It has long been said that the private pilot certificate is a “license to learn” as it is the foundation of a person’s flying career.
To take advantage of the so-called pilot shortage, many schools and independent instructors have adopted the check-the-box style of instruction, and when the applicant has completed the tasks listed in FAR 61.109 and passed their knowledge test, they are sent to the designated pilot examiner (DPE) for their check ride. According to examiners across the country, there is a trend of only half of the applicants passing the check ride on the first try—despite having logged the experience, they don’t know the material. And there are others who don’t meet the experience requirements for the certificate, which is often found during a review of the applicant’s logbook and should have been caught much earlier.
