Christopher Horton DPE Checkride Gouges
Designated Pilot Examiner
Preparing for an FAA checkride with Designated Pilot Examiner (DPE) Christopher Horton? GougeHub has a first-hand Christopher Horton checkride gouge report from a pilot who tested. Read oral exam questions, flight test patterns, and examiner insights.
↓ View 1 available gouge reportAs of this writing, only one report is on file for Christopher Horton. It comes from a PPL helicopter add-on rating. The pilot called him very fair for an add-on. He goes deep on book knowledge and pushes it as far as it will go. When he finds a weak area, he helps you understand it and improve.
The oral leaned hard on pilot qualifications and paperwork. Expect the PAVE model and questions on recent flight experience and flight reviews. He covers medical certificates closely, including how a second class lasts 60 months for private privileges and 12 months for commercial. The pilot used a cake model to frame this: certificate, medical, and instrument rating. Know your private pilot privileges and limitations cold.
Weather and planning came up through personal minimums. He wants you to distinguish sustained winds from gusts and gust spread, and to refer to the POH for operating with certain spreads. Expect questions on required equipment, including the MAP gauge for each altitude engine. For a normally aspirated helicopter, he ties the MAP gauge to gauging power and preventing over torquing. He also asked about transponder requirements and route selection with departure plotting in the flight plan.
He did not go deep into aerodynamics or systems on this ride. The pilot noted the route plotting felt hyper specific and added extra plot points. On charts, use current paper charts, though old ones are fine as an example if you fly with ForeFlight as your EFB.
The flight was straightforward and pulled directly from the ACS. The pilot said there is nothing that comes as a surprise in the air. Come ready to defend your book knowledge and your planning choices. If you fly with Christopher Horton next, add your own notes afterward.
Analyzed across 113 site-wide Private Pilot checkrides in the GougeHub database, the same questions keep coming up. Here’s one of the 37 in the guide:
“What are the currency requirements for you to carry passengers?”
📋 Examiner Insight: Asked on almost every checkride. Note the “sole manipulator” language and the calendar-month pitfall — many applicants miss these.
⚠ Common Pitfall: Know the difference between calendar months and days. If you flew three takeoffs and landings on January 1st, you’re current for 90 days thereafter (through April 1st). But three calendar months would carry you to April 30th, because January is within the three preceding months to April. The passenger-carrying rule uses days, not months.
All 37 questions, ranked by frequency, with Examiner Insights and Common Pitfalls from 113 real checkrides — written and reviewed by Andrew Gray, CFI-II.
Get the Private Pilot Oral Exam Guide — $14 →7-day money-back guarantee · Instant PDF download
Ratings & Checkride Types
- PPL (Private Pilot)
FAA Designee Information
FAA Oversight Office: Delegation And Resource Branch, Afg-970
Status: Active Designee
- Private Pilot Examiner: Rotorcraft Helicopter
- CE: Rotorcraft Helicopter
Source: FAA Designee Management System · Verify on FAA.gov →
Transparency Disclaimer: This page summarizes patterns reported by applicants. It is not an endorsement, prediction, or guarantee of checkride outcome. Every checkride varies based on the applicant and circumstances.