You've invested months and thousands of dollars getting here. Your examiner has patterns — questions they always ask, things that trip people up — that won't appear in any study guide.
GougeHub is pilots helping pilots. Real reports from real checkrides, organized by examiner, so you walk in knowing exactly what to expect.
In aviation, a "gouge" is insider knowledge shared between pilots about a specific checkride with a Designated Pilot Examiner. It covers the oral questions that came up, maneuvers the examiner emphasized, their testing style, and tips from pilots who recently passed.
Think of it as crowd-sourced checkride intelligence — the kind of thing your CFI's most connected student might know, now available to everyone.
Free AI brief: Before your checkride, get a free DPE brief — no account required. Tell us your examiner and checkride date and we'll email you a community-sourced AI summary of what to expect. 30 seconds, totally free.
Download full gouges: Full pilot reports are available with credits. Browse the database and add any gouge to your cart. Each download costs 1 credit.
Get credits — free: Submit your own checkride gouge after your ride and earn 1 credit. Free forever — you give knowledge, you get knowledge.
Get credits — deposit: Put down a $50 deposit to access gouges immediately. Submit your gouge after your checkride and get your full $50 back.
CFIs and instructors: Verified flight instructors start with 3 free credits and earn 1 credit for each approved gouge uploaded. Apply for instructor access after signing up.
Designated Pilot Examiners (DPEs) are FAA-authorized pilots who conduct practical tests — checkrides — on behalf of the FAA. Each one has a personality, a focus, preferred questions, and things that matter to them specifically that aren't published anywhere. That's exactly why pilot-to-pilot knowledge sharing matters.
Yes. Submissions are anonymous by default. Other users only see the gouge content — your personal information is never displayed.
You'll still get a prep brief covering the most commonly tested oral topics across the board. And after your ride, you can be the first to submit a gouge for your examiner — building the resource for every pilot who comes after you.
Absolutely. Verified instructors get access to the full database to help prep their students. You can look up exactly what your student's DPE has been focused on lately, which gives you a real edge in final prep sessions. Apply for instructor access after signing up.
Tell us who's examining you and when your checkride is. We'll pull together everything the GougeHub community knows about them and send it straight to your inbox.
Free · Takes 30 seconds · No account required
Search by DPE name or filter by certificate type — all reports from real pilots
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What pilots actually experienced on their checkride — broken down by certificate type
Data-driven guides sourced from real pilot exit interviews
Share your checkride experience and earn credit
Ready to submit your gouge?
Click here to upload your gouge →
Each approved gouge submission earns you 1 credit to download another gouge from our database.
Have questions or need assistance? We're here to help!