Dave Leonard DPE Checkride Gouges

Dave Leonard runs a deep, document-heavy oral across all 13 reports on file. He checks ID first, and one private applicant said he preferred a passport over a license. He goes through your logbook, so tab the required flights and training. He works through IACRA with you, so know your login and bring a laptop. An iPad would not let one applicant add missing hours. He then has you read and sign the Pilot's Bill of Rights.

Airworthiness is a core focus. He has you pull the aircraft maintenance logbook and show how you confirm the plane is legal to fly. Walk through the required inspections and ADs, point to the entries, and know how to read them. He is an attorney, so he hands you FARs and asks you to interpret them. Applicants describe this as a logic test, not a memory test.

Weight and balance comes up again and again, and a blank or wrong number can end your ride. He wants an actual W and B for the flight you are about to fly, using real fuel loads and numbers from the maintenance log and POH. One CFI applicant failed after confusing basic empty weight data between a Cherokee and a 172N and not stopping to check the POH. Persistence helps. Saying "let me double check" and using the book is the move he respects.

For CFI rides, FOI is conversational and reasonable, but brush up on levels of learning, laws of learning, and Maslow. Know AC 61-65 endorsements cold and where every hour requirement lives. Current PTS and PHAK editions matter. He expects each ground lesson taught in under 45 minutes.

Flight scenarios include cross-country planning to places like KHND, climb performance, lost comms, and engine failure work. He values professionalism and calm, accurate teaching above raw recall.