One of the most common complaints you hear from student pilots is that their instructor was “unfair” when the CFI told them to divert to an unfamiliar airport using (gasp) pilotage and dead reckoning—no GPS.
Even when the CFI explains this piloting skill will be part of their check ride—using analog aviation to a place they haven’t been to before—some learners can get rather salty. Settle down, Francis. Don’t bother telling the pilot examiner about all the backups you’ll have every time you fly.This is about testing specific skills.
It’s not so much unfair as it is more likely the applicant is underprepared. I don’t care how many electronic backups upon backups you plan to carry in the airplane, for the check ride you will be expected to look out the window.
The scenarios for the divert vary and are about as real world as you can get. It might be the weather is turning ugly or the head wind is stronger than was forecast and you’re running low on fuel. This often happens in the real world, and when it does, you will likely end up visiting an airport you’ve never been to before, nor were you planning to visit. You’ll need to know how to find it, and—here is the big one—determine if it is usable and appropriate for your aircraft and situation.
The examiner expects you to be able to find a suitable airport and determine distance and course and time en route to get there. I stress that your instructor should have taught you these skills beyond hitting the “nearest” button on the GPS or flight planning app you are using. If they didn’t, metaphorically slap them so hard their ancestors feel it. It should be taught in ground school and then applied in the aircraft.
Pro tip: Always anticipate a divert on every flight and have an idea of where you will go.
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The applicant on the mock check ride was flying from Jefferson County International Airport (0S9) in Port Townsend, Washington, Felts Field (KSFF) in Spokane a straight line distance of approximately 222 nm miles and over the mountains. The applicant wisely opted to fly a less direct route over Stampede Pass as he could fly over the freeway, which is at a lower elevation than the mountains and has several airports alongside it. The CFI acting as check airman noticed this and was initally pleased with the applicant’s decision making, but began to grow concerned as the applicant was dropping the airplane to fly the iPad.
The applicant was slightly southeast of the community of Roslyn, Washington, as depicted on the sectional, when the CFI told him he was “running low on fuel.” The applicant correctly stated that he should divert to an airport to refuel. The CFI asked where the nearest suitable airport was—with suitable being the key word.
Although he was told not to, the applicant immediately hit the nearest button on the panel-mounted GPS and up popped Cle Elum Municipal (S93). A look at the sectional tells us the airport has a field elevation of 1,945 feet and a runway aligned roughly east-west, but here’s the important part—the airport symbology indicates no services, meaning no fuel.
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“Are you sure they have fuel?” the CFI asked. The applicant went head down with the iPad trying to find this information.
While this was happening, the aircraft was drifting off course and altitude. When the heading was more than 20 degrees off and the altitude off by 100-plus, the CFI told the applicant he had failed.
To say the applicant was miffed is putting it mildly, as he felt being asked to find an unfamiliar airport and get the information about it on the fly was setting him up for failure. The applicant was adamant he had never been taught how to do a divert. The recommending CFI was beside himself, insisting they had discussed the divert procedure in private pilot ground school and had practiced it at least once in the air.
It was pointed out that it was much better that the failure happen with a $40-an-hour CFI rather than wasting $700 on the check ride. This is when the “failure is a part of success” talk happens. The point of the mock check ride is to find the soft spots in your training or skills. This applicant needed to study sectional symbology and learn how to access the information from the app.
The experience led to a discussion among the school CFIs, which was passed down to the flight students about spending more time studying the proposed route and becoming more familiar with it before they launched, specifically, noting where the airports are, and if the fields are improved (paved) or turf and their length and the availability of fuel.
