That didn't go as planned...

Please...read through the following real-life scenarios that have prevented me from conducting a practical exam.  Nothing is more frustrating than showing up for the big day and both you and the DPE go home empty-handed.

• Nationality.  If your plastic certificate says anything other than U.S., do not enter U.S. citizen in your FAA 8710-1 application.
• Sign the back of your pilot certificate.  This won't stop us, but you have to sign your certificate for it to be valid.

• Request a replacement here:  9-AMC-GRCustomerSvc@faa.gov
• Certificate must be the original, not a photocopy and not a digital image.  I have had an applicant show up with just the digital image of their medical in the "Qualifications" section of their ForeFlight Logbook.  That is not authorized.
• FULL LEGAL NAME.  Period.  Your name on your medical must be the full legal name that is on your government-issued photo ID (and pilot certificate)!
• Name(s) in the correct order.  Your medical is printed FIRST NAME, MIDDLE NAME(S), LAST NAME.  If you have an interesting set of names that can be interchanged, please ensure FIRST comes first and LAST is last.  ie - My medical reads: "JEANETTE Renee HIBPSHMAN"
• Your date of birth (DOB) must be correct.  Yes...I have had an applicant show up for a practical with the incorrect birth year on their medical.  Remember, your AME will ask you to review the printed medical at your appointment BEFORE you sign it.  Signing it means YOU reviewed and accepted what was printed on the medical.
• If you cut your medical certificate along the line that says "FOLD", your certificate is now invalid and must be reissued by the FAA Aerospace Medical Certification Division in OKC (email).  They do not fax temporaries anymore.  An emailed replacement takes at least a day or two to be processed.

• Student pilot solo endorsements are checked thoroughly during my eligibility audit!
  • We cannot “back date endorsements”.  If the endorsement wasn't issued at the time of the solo or solo cross country, then those flights are not counted.  This could make you come up short on the minimum hours required.
  • For the initial solo endorsement, you must have received three (3) endorsements: A.3, A.4, and A.6 in AC 61-65K. For each additional 90-day period, you need an A.7. If the student's physical logbook is older, CFIs please handwrite (legibly) or print a sticker with the proper regulatory references found the AC61-65.
• Endorsements in a physical logbook must be SIGNED by the instructor with a wet ink signature (pen).  You cannot type your name and change the font to a script font as a signature.  This is NOT the same as a digital signature in ForeFlight (password-protected). 

• What is the definition of cross-country time?  For the purposes of a certificate or rating, a landing point must be GREATER THAN 50nm from the original point of departure.  Greater than 50nm means 50.1 or more.  Not 50.0nm.  If it is that close, it will be questionable.  Please just pick another airport a few more miles away and be certain it will count.
• Original point of departure - Scenario:
  • If you depart Aiken (KAIK), fly to Saluda County (6J4) for cheap fuel before departing for Orangeburg Municipal (KOGB) for a landing and return to Aiken, THIS DOES NOT QUALIFY AS CROSS-COUNTRY.
• Your student pilot cross country time is only 'PIC cross-country' time when you are SOLO.  If you show up to an instrument practical with 50.2 hours of PIC XC, I will ensure all 50 required hours are legit.

• Private - Student pilot VFR cross-countries that have the majority of the flight logged as simulated instrument conditions (ie - a 1.8 XC flight with 1.5 logged as simulated instrument), it will not be counted as a VFR cross-country.  How is the student navigating by pilotage with a view-limiting device on the entire time?
• BATD/AATD use toward the 3 hours of instrument time requirement.  ATDs are wonderful devices, but they are limited by the regulations and the Letter of Authorization (LOA) that accompany them.  Example: you may use up to 2.5 hours toward the aeronautical experience (40 hours), but 3 hours of control by reference to instrument only MUST be accomplished in an airplane.  Details like this are in the LOA for the training device.
• Commercial - you must have 10 hours of instrument training using a view-limiting device including attitude instrument flying, partial panel skills, recovery from unusual flight attitudes, and intercepting and tracking navigational systems. Showing up with §61.65 flights where the CFI-I only logged IAPs does NOT count toward Commercial training!  You may use your instrument rating training, but it must be logged by that CFI-I properly.  Remember: §61.65 is general; §61.129 is specific.
• Commercial aeronautical experience: 10 hours solo flight time or 10 hours flight time PDPIC with an authorized instructor on board.  It's all of one or all of the other.  You cannot mix and match. Ref. §61.129
• Commercial night landings
  • Only the landings completed at an airport with an operating control tower will be counted.  If I am unfamiliar with the airport identifier, I will look it up!
  • For the purpose of logging night landings, make sure you meet the definition of night in Part 1. Patterns conducted immediately after sunset do not count.  ADS-B data does not lie.
• Commercial - TAA training.  The instructor must annotate (certify) in the remarks section of each logbook entry that this was training in a TAA.  No comment about TAA - you may come up short of the 10 hours of training required.

• You must have the aircraft POH in the aircraft when you show up.
• Photocopied Airworthiness or Registration Certificates are not allowed - they must be originals.
• Photocopied maintenance entries are NOT acceptable.  Please bring the original Mx logbooks!
• The Registration Certificate must not be expired.  If you have one that is expired but shows up as valid with OKC online (due to the new 7-year cycle), request a new certificate to be sent.  Period.
• The airworthiness and registration certificates must be readable (serial number/N-number, etc.).
• The current registration certificate must be in the aircraft. If the aircraft's registration shows up as processed and valid months ago on the FAA website and you are still operating using the temporary paperwork (bill of sale, etc), your exam may be delayed.
• A typo in the most recent Mx record will delay the start of the exam until the record is corrected.  Example: your aircraft just had a 100-hr inspection completed 3 days ago and in that entry it states the ELT battery must be replaced by December 2025.  Even though the previous 100-hr inspection completed in November 2025 states the ELT battery is due December 2030, the most recent entry supersedes all previous entries.
• Missing/overflown recurring AD's make the aircraft unairworthy.  ie - if your DA-40NG requires a 50-hr borescope inspection and the last one entered in the logs was 85 hours ago...we cannot use the aircraft.
• Your personal aircraft may still require a 100-hr inspection!  i.e. - If you own your own plane and only have an Annual Inspection done yearly, you may still need a 100-hr inspection if you fly more than 100 hours since the last annual AND there is a recurring AD that must be complied with every 100 hours!
• The aircraft must actually be airworthy!  Cracked or worn down brake pads are a no-go.  Ripped seatbelts are a no-go.  Mixture controls that don't freely move in/out are a no-go.  Excessive oil consumption is a no-go.  Propellers that are damaged and not repaired are a no-go.

• You are responsible for bringing:
  • Current aeronautical charts (could be paper...could be electronic)
  • Navigation log filled out for the assigned cross-country scenario
  • Your own plotter and E6B
  • Your own view-limiting device (Foggles/Blockalls/Hood)
  • Please have physical logbook pages tallied
  • Examiner's Fee