Christopher Robert Kaplan DPE Checkride Gouges

Oral Emphasis

Reports indicate Kaplan places heavy emphasis on the following areas during the oral portion:

• Aircraft airworthiness and documentation: He closely inspects aircraft logs and expects clear, easy-to-find entries for annuals and 100-hour inspections. Vague or poorly labeled maintenance records will draw scrutiny.
• Preventative maintenance: Expect scenario-based questions about what a pilot is and isn't allowed to do — changing tires, oil, etc. If you hesitate, he'll turn it into an extended conversation exploring your understanding of the regulations.
• Manual flight planning and calculations: He specifically checks that your cross-country plan uses pilotage and dead reckoning, as required by the ACS. He will also drill you on manual E6B-style calculations (fuel burn, time/distance, weight and balance) using your POH — not just ForeFlight outputs.
• Pilot certificates and privileges: He covers the basics (privileges, limitations, currency, medicals) but moves through them quickly if you demonstrate confidence.

Common Questions

• What are your privileges and limitations as a private pilot?
• Walk through the aircraft documents and prove the airplane is airworthy for this flight.
• Can you (as a pilot, not a mechanic) change a tire on the aircraft? What about other preventative maintenance items? He wants you to reference 14 CFR Part 43 Appendix A.
• Show me your cross-country plan — where is the pilotage and dead reckoning? How did you calculate fuel burn, groundspeed, and time en route manually?

Examiner Style

Kaplan is conversational and straightforward. He's not trying to trick you, but he is thorough. Reports describe a clear pattern: if you answer confidently and correctly, he moves on fast — some topics lasted only a couple of minutes. But if you hesitate or give a vague answer, he'll park on that topic and explore it in depth. One pilot described a single hesitation on preventative maintenance turning into a 15–20 minute deep dive.

He starts the exam with a clear, professional explanation of the three possible outcomes (pass, discontinuance, letter of discontinuance) and what each means. He collects his fee ($800 as of early 2024) before the test officially begins.

He can get visibly annoyed if your preparation doesn't meet his expectations — particularly if your cross-country plan doesn't align with ACS requirements — but he's fair about it and will still let you proceed if you can demonstrate understanding.

What Surprised Pilots

• Tabbed logbooks were a big hit. Kaplan loved having pre-tabbed logbook pages that cross-referenced the required flights for the PPL checkride. This saved time and clearly impressed him — consider doing this.
• ForeFlight reliance was a liability, not an asset. Pilots who used ForeFlight exclusively for cross-country planning were caught off guard when Kaplan expected manual calculations using the POH. He specifically referenced the ACS requirement for pilotage and dead reckoning and was not satisfied with GPS/VOR-only checkpoint plans.
• The depth on maintenance was unexpected. What seemed like a simple question about changing a tire turned into an extended regulatory discussion. Be ready to look things up in the FAR/AIM — he respects that, but know the material well enough that you're confirming, not searching from scratch.