Greg Madriaga DPE Checkride Gouges

Oral Emphasis

Greg's oral exams consistently revolve around a few core themes, regardless of certificate level:

• Airworthiness and Maintenance Logs: This is a major focus area across every gouge. Greg goes deep into maintenance records — expect to walk him through AV1ATES/AVIATES, ARROW, required inspections, AD compliance, engine overhaul times, and tach time. Multiple pilots report he checks every item methodically. He is an A&P mechanic, so he knows what he's looking at. Have the logs tabbed, organized, and ready with a summary sheet or whiteboard showing key dates and hours.
• Pilot and Aircraft Legality: He will ask you to prove that both you and the aircraft are legal to fly today. For IFR rides, he checks instrument currency carefully and has been known to slip in VFR currency questions to see if you catch it. For PPL, expect questions about SPARROW, required documents, and passenger currency.
• Cross-Country Flight Planning: Greg sends a detailed scenario before the checkride — including passenger weights, weather conditions, and sometimes built-in discrepancies or inoperative equipment. He expects you to have a complete flight plan and be ready to explain every choice: route selection, altitude (including 91.159 compliance), fuel planning based on POH performance charts, and weight and balance. He scrutinizes fuel burn calculations and wants to see POH-based numbers before you layer on personal minimums.
• Weather: Weather discussions are thorough. He asks about hazards relevant to IFR flight (icing, turbulence, thunderstorm avoidance distances), limitations of in-flight weather services, and what sources you'd consult before departing. For PPL, expect to interpret prog charts, winds aloft, and precipitation charts, and explain your standard briefing.
• Airspace: He pulls up your route on ForeFlight and has you identify every airspace along the way, entry requirements, and VFR minimums. For PPL, special use airspace and the significance of Echo airspace over Golf are fair game.
• Systems: He asks about aircraft systems — fuel system, flight controls, pitot-static — and wants you to understand how they work and how to handle malfunctions.
• Inoperative Equipment: A recurring theme across IFR gouges. He gives scenarios with inop instruments (erratic VSI, failed VOR receiver, pitot heat inop) and expects you to walk through the decision flow: required equipment lists, day VFR requirements, GRABCARD/KOEL, and deactivation/placarding procedures.

Common Questions

• Show me in the maintenance logs exactly where each required inspection is complied with.
• Prove to me that you and this airplane are legal to fly today.
• Walk me through your cross-country route — why did you choose this altitude and this routing?
• Calculate your fuel burn for each phase of flight using the POH, then explain your personal fuel minimums.
• Given this inoperative equipment, how do you decide whether or not to fly?
• What are your instrument currency requirements, and when exactly does the six-month clock start?
• If you lose comms while holding with no EFC time, what do you do?
• Calculate pressure altitude and density altitude for a given scenario.
• What information is provided in a standard weather briefing, and in what order?
• What conditions create the worst turbulence, and why is icing a problem in training aircraft?
• What endorsements would you give for a specific practical test application? (CFI/MEI rides)
• Can you legally do X? And even if legal, should you? (He tests the line between legality and ethics.)

Practical Focus

• IFR flights: Pilots report flying an ILS, LPV, and RNAV approach. Greg emphasizes being ahead of the aircraft — for example, having a backup approach (like an ILS) loaded on standby during an RNAV in case of GPS anomaly.
• Missed approach flows: He wants to see a consistent flow on missed approaches — Power, Pitch, Trim, positive rate, configuration changes — executed in order.
• Holds: Holding procedures and understanding EFC times came up repeatedly. Multiple pilots stress: never accept holding instructions without an EFC, and know what to do if you lose comms while holding.
• Multi-engine (CMEL): Expect discussion of single-engine performance, why 50% engine loss means 80% performance loss, Part 23 certification standards for light twins, and risk mitigation in choosing practice areas with fewer obstacles.
• PPL flights: He sends you to preflight while he takes a break. During the flight, he may ask you to prove in-flight claims you made during the oral (e.g., demonstrating that your planned TAS is achievable). Bring your E6B.

Examiner Style

• Conversational and relaxed: Every gouge describes Greg as calm, chill, and easy to work with. He chats about his career and your goals before starting, which helps ease nerves. Multiple pilots say the oral feels like a discussion, not an interrogation.
• Thorough but fair: Orals run long — 3 to 4 hours is common for IFR rides — but pilots report it never felt rushed or pressured, with natural breaks built in. He covers a lot of ground but the pace feels comfortable.
• Scenario-driven: Nearly every question is wrapped in a practical scenario. He wants to see your reasoning and decision-making process, not just rote answers. He challenges your aeronautical decision-making and looks for practical judgment.
• Gives hints when you struggle: If you don't know something, he will rephrase the question or provide subtle hints to guide you toward the answer. He's testing whether you can think through a problem, not trying to trap you.
• Sends homework: Greg emails a detailed scenario before the checkride with passenger weights, weather, route, and sometimes built-in problems (inop equipment, currency traps). He expects you to arrive fully prepared with a complete flight plan.
• Storyteller: He weaves personal flying experiences into the discussion to illustrate points. Sometimes he'll start telling a story mid-answer and move on — this is a good sign, not a bad one.
• Respects preparation: He appreciates organized students. Tabbed maintenance logs, a whiteboard summary of inspection dates and tach times, printed documents, and a clear flight plan all make a good impression.

What Surprised Pilots

• Depth of maintenance log review: Multiple pilots were surprised by how thoroughly Greg goes through airframe, propeller, and engine logs. Being an A&P, he checks overhaul times, AD compliance, and every element of required inspections. Have everything organized and tabbed — this is not a cursory glance.
• Currency traps in the scenario: He has been known to embed VFR currency questions into IFR scenarios to see if you catch the distinction. He also tests the exact calendar math on when currency periods begin and end, which tripped up at least one pilot.
• Fuel planning scrutiny: He wants to see exact POH-based fuel burn calculations for each flight phase before you discuss personal minimums. One pilot was told they were too conservative — he wants accuracy first, then conservatism on top.
• Logbook formatting issues: He goes through your logbook carefully. Pilots were caught by ForeFlight logbook entries that didn't show intermediate airports, whiteout in paper logbooks, and cross-country flights that technically didn't meet the regulatory definition. Clean up your logbook before the ride.
• The oral is long but doesn't feel long: Several pilots noted the oral lasted 3-4 hours but felt like a natural conversation with breaks, stories, and discussion rather than a grueling exam.
• He expects you to know where to find answers: If you don't know something from memory, he wants to see you look it up in the FAR, AIM, PHAK, or POH. Know your references.