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Thread: "May I see your licence Mr. Examiner?"

  1. #1

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    "May I see your licence Mr. Examiner?"

    Shamelessly "swiped" from another forum as I thought it may come in handy one day.... This occurred in Europe somewhere.

    May I see your licence Mr. Examiner?


    I've been flying for twenty years now and I thought I've seen it all. The other week I learnt that there is still a way to top it all:

    I've got two students ready to take there checkride. The Aviation Authority designates a Flight Examiner, an appointment is made. The Examiner shows up in time but without any personal belongings (no logbook, no wallet). So I figured it might be a good idea to ask him a few questions about his flying experience on the Hughes 269 etc. and finally ask him to sign a statement that he had made 3 take-offs and landings on type within the last 90 days.

    He refuses to sign, gets all mad and threatens to leave and to cancel the checkrides.
    Now that really made me curious. So I tell him that by the way he behaves one has to assume that he doesn't even have a valid type rating which he neither acknowledges nor denies.
    A couple of offences later he finally leaves.

    So I call up the Aviation Authority to tell them the news that their Examiner wasn't able / willing to prove that he is current on type and ask for a new Examiner. About two hours later they call me back and confirm that the Examiner doesn't even hold a type rating on the Hughes269

    Ladies and Gentlemen, make sure your Examiner is properly rated and current.

  2. #2
    FlyingRon's Avatar
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    Must be some non-US forum. There's no such thing as a Hughes 269 type rating here, nor any requirement to have made landings in type in ninety days to be current, nor for an examiner to be current or meet other PIC requirements in the aicraft being used for the exmaination (nor do we call the FAA the "Aviation Authority" typically).

  3. #3

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    Ron,

    That is why I wrote "
    This occurred in Europe somewhere.
    ".....

    Regardless of the country where this occurred, the message may be relevant to some...

  4. #4
    EAA Staff / Moderator Hal Bryan's Avatar
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    EAA is an international organization, of course, not to mention the fact that, according to a quick check of Google's analytics, people visit these forums from more than 180 countries.

    Hal Bryan
    EAA Lifetime 638979
    Vintage 714005 | Warbirds 553527
    Managing Editor
    EAA—The Spirit of Aviation

  5. #5

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    In the US a DPE is required to hold a Certificate of Authority for each make and model of helicopter before they can conduct a practical test, so I'd say the story has some relevance in this country. The examiner has to be properly 'qualified'

  6. #6
    FlyingRon's Avatar
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    You got me there, helicopter DPE authority is issued based on type, but it's no different than taking his word he's got the authority to give the type of test you're taking either.

  7. #7
    Cary's Avatar
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    I had a roughly similar experience at a ramp check in Newcastle, WY, many long years ago, probably 37 or so. I was racking up the hours for my commercial and had stopped there for fuel late on a Friday afternoon, enroute to Sundance, WY, where my folks lived. I had just paid for the fuel and was walking back to the 172, when I was stopped by a nicely dressed fellow who had just landed in his Bonanza.
    "Where are you going?" he asked.
    "Sundance."
    "That's a pretty short strip--think you can handle it?"
    "Yup, I've been in and out of there a couple dozen times."
    "Can I see your license and the airplane's papers?"
    "Nope, not unless you are prepared to show me yours."
    "I'm from the FAA."
    "I really don't care if you're from Mars. I'll show you my license and the airplane's papers if you'll show me yours."
    "And if I don't?"
    "Then we're wasting time--I need to be on the ground before dark in Sundance."
    At that point, he laughed and said, "Have a nice flight."

    I don't really know if he was from the FAA, but I have always taken the position that if any purported official wants me to identify myself and my vehicle or airplane, he/she better be prepared to properly identify him/herself first.

    Cary
    "I have slipped the surly bonds of earth...,
    put out my hand and touched the face of God." J.G. Magee

  8. #8

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    Quote Originally Posted by Cary View Post
    I had a roughly similar experience at a ramp check in Newcastle, WY, many long years ago, probably 37 or so. I was racking up the hours for my commercial and had stopped there for fuel late on a Friday afternoon, enroute to Sundance, WY, where my folks lived. I had just paid for the fuel and was walking back to the 172, when I was stopped by a nicely dressed fellow who had just landed in his Bonanza.
    "Where are you going?" he asked.
    "Sundance."
    "That's a pretty short strip--think you can handle it?"
    "Yup, I've been in and out of there a couple dozen times."
    "Can I see your license and the airplane's papers?"
    "Nope, not unless you are prepared to show me yours."
    "I'm from the FAA."
    "I really don't care if you're from Mars. I'll show you my license and the airplane's papers if you'll show me yours."
    "And if I don't?"
    "Then we're wasting time--I need to be on the ground before dark in Sundance."
    At that point, he laughed and said, "Have a nice flight."

    I don't really know if he was from the FAA, but I have always taken the position that if any purported official wants me to identify myself and my vehicle or airplane, he/she better be prepared to properly identify him/herself first.

    Cary

    I like this.

  9. #9

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    Least that guy was quick enough to ask for other persons i.d.'s.. Now we have the same prob with the TSA.

  10. #10

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    This first story seems a little hard to belive. How does the writer know that the examiner doesn't have a wallet, did he frisk him?

    And what was the point of being demanding of the examiner? If you go for an airplane flight test, or glider test, the examiner is not going to fly the plane exc3ept possiby a moment like unusual attitudes. He is not going to do any takeoffs and landings. Is there something different about helicopters? Or perhaps in that country?

    If the two students are trained and competent to fly the test plane or copter, why do they care if the examiner is current? An examiner here in the US is supposed to watch and judge the student fly the plane for the test, not demonstrate flying it himself.
    I once got a type rating, ( authority) from an FAA examiner, not just a DP. who never had ridden in that type of plane much less flown it. After our briefing and review of my training, he watched me do the 3 takeoffs and landings for the rating. He knew and flew with my instructor in different planes, and there was no problem between the two.

    In this first case, it sounds like there was animosity between the instructor and the examiner, and the instructor had an axe to grind. I would go so far as to guess that they might be rivals for some flying jo, maybe a charter?

    The
    wholepurose of the flight test, that of getting the rating for the students was not met ( at least not then), so what good came of this? The only question that might come to mind was if the examiner had the legal basis to give the rating after the test.

    Seems like the instructor put the students in the middle of a personal dispute, and at best put a short circuit in them getting their ratings.

    currency from an examiner. In the 5 or 6 flght tests or so, that I have had, the instructor was not even present, just the examiner, and I .
    Last edited by Bill Greenwood; 06-22-2012 at 11:28 AM.

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