Dawn Zurcher DPE Checkride Gouges

Two reports are on file for Dawn Zurcher, one for the private and one for the commercial. Both show an examiner who starts with documents and eligibility, then moves straight into preflight planning. On the private side she explained the possible outcomes up front: the temporary airmen certificate, the letter of discontinuance, and the notice of disapproval. On the commercial side she opened with NWKRAFT to confirm the cross country requirements were met.

Her oral leans hard on the nav log and your route logic. She asks why you chose your route, your altitude, and what airspace you cross along the way. She follows up with weather minimums and the equipment required on board. The private applicant printed pictures of alternate airports and explained the reasoning, and she liked that. On the commercial she verified every figure against the chart weights, so bring precision.

Weight and balance gets real attention. She asks how much fuel you can carry on the route and why you seat the heavier person up front. She wants forward and aft CG characteristics, and she cares how the CG shifts as fuel burns during cruise. For airworthiness she used SPARROW-E, DIE, and ATOMATOFLAMES as a baseline and dug into inoperative equipment procedures.

Expect VOR questions throughout, plus V speeds and what changes them, CO2 poisoning, emergency procedures, the narrow sloping runway illusion, and the graveyard spiral. She asked about cell phone tower colors by day and night, an airport beacon active in daylight, and Bernoulli's principle. Think before you answer.

The flight offers some pilot in command autonomy on order. The commercial covered soft-field and short-field takeoffs and landings, a power-off 180, stalls, accelerated stalls, steep turns, lazy 8s, and 8s on pylons. The private flight followed the documents and oral. Plan well and explain your logic.