Denny Green DPE Checkride Gouges

Oral Emphasis

Green covers a wide range of topics but goes notably deep on aircraft systems, aeromedical factors, and weather products. Expect detailed discussion on engine specs (type, cylinders, horsepower, cooling, propeller), hydraulic systems, anti-icing equipment, and whether the aircraft is FIKI certified. He also spends significant time on medical topics — hypoxia, hyperventilation, carbon monoxide poisoning — including symptoms and corrective actions. Weather literacy matters: he'll ask about METARs and TAFs, how often they update, and how to interpret them. He specifically noted that AWOS data is not the same as a METAR.

Common Questions

• What makes an airplane airworthy? What's the minimum equipment for day VFR flight?
• If a non-essential component like a radio becomes inoperable before departure, what's the procedure to still fly legally?
• What are the requirements and duration of a 3rd class medical?
• Where can a pilot look up whether specific prescription drugs (e.g., antihistamines) are FAA-approved?
• What are the conditions that lead to a spin, and what's the recovery procedure?
• Know all your V-speeds — he'll ask about them.
• Logbook questions: annual and 100-hour inspection requirements, ELT and transponder inspection intervals, and who is authorized to perform them.
• In-session weight and balance recalculation with new parameters he provides, plus takeoff and landing distance over a 50-foot obstacle using actual conditions.
• Sectional chart knowledge: special use airspace, VFR weather minimums by airspace, and chart symbols — he expects you to know the sectional thoroughly.

Practical Focus

The flight portion covers the full private pilot ACS spread. Green starts with a preflight inspection where he loosely follows along, then a normal takeoff into the first cross-country leg. He'll divert you to a new airport — pilots reported using ForeFlight to calculate ETE, fuel burn, and ground speed on the fly.

• Steep turns: 45° bank, left and right. He wants them genuinely steep — stay within ±5° of your bank angle.
• Slow flight straight and level, transitioning into power-off and power-on stalls.
• Hood work: Straight and level, climbing turn to a heading and altitude, descending turn to a heading and altitude.
• Simulated engine failure: Best glide, run the checklist, pick a field, squawk 7700. He concluded the scenario at 2,000 MSL.
• Ground reference: Turns about a point, plus a half S-turn.
• Landings: Normal landing, short-field takeoff, short-field landing (be prepared to go around if needed).

Examiner Style

Green is conversational and fair. He opens with a genuine icebreaker about career goals and his own flying background — it's not just small talk, it sets a relaxed tone for the whole checkride. Pilots described him as thorough but not adversarial. There were no trick questions or gotcha moments. He doesn't use acronym-based frameworks like IMSAFE, DECIDE, or the 5P's — he just asks the underlying concepts directly. He expects near-flawless performance on maneuvers but understands and accepts reasonable corrections. Overall pacing is steady: roughly two hours for the oral and an hour and a half for the flight.

What Surprised Pilots

• He gave new weight and balance parameters during the oral that differed from what the applicant had prepared — be ready to recalculate on the spot with different passenger weights or fuel loads.
• He specifically pointed out that AWOS is not a METAR — a distinction many students don't think about.
• He wanted real depth on anti-icing systems and FIKI certification, which caught the applicant off guard for a VFR private checkride.
• On the flight, he only asked for half of an S-turn across a road rather than completing the full maneuver — he may cut things short once he's seen enough.