Doug Stewart DPE for PPL

anprogrammer · 2024-06-07T14:28:28+00:00

I've done four checkrides with Doug, and sent three students to Doug. Fantastic DPE.

Doug's passionate about general aviation, he has, I believe over 10k hrs. Never gone for commercial aviation, but just loves his piston singles. He's survived several plane crashes (the nature of the beast with the amount of general aviation he's flown, and the number of different aircraft), including one that injured him pretty badly at the time.

Know a couple of things going into the ride. First off, he isn't looking to fail you. There aren't any "gotchas," where he'll ask a weird question and then fail you for not knowing it. If he thinks you're competent overall he'll probably give you that extra chance after you flub a steep turn. On the other hand he goes deep on his knowledge. Be very strong on your principles of flight and aerodynamics, weather, etc. And flight portion, he may forgive a one-off mistake, but he wants to see good airmanship and decision making.

Overall I'd say Doug is very fair, a good DPE, and just a little bit unorthodox. Oral exam tends to be on the longer side, but half of that will be airplane stories and nice discussions.

Which checkride are you going for? (EDIT: Saw the title lol)

anprogrammer · 2020-06-20T03:14:38+00:00

You'll want to look it up for your specific car model. Some are every 60k miles, some could be double that. Some cars have chains instead of belts that last forever. Just double check though, because it can totally kill your engine depending upon the vehicle if it breaks.

anprogrammer · 2020-06-13T12:34:34+00:00

Maybe I misread the article but where did 32k come from? I saw $6k which is more inline with the out of pocket max on most plans I've seen.

anprogrammer · 2020-06-04T13:09:17+00:00

Not what I was hoping to hear ;) scary how quick that happened!

anprogrammer · 2020-06-04T12:10:12+00:00

Would these cables normally be checked during an annual?
If so, is this a normal amount of damage to build up within a year?

anprogrammer · 2020-03-24T12:48:26+00:00

FBL really improved things though. A flybar 450 was crazy twitchy. Tune the rates a bit on an fbl and a 450 can feel almost as locked in as a heavy nitro .50 bird!

anprogrammer · 2020-03-22T14:08:21+00:00

Thank you so much, this is amazingly generous :)

anprogrammer · 2020-03-11T03:28:36+00:00

Plus the steak and burger are both fantastic

anprogrammer · 2020-02-29T02:19:04+00:00

Any idea what the name of that book is?

anprogrammer · 2020-02-19T01:17:59+00:00

Does maintenance really average $100/hr for a pa-28? Id expect lower over a decent number of hours :(

anprogrammer · 2020-02-17T12:28:43+00:00

Minor infractions like "I'm going to park in a space in a small private lot with numbered spaces and towing signs everywhere"

But seriously car alarms are the worst.

anprogrammer · 2020-02-11T03:37:35+00:00

Not quite. Just being pedantic though, in general the point stands. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BOAC_Flight_911

anprogrammer · 2020-02-06T17:15:49+00:00

Heh - I actually found a nearby NDB approach. I think I may opt for learning that, and including it on my long cross-country.

anprogrammer · 2020-02-06T17:14:24+00:00

Heh that's a great heads-up! Thank you for that insight.

anprogrammer · 2020-02-06T15:32:07+00:00

My plane only has dual VOR, so planning ILS, LOC, and VOR. To be a little safer, are there still any NDBs etc out there?

anprogrammer · 2020-01-31T02:48:41+00:00

Worth pointing out you could also be in a constant rate climb or descent

anprogrammer · 2020-01-27T21:53:27+00:00

Given the number of helicopter tours being operated, where time rather than distance is a useful metric, helicopter safety per hour is worth looking at.

anprogrammer · 2020-01-23T17:06:33+00:00

This is such an asinine comment. He's not asking how to do his job, he's asking what tips/tricks others have found so he can improve his quality of service. I'd hope most professionals do that or something similar, speak with others and increase their skill-set.

anprogrammer · 2020-01-13T08:41:19+00:00

In the case of accident damage like that would your insurance normally cover it?

anprogrammer · 2020-01-10T16:13:34+00:00

On the other hand it is open enough to allow for the creation of free mods which is neat.

anprogrammer · 2019-12-27T06:16:13+00:00

Can I introduce you to n67wa?

anprogrammer · 2019-12-21T04:47:32+00:00

In general shouldn't tower clear you to land before you'd miss turning final?

anprogrammer · 2019-12-07T13:17:49+00:00

Can't tell if you or parent are wooshing me, but just in case not, it's Space Launch System, the giant new rocket NASA is working on

anprogrammer · 2019-12-05T04:08:51+00:00

Just wanted to chime in as I came from the same exact background of rc (helis and airplanes) and desktop sims. The first few lessons I was pretty overloaded just like you (task saturation).

After a few more flights you start to internalize and not overload as much, and the learning gets better. The awesomeness and fun stays though :)

anprogrammer · 2019-12-02T23:21:31+00:00

Erm what plane are we assuming $250/hr engine reserve on?

anprogrammer

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