Jacob Hansen DPE Checkride Gouges

Oral Emphasis

Hansen's oral has a clear pattern. Expect significant time on these topics:

• Lost communications procedures: He digs into AVE-F and MEA thoroughly — what to do enroute, at a hold/fix, and in both IMC and VFR conditions. Multiple pilots reported spending a fair amount of time here, with references to 91.175 and how it's commonly misunderstood.
• ODP and climb gradients: He wants you to determine — with confidence — whether your specific aircraft can meet a departure procedure's climb gradient (e.g., DRAKE 2's 500 ft/NM). Be ready to work through pressure altitude and density altitude to make that call.
• Alternate airport selection and requirements: Given the IFR-heavy airspace around the Phoenix metro area, he focuses on the 1-2-3 rule, precision (600-2) and non-precision (800-2) alternate minimums, and your reasoning for choosing specific alternates.
• Weather interpretation: METAR/TAF decoding, identifying potential icing conditions (low temp/dew point spread, OAT), and icing risk mitigation procedures.
• Instruments and systems: Pitot-static system failures, vacuum system operation, and how instrument indications are affected by failures.
• Low enroute chart symbology: MEA, MCA, MOCA, and related IFR enroute planning concepts.

Common Questions

Pilots reported these styles and types of questions:

• He asks you to evaluate whether your aircraft can actually perform a specific ODP — not just recite the numbers, but apply them to your airplane's performance in current conditions.
• Scenario-based lost comms questions that walk through different phases of flight: What do you do if you lose comms enroute? At a fix? Approaching your destination?
• He may ask about personal minimums and appreciates specific numbers rather than vague ranges. Having well-defined personal limits impressed him.
• Expect to decode real METARs and TAFs and discuss what the weather means for your planned flight, particularly regarding icing and alternate requirements.
• Cross-country planning questions focused on a route from the local area to KMYF (San Diego), including departure weather, enroute considerations, and alternate selection logic.

Practical Focus

The flight portion follows a consistent structure in the Phoenix east valley area:

• Departure via a local ODP (e.g., DRAKE 2 from KGEU or the CHD ODP), then radar vectors or direct to TFD VOR.
• VOR 05 approach into KCGZ, followed by a missed approach.
• ILS 05 into KCGZ with a circling approach to another runway (e.g., RWY 23). He may express a preference for entry type (such as teardrop over parallel for a hold) but leaves the final decision to you.
• RNAV approach (e.g., RNAV 30C into KIWA) was also reported.
• Unusual attitudes were performed mid-flight after he took controls to give the pilot a rest.
• He issued a CRAFT clearance on the ground before heading to the airplane, so be ready to copy.
• He's comfortable with GPS use (e.g., Garmin 430) and allowed abbreviated flight plan entries when amending a clearance. Know your avionics — including RAIM checks.

Examiner Style

• Pilots consistently describe Hansen as thorough but fair — he covers the ACS completely but isn't looking to trick you or fail you.
• He's conversational rather than adversarial. The oral feels more like a professional discussion than an interrogation.
• He actively manages pilot fatigue during the flight: he took the controls mid-ride to let pilots drink water and reset mentally before continuing with additional tasks.
• He flew portions of the return leg himself, having the pilot handle only the final landing back to the departure airport.
• Multiple pilots rated the overall experience very highly and described it as one of the better checkride experiences they've had.

What Surprised Pilots

• The depth of the lost comms discussion surprised pilots — he spent more time on this than expected and specifically referenced how 91.175 is frequently misinterpreted. Come prepared to go deep here.
• His expectation that you can do real performance math on ODP climb gradients — not just know the concept, but calculate whether your airplane can do it today — caught some pilots off guard.
• Pilots were pleasantly surprised that he took the controls during the flight to give them a genuine break, which helped them perform better on subsequent tasks.
• He appreciated when pilots color-coded or highlighted approach plates in advance as a sign of thorough preparation.