James Duvall DPE Checkride Gouges

Oral Emphasis

Duvall consistently starts the oral by reviewing every PLT code you missed on your knowledge test, regardless of certificate level. Even high scores (90%+) will get scrutinized — he wants to make sure you actually understand the concepts behind the missed questions. Beyond that, his core oral topics include:

• Airworthiness & Required Inspections: AV1ATE and ARROW acronyms, what each letter stands for, when inspections are due, and whether certain inspections (like transponder checks) are truly required for the type of flying you'll do. He thinks critically about context — for example, whether a transponder inspection matters if you fly in airspace that doesn't require one.
• Performance Calculations: Pressure altitude, density altitude, takeoff distance calculations. He wants you to work through the math (e.g., converting altimeter setting to pressure altitude) and may ask you to round appropriately rather than be falsely precise.
• Weight & Balance: Expect scenario-based problems — he may give you a mid-trip scenario like adding luggage after landing somewhere. On CFI rides, he may ask you to teach the computational and graphical methods and work a seesaw-style problem.
• Lost Communications (IFR): He has CFII applicants write out lost comm procedures.
• Regulations: Part 91 applicability, IFR currency requirements, right-of-way rules, pilot privileges and responsibilities. For CFI candidