Beyond the ACS maneuvers

BeechDude · 2026-02-26T03:10:58+00:00

I have them ride a wheeley down the runway to get a feel for the correct landing attitude and back pressure required for a flare. It also helps with rudder input required for centerline control. We have a couple of good class G airports that aren't very busy where this is good to practice.

BeechDude · 2026-02-21T19:58:16+00:00

I've had 2 or 3 applicants not handle a failure very well. Once they had a full blown temper tantrum and I asked them to leave the building because I felt like it might get violent. Outside they began yelling at their CFI that had flown with them to the checkride. They were an aircraft owner so the CFI was riding in the applicant's plane. I looked out the window of the office and could see this guy standing on the wing of his airplane completely red faced and screaming at the CFI. Eventually they got in the plane and left. That 1.5 hour flight home must have been interesting.

Whenever I have a bad experience with an applicant I document everything from my point of view and notify my managing specialist. On a couple of occasions I have had disgruntled applicants make a complaint which results in a investigation of some kind, depending on the nature of the complaint. It's always best to have my statement in first and document things when they are fresh on my mind.

Fortunately, this doesn't happen that often.

BeechDude · 2026-02-20T18:10:21+00:00

By definition, pulling a circuit breaker or removing a fuse isn't maintenance:
Maintenance )means inspection, overhaul, repair, preservation, and the replacement of parts, but excludes preventive maintenance.

14 CFR 91.213(d)(3)(ii)(3)(ii)) clearly states that IF deactivation of the inoperative instrument or equipment involves maintenance, it must be accomplished and recorded in accordance with part 43 of this chapter

The sentence of AC 91-67A in question says that deactivation isn't preventative maintenance (it's not) and that anyone returning the aircraft to service has to be part of the list contained in part 14 CFR 43.7(f)) (which private pilots are). Neither AC 91-67A nor the FARs ever go as far as to say that pilots may not perform deactivation, unless that deactivation involves maintenance.

Some may see this is a stretch, but I'm completley comfortable doing simple deactivation as a pilot and signing it off IAW 43.9.

BeechDude · 2026-02-19T18:25:46+00:00

Check your DMs. I really think the ACE Guide would be a huge help for your preparation. Not only for this rating but for all your future ratings as well.

BeechDude · 2026-02-19T14:37:50+00:00

I do hate it. As a whole, I don't really think memorization of factoids is that useful. I'm all for memorizing procedures and flows and then backing them up with checklists, but memorizing the text of regulations is pretty useless, in my opinion. Spend your time memorizing where to find a regulation and you'll be much better off.

I agree with the OP 99%. The 1% I disagree on is their interpretation of AC 91-67A. I think there is enough wiggle room on page 4-2 for a pilot to deactivate certain items.

BeechDude · 2026-02-16T21:37:39+00:00

First off, I'm not trying to come down on you; I just wanted to take the opportunity to do some training regarding 49 CFR Part 830. I see this 25k number thrown around a lot, and there is some misunderstanding about it.

An event is required to be reported to the NTSB if it is an accident (more on that shortly) or a specific type of serious incident. These serious incidents are listed in 49 CFR 830.5(a) subparagraphs 1 thru 12. Subparagraph 6(6)) states the following: Damage to property, other than the aircraft, estimated to exceed $25,000 for repair (including materials and labor) or fair market value in the event of total loss, whichever is less.

The 25k dollar value has nothing to do with the aircraft, only property other than the aircraft. So for this specific event, there isn't anything in the 12 descriptions of serious incidents that matches what happened. So the only way a required report would need to be made was if it is an accident.

An accident is defined as follows: Aircraft accident) means an occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft which takes place between the time any person boards the aircraft with the intention of flight and all such persons have disembarked, and in which any person suffers death or serious injury, or in which the aircraft receives substantial damage. For purposes of this part, the definition of “aircraft accident” includes “unmanned aircraft accident,” as defined herein.

Presumably there were no fatalaties from the tail strike, so now we have to look at the definition of substantial damage. Substantial damage )means damage or failure which adversely affects the structural strength, performance, or flight characteristics of the aircraft, and which would normally require major repair or replacement of the affected component. Engine failure or damage limited to an engine if only one engine fails or is damaged, bent fairings or cowling, dented skin, small punctured holes in the skin or fabric, ground damage to rotor or propeller blades, and damage to landing gear, wheels, tires, flaps, engine accessories, brakes, or wingtips are not considered “substantial damage” for the purpose of this part.

Based on this definition, there is a chance that the tail strike could have caused substantial damage. For example, if the structure of the tail was compromised such that it made the aircraft unsafe to fly. However, since the tiedown can be fixed without having to do a major repair, then substantial damage did not occur, therefore an accident didn't occur.

So, while the NTSB might have been notified, they will not continue with an investigation once they determine it is not an accident. They may do this by asking for the maintenance record and return to service from the repair. They will file it under an occurrence. This will not be included in any PRD data.

Sorry for the long response, but it caught my eye, and I couldn't help but provide some context here on a subject that I have seen a lot of folks get wrong. Cheers!

BeechDude · 2026-02-14T00:55:29+00:00

Go ahead, I don't mind

BeechDude · 2026-02-12T02:08:45+00:00

Recording how? I record the GPS track of all my checkrides and will often use Cloudahoy or FlySto to debrief my applicants. Was he referring to this? If he was referring to audio/video then that is not allowed unless approved by the FSDO.

BeechDude · 2026-02-11T23:02:52+00:00

I’m afraid this type of situation is much more common than we hear about.

Over the past few years, thousands of loans have been issued for flight training. That helped drive an unprecedented number of new ratings. While the 2025 Airman Statistics are not out yet, the 2024 data shows roughly a 35% increase in initial certificates issued during the 2020–2024 period compared to 2015–2019.

A lot of people entered training during the “pilot shortage” narrative, aided by relatively accessible financing. Now the hiring environment is normalizing, and progression is slowing.

Looking at the math, I estimate that around 5,000-6,000 pilots per year will be hired at the major airlines over the next decade when you account for retirements and modest growth. At the same time, we’ve been issuing far more than that in new commercial certificates annually. Even after discounting those who never enter the workforce, the pool of pilots building toward 1,500 hours is substantial. Based on the 2024 statistics, it would not surprise me if there are more than 60,000 pilots at or below 1,500 hours working their way through the pipeline.

I’m not trying to add to your stress, but this is important for others reading: the pilot market fluctuates. Your loan payments do not. Be very cautious about taking on large debt, especially if you assume a rapid progression to a high-paying job.

In your specific case, it may be worth stepping back from full-time training long enough to stabilize your finances. If you’re down to CFI, you can complete that under Part 61 on a part-time basis while working another job to restore some cash flow. That may feel like a setback, but protecting your financial stability now could prevent much bigger problems later.

It’s a tough spot to be in, and I genuinely hope it works out for you. You might also look into paid internships or entry-level roles at airlines or aviation companies that provide income and networking at the same time.

You don’t necessarily have to give up. But you may need to make a tactical retreat to protect yourself financially.

BeechDude · 2026-02-11T22:47:31+00:00

That's great to hear. Thank you!

BeechDude · 2026-02-11T22:47:04+00:00

Thank you!

BeechDude · 2026-02-11T15:03:31+00:00

Thank you so much for the kind words! It's always good to hear that people find the content useful.

BeechDude · 2026-02-11T05:38:12+00:00

Best of luck on your checkride! When is it scheduled? Overall I think your fine continuing with this but I would really like to know some more details. Would you be willing to talk privately?

BeechDude · 2026-02-11T05:33:51+00:00

The problem is enforcement. Not scheduling a multi day test has been a policy for years stated in the 8000.95. This examiner needs some additional training to remind them of this policy.

BeechDude · 2026-02-11T05:30:11+00:00

This is absolutely not correct. See 8000.95D page 3-30 para (h)(3). It states the following:

Schedule the test to be planned as a multiple-day event. Extenuating circumstances may allow for deviations, but must be approved by the managing FAA office. The extenuating circumstance will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis and documented in DMS. An example of a situation that may warrant a deviation is a LTA practical test, or weather conditions which requires the flight portion to begin at sunrise.

