Ernie Pitts DPE Checkride Gouges
Designated Pilot Examiner • (Ernest Gerard Pitts)
Preparing for an FAA checkride with Designated Pilot Examiner (DPE) Ernie Pitts? GougeHub has 6 first-hand Ernie Pitts checkride gouge reports from pilots who tested. Review oral exam questions, flight test patterns, and examiner insights for PPL checkrides.
↓ View 6 available gouge reportsSix reports are on file for Ernie Pitts, and they paint a consistent picture. He works out of Santa Maria and conducts the oral inside his hangar. He starts with a briefing on how the day runs, his expectations, and the possible outcomes. Then he digs into your logbook for about ten minutes, checking every endorsement from pre-solo through cross-country solos and the written test. He praises tidy, tabbed logbooks, so organize yours the way his website asks.
He reviews the maintenance records and wants the physical books, not photocopies. He checks your ID, medical, and student pilot certificate, then confirms IACRA. One applicant ran into a wrong FTN that blocked online access to the written, so double check that detail beforehand. He pulls your missed written questions and goes through each ACS code one by one. Show him you understand the material and a low score matters less.
Oral topics follow the ACS order and cover pilot qualifications and required documents for pilot and aircraft. Expect airworthiness and inop equipment questions, including a dead nav light and how to deactivate it. He asks about systems like the G5, AHRS, the pitot static system, the fuel system, and oil pressure. Plan for weather covering cold fronts, cloud types, AIRMETs, SIGMETs, and thunderstorm formation. He also hits hypoxia, IMSAFE, ELT operation, non-towered field procedures, go arounds with Vy, and go or no-go scenarios.
He reviews your nav log and wants your reasoning on checkpoints, route, altitude, and weight and balance. He covers forward and aft CG effects and diversion scenarios with a sick passenger. He does not dive deep into regulations as long as you can find the right part.
The flight includes slow flight, power on and off stalls, steep turns, turns around a point, and unusual attitude recovery. Expect short and soft field work, a forward slip, simulated instrument tasks, and the first leg of your cross country. He tolerates minor heading and altitude drift but wants gentle corrections, and he confirms each maneuver with you.
Examiner Patterns
Based on 6 reports
- Oral style: 3 of 5 applicants report the examiner walked through ACS task areas sequentially
- Oral duration: Most common — 1 to 1.5 hours (2 of 2 reports)
- Logbook review: 5 of 6 applicants report the examiner reviewed endorsements specifically
- Preflight briefing: 3 of 5 applicants report the examiner gave a full preflight briefing
Based on self-reported pilot submissions. Data methodology
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 documents must you have on your person to act as pilot in command?”
📋 Examiner Insight: A guaranteed question — know it cold.
⚠ Common Pitfall: While not required on your person, your logbook should be available to demonstrate recent experience and currency if questioned. Not all forms of ID are acceptable — reference 61.3 for the acceptable forms.
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: North Texas FSDO
Status: Active Designee
- Private Pilot Examiner: Airplane Single Engine Land, Airplane Multi-Engine Land
- Commercial & Instrument Rating Examiner: Airplane Single Engine Land, Airplane Multi-Engine Land
- ATPE: Airplane Single Engine Land, Airplane Multi-Engine Land
- Flight Instructor Examiner: Airplane Single Engine, Airplane Multi-Engine
Source: FAA Designee Management System · Verify on FAA.gov →
Other DPEs in Los Angeles Area, CA
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.