Bob Drapal DPE Checkride Gouges

Oral Emphasis

Bob's CFI oral is heavily weighted toward regulations, endorsements, and the practical knowledge a working flight instructor needs on day one. Expect significant time on:

• Student pilot onboarding: What a new student needs to begin training (identification/documentation requirements), IACRA outputs (student pilot certificate and FTN number), and what you must log in both your logbook and theirs.
• Medical certificates: Different classes, their privileges, and how they relate to certificate types.
• Solo and cross-country endorsements: Deep dive into 14 CFR 61.87 (B, C, N subsections), endorsement limitations, frequency requirements (do you need one every solo? how long is it good for?), and cross-country endorsement specifics including hour requirements and the 150 NM cross-country.
• Other endorsements: Complex, high performance, and Class B landing endorsements.
• Training requirements: 14 CFR 61.107/109 — required tasks and how they map to the ACS. He expects you to know the references listed under each ACS task and be familiar with the FAA companion guide.
• Airworthiness: AV1ATES and ARROW — he may ask you to write these out on a whiteboard. Also covers ADs and the 100-hour inspection requirement for aircraft used for hire.
• Systems: Pitot-static system in depth — how it works, blockage scenarios, and how to address them. Also touched on aircraft category ratings.
• Preflight planning (91.103): NOTAMs (FDC vs. D NOTAMs), weather products including MOS in ForeFlight and how often it updates, METARs, TAFs, and surface analysis charts.

Common Questions

Bob builds the oral around realistic instructor scenarios rather than rote quiz-style questions. Reported question styles include:

• A new student walks up to you — what do they need to start training? Is a birth certificate sufficient?
• Your student lives at one airport but wants to train at another ~20 miles away — what endorsements and logbook entries are required?
• Before going to fly, what do you need to verify about the aircraft? (He's looking for you to bring up airworthiness on your own.)
• Scenario-based endorsement questions: what's required, what are the limitations, and how long are they valid?
• Given a surface analysis chart, explain everything you see on it.
• How does the pitot-static system work, and what happens with various blockages?

Examiner Style

Bob is conversational and scenario-driven. He likes to set up a realistic teaching situation and let you work through it, rather than firing off isolated regulatory questions. He uses a whiteboard and may ask you to write things out (like AV1ATES and ARROW). He appears to appreciate when candidates are thorough and proactive — for example, he wants you to bring up airworthiness before heading out to fly rather than waiting to be asked. He responds well to candidates who can connect regulations to real-world instructing situations and reference specific FAR sections and ACS guidance.

What Surprised Pilots

• The level of detail expected on endorsement specifics — not just knowing they exist, but the exact limitations, validity periods, and logbook entry requirements for various solo and cross-country scenarios.
• He expects familiarity with the FAA companion guide to the ACS and how the references listed under each task connect to the regulations.
• Weather knowledge went beyond standard textbook items — he asked about the MOS product in ForeFlight and its update frequency, which caught at least one candidate off guard.
• The whiteboard component — be ready to diagram and write out acronyms and systems rather than just talk through them verbally.