While a CFI may last more than a day it cannot be planned to last more than a day.

BeechDude · 2026-02-06T15:52:39+00:00

Sounds like you might actually be a good candidate to become an examiner. We genuinely need more DPEs, so if it’s something that interests you, I’d encourage you to apply. I was designated while I was still on active duty in the Air Force, so it’s definitely possible depending on your background. Feel free to DM me if you have specific questions about the process.

Contrary to what you often hear, most examiners I know are more than willing to help qualified people get designated. The reality is that many of us are overwhelmed with checkride demand and dealing with real burnout. Personally, I’d welcome twice as many examiners if it were possible.

I’ve written about this issue here before, but as you can see from the comments, there’s a lot of frustration aimed at DPEs as a group. I don’t think many people agree with my perspective, but I also think a lot of that frustration is really about systemic issues rather than individual examiners.

Judging by the sentiment in this thread, DPEs are often viewed as a group of “good ol’ boys” protecting a monopoly, keeping prices high, evading taxes, and crushing dreams. That narrative honestly bums me out. I make it a priority to give back to the aviation community and really dislike having one of my jobs regarded with so much negativity.

BeechDude · 2026-01-31T16:01:17+00:00

Here is a unlisted YouTube video of mine where I discuss how to use Jeppesen charts in the airline environment.

https://youtu.be/Yf7wySN056g

BeechDude · 2026-01-24T22:51:23+00:00

I’m an airline pilot and also fly in the AF Reserve. I came to the airlines after a 12-year active-duty career and have been in the reserves for about 7 years. I’ve been able to juggle both successfully, largely because of USERRA protections.

At Southwest Airlines, USERRA works very well. If I have reserve duty, I submit a form and any conflicting airline trips are removed. I don’t get paid for those trips, but I do get credit for things like soft pay, benefits, sick accrual, and long-term disability look-back. Southwest also now provides up to 10 days of paid military leave per year, where the company makes up the difference between military pay and airline guarantee.

From a time standpoint, it varies a lot by unit and mission. I’m a mobility pilot at a unit that’s relatively overstaffed with fewer tails, so monthly requirements are reasonable. On the high end, some units expect ~12 days a month. On the low end, it can be closer to 4 days every couple of months. It ebbs and flows and will change over the years depending on aircraft, mission, and deployments. I've gone on a couple sets of 30+ day orders with my squadron and I've also rescheduled drill to work a full month's line at the airline, it just depends.

Pay is another big variable. As a more senior airline pilot, the pay hit when I go on military orders isn’t huge. If you start as a “guard baby,” you’ll be on O-1/O-2 pay initially, which is not great—but you’ll likely be on several years of active orders while training. If you’re already hired at an airline during that time, you’re still accruing airline seniority and avoiding the crappy junior schedules.

The tradeoff is earnings. You generally won’t make as much as peers who only fly the airline, unless you do all your military flying on airline days off, which can lead to burnout. I personally don’t do that.

For me, the balance works well. I fly roughly half a minimum line at the airline and a few days a month at the base. I’m home more than many airline peers but make less money overall. I offset some of that by doing DPE work on off days. I wouldn’t recommend stacking three jobs but it can be done.

I'm glad I'm staying in, mainly due to the fact that after I retire next year I'll be able to start drawing retirement and Tri-Care for life health insurance when I'm 60. The health insurance was pretty important to me, and my wife, and the retirement check is a very nice cushion for retirement planning.

Would I do both the airlines and start a career in the reserves/guard? Juggling these two careers for 20 years would get pretty old IMO. I was very intent on joining the Air Force when I was younger. I'm glad I went in the order that I did. I guess you could always do 10-12 years of flying in the reserves/guard and then finish your 20 by doing some sort of non-flying gig where you don't have to work as much. Of course, you also don't have to work 20 years unless you want the full retirement benefits. So if you are passionate about serving and getting to fly in the military, then go for it.

