holding pattern entry. Anyone
else? Cecil? Jeff? :-)

Jon Kraus
PP-ASEL-IA
Student Mooney Owner