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DPE for IFR Checkride

jneves

Well Known Member
Looking to find a DPE that will conduct an IFR check ride in and EAB RV-6. A few local RV folks and myself are having a hard time with the locally known DPEs that are ok in EAB aircraft. Anywhere in CA, even Nevada would work.
 
DPE

I am not in California but am a CFI-I who recently trained a student in his RV-6 for his instrument rating in the KC area. The key was the personal relationship that the instructor has with the DPEs in the area. In addition to it being experimental, most of the RVs have some non-standard equipment (that is the way that we are) that need to be discussed with the DPE before the checkride. I called the DPE early on in the training and explained the situation and asked his advice on how to prepare the student. I think that if I had waited until the checkride that the advice or agreement to do the ride may have been different. There was a delay from scheduling and doing the checkride due to weather and the schedules of the DPE and student. If that happens, do not stop practicing! My student is happily flying all over the country now IFR.

Good luck.
John
 
Jim Casper

Get hold of Jim Casper. He’s close to CCR (Concord), but will go anywhere. While I did my IFR in a 172, and now own an 7a, he flies a 6a out of a club in CCR. He’s worked with a fellow 14a owner. Superb CFII.
His contact info is:
Seven zero seven 853 one four 14
ghost94590 at gmail dot com
 
Get hold of Jim Casper. He’s close to CCR (Concord), but will go anywhere. While I did my IFR in a 172, and now own an 7a, he flies a 6a out of a club in CCR. He’s worked with a fellow 14a owner. Superb CFII.
His contact info is:
Seven zero seven 853 one four 14
ghost94590 at gmail dot com

Thank you very much! Just to confirm Jim is a DPE or a CFI that may help with locating a DPE?
 
I am not in California but am a CFI-I who recently trained a student in his RV-6 for his instrument rating in the KC area. The key was the personal relationship that the instructor has with the DPEs in the area. In addition to it being experimental, most of the RVs have some non-standard equipment (that is the way that we are) that need to be discussed with the DPE before the checkride. I called the DPE early on in the training and explained the situation and asked his advice on how to prepare the student. I think that if I had waited until the checkride that the advice or agreement to do the ride may have been different. There was a delay from scheduling and doing the checkride due to weather and the schedules of the DPE and student. If that happens, do not stop practicing! My student is happily flying all over the country now IFR.

Good luck.
John

Thank You John, I'm actually still a ways off from my checkride, but since I heard it was not easy to locate a DPE for EAB, I'm doing the legwork now. Interestingly enough I went through this when I wanted to get my PPL ride done in my light-sport. I called and email over 30 DPEs, they were not willing to test in my LSA, and the ones that would only had sportpilot test privileges. I ended up finding a great DPE in San Diego that was happy to test me. Similar story.
 
It's tough. I did it a few years ago in my -7, and half of the DPEs around the Bay Area wouldn't do experimental, the other half wouldn't do tailwheel. I did mine with Richard Batchelder out of CCR, not sure if he does experimentals still. If I were to do it again, I'd seriously consider renting a Cessna for a few hours.
 
There is currently a crazy shortage of DPE’s in Northern CA. e.g., Ashley Snyder, DPE out of Lincoln, keeps her schedule on-line. Her first opening is in February. I recommend her as being fair, but I’m not sure if she’ll fly in an EAB. I think Rob Davids out of Calaveras did, but I’m not sure if he’s still active.

To be fair to the DPEs, it’s tough, especially for an instrument ride. Every EAB is a little different, they can’t possibly be familiar with every set up. And then, there’s the safety aspect. We all think that OUR airplane is perfect, but the truth is that there are some out there that are in real need of maintenance/improvement etc. and the DPE is not really in the inspection business.
 
... and the DPE is not really in the inspection business.

Oh they are now. The FSDO (at least in Oakland) has directed the DPEs to be more 'mindful' of discrepancies with the planes coming in for checkrides. This has led to a high amount of refused checkrides and multiple visits by our FSDO over the last 6 months. My club has had checkride applicants refused a checkride for items like small dings (even though the same DPE has given MANY checkrides in the same plane with the same small dent for the last 3 years), a missing cowl screw on a 172 (because those never fall out) and even because 'the signature on your 40 year old airworthiness certificate is too faded'.

So then the student leaves... pissed off. The DPE is telling them the plane is unairworthy, telling the FSDO who then comes out and follows up on the .5" wide, non critical dent some FOD did to the leading edge of the horizontal stab. We now have to get our A&P crew to sign off on every single little thing.
 
Interesting to read this, and I'm not surprised at all. The reason that I'm building an airplane is that I live in the Central Valley and was appalled when I went rental shopping. The 'rating mills' are flying some serious rattle-buckets. I got lucky and found a club, but the experience was enough to push me over the edge and start putting together something of my own. The club was recently dissolved so back to flying nothing, or a rental 172 missing 40% the cowl screws and barely working comms.