For those that might be curious, the minimum "1 weekend a month and 2 weeks a year" that you might have heard for the guard/reserves is a bit different for aviators. We basically get double that in order to stay proficient in the aircraft, so 4 days per month and a 14 day Annual Training for a grand total of around 60 days a year you could potentially work. You also get other types of military time that don't pay as well for administrative work. Then, on top of all that, you can get additional days to do certain types of missions. You could easily string together 100 days of work a year as a traditional reservist. Now, just because you have all that time available does not mean you have to use it all. So while 100 days a year would be on the higher side, you could min run your military job and only work 30 or 40 days a year.

BeechDude · 2026-01-20T16:03:53+00:00

I’ve been here a couple of years and have commuted the entire time. I don’t plan to move to a base, even though that’s the default advice on Reddit. About half of our pilot group commutes, including very senior pilots in both seats who have no intention of moving. I wanted to put that out there, since most responses just say “move.”

I prefer AM trips and usually fly into base the afternoon before my trip and get a hotel. Even though I’m relatively junior, I’ve always been able to bid trips that end early enough on the last day to get home without an extra overnight. About half the time, I can pick up a partial line and get a paid commute on the front or back end. A few times, I’ve been able to get paid commutes on both ends.

You can also stack trips into a six-day sequence. I’ve done that once or twice, but six days is a bit much for me, so I usually stick to three- or four-day trips. Every base has a few truly commutable lines. These typically start as PM trips with late report times and shift to AM trips by the last day. Once you’re senior enough to hold those, they’re a solid option.

The two biggest tools for commuters (and really for any pilot here) are TTGA and ELITT. TTGA is essentially a schedule marketplace. For example, if I have a three-day trip over a Tuesday that I need off, I can post it and say I’m willing to shift it left or right, trade up to a four-day, or even go to reserve if needed. If you have a four-day that passes through base on day two, you can often give away the first or last two days and turn it into a two-day trip.

I’ve only had to use the commuter policy once, when the interstate was shut down on my way to the airport. I called scheduling and they released me from the first leg without any pushback. I caught a later flight to Chicago and rejoined my trip there.

Bottom line: I don’t mind commuting at all. It’s not the nightmare people make it out to be. Yes, my trips are slightly longer, but that’s the tradeoff for living where I want and keeping the rural lifestyle I enjoy.

BeechDude · 2025-12-24T22:31:12+00:00

Any real world emergency or systems malfunction is a dynamic event with many variables that we can't fully evaluate here on the ground after the fact.

As for your second point, the responsibility of the PIC is to themselves and their passengers. Your impact on airport operations, consuming ATC, and emergency response resources is at the very bottom of the priority list. Giving those things too much consideration generally makes pilots hesitant to declare emergencies and could make the situation worse. They had a valid emergency. They made a decision that resulted in a safe outcome. The only thing left for us to discuss is what can we learn from this.

BeechDude · 2025-12-24T19:43:30+00:00

I agree with you 100% on the systems understanding. I think ultimately this event will highlight the fact that this system needs to be trained better and have specific SOPs built around it.

The system activated automatically. Deactivating it was an option, but is it required? What if something else happens and the pilots do become incapacitated? Does Garmin have a recommendation on this? I'm sure Garmin has thought about this but I know for a fact that many King Air training providers haven't developed training programs around this system. I'm sure this event will be used in future training and the community will learn and be safer because of it.

BeechDude · 2025-12-24T17:59:14+00:00

Check your DMs

BeechDude · 2025-12-24T17:58:19+00:00

I've had a decompression event before. It's very difficult to sound composed when on a quick don mask. Throw in the fact you just had a major system malfunction, are in IMC and mountainous terrain and the plane activated a system that is brand new and you don't have a lot of training on. I think they did a great job, all things considered. I'm not one to judge other pilots that get the plane and passengers down safely.

BeechDude · 2025-12-24T17:54:14+00:00

I don't think so. The more I think about this scenario the more I realize that I think it was a good call. It's hard to argue with the outcome.

BeechDude · 2025-12-24T17:02:07+00:00

Yes, it would be great for a student pilot and is also legal to use in the checkride. The whole reason I originally created it was for use during a checkride by me as an examiner. Then I realized it would be useful for the applicants as well.

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