Oh they are now. The FSDO (at least in Oakland) has directed the DPEs to be more 'mindful' of discrepancies with the planes coming in for checkrides. This has led to a high amount of refused checkrides and multiple visits by our FSDO over the last 6 months. My club has had checkride applicants refused a checkride for items like small dings (even though the same DPE has given MANY checkrides in the same plane with the same small dent for the last 3 years), a missing cowl screw on a 172 (because those never fall out) and even because 'the signature on your 40 year old airworthiness certificate is too faded'.

So then the student leaves... pissed off. The DPE is telling them the plane is unairworthy, telling the FSDO who then comes out and follows up on the .5" wide, non critical dent some FOD did to the leading edge of the horizontal stab. We now have to get our A&P crew to sign off on every single little thing.
 
Richard Conte

Richard Conte did my check ride in my RV-6 for my PPL. I believe he will do IFR as well. He is based out of McClellan (KMCC).
 
Thank you very much! Just to confirm Jim is a DPE or a CFI that may help with locating a DPE?

Johnny,

Jim Casper can set you up with a DPE. I recommend Vince Navarro, out of Tracy, but not sure if he does experimental. And, Andrew is correct about the inspection aspect. When I did my instrument check ride last year, it took almost an hour just to review the plane and it’s paperwork!

Also, as mentioned above, you may want to rent an 172, to get it done. Hodges Flight service, in Concord, has some good 172’s with GTN 750. No club fees or rental shenanigans.

It’s ironic, but my glass RV7A is way easier to fly instruments than any rental I’ve had.

Good luck,
Paul
 
Johnny,
It’s ironic, but my glass RV7A is way easier to fly instruments than any rental I’ve had.

No kidding. Even a G5 makes a big difference, not to mention full synthetic vision. That said, I feel that IFR training in a steam gauge airplane was really valuable.
 
Thank you all very much, we have reached out to a few of the DPE's suggested and are just awaiting confirmations.

I agree with with Paul on the ease of flying IFR in our platforms with more advanced avionics. I started training in a steam gauge 172 and although I do see the value it's not as great as many believe. Spending hours training with a plane with an avionics package that isn't even close to the one you will be flying in regularly just sounds like a bit of a waste. Should everyone get some time in steam gauges, yes. Should that be your primary training when you have advanced avionics awaiting you for actual flights, I don't believe so IMHO. The scans are VERY different, conditioning with steam gauges does not lead an easy transition to glass.

my 2 cents, worth only as much as you paid for it. YMMV
 
The scans are VERY different, conditioning with steam gauges does not lead an easy transition to glass.

my 2 cents, worth only as much as you paid for it. YMMV

After 30 years as a cfii, here’s my 2 cents worth:
1. Going from steam to glass is not too difficult; going from glass to steam is harder.
A lot of ifr is preparing for problems, like equipment failures.
2. The biggest differences I see are not specifically steam-glass, but rather gps moving map vs none. If I fail the gps during an IPC, give the pilot a few vectors, then ask for a random hold, the guy who learned without gps can do it. If I ask him to point towards the airport, and about how far away it is (in minutes), he can point to it and estimate the time. If I do the same thing with someone who learned with a moving map, it’s chaos. The hold might be anywhere; he has no idea where the airport is. Fortunately gps failures are fairly rare, but when it happens, it isn’t pretty.
 
2. The biggest differences I see are not specifically steam-glass, but rather gps moving map vs none. If I fail the gps during an IPC, give the pilot a few vectors, then ask for a random hold, the guy who learned without gps can do it. If I ask him to point towards the airport, and about how far away it is (in minutes), he can point to it and estimate the time. If I do the same thing with someone who learned with a moving map, it’s chaos. The hold might be anywhere; he has no idea where the airport is. Fortunately gps failures are fairly rare, but when it happens, it isn’t pretty.

Completely understand and agree, my comment was more around the actual gauges and not navigation methods as well as learning in a steam aircraft because finding a DPE for EAB is difficult only to go off and fly a different setup later. I value your experience and enjoy picking up knowledge like you provided with regards to navigation methods and the dependence on the moving map.

This is a learning moment that I plan to take away and work on with my CFI. We have become very pendant on the moving map and can see the value in spending time working without it more often. Next lesson I’ll ask we use nav radio only and do that more often going forward. I don’t want to be the guy squirming in my seat because I lost modern tech when there are perfectly good options.
 
It's tough. I did it a few years ago in my -7, and half of the DPEs around the Bay Area wouldn't do experimental, the other half wouldn't do tailwheel. I did mine with Richard Batchelder out of CCR, not sure if he does experimentals still. If I were to do it again, I'd seriously consider renting a Cessna for a few hours.

Batchelder would have trouble getting in and out of an RV. I'm based out of Napa and used Henry Robertson in Chico. He's now retired but his son still does them. I did my checkride in my 9A for IFR.
 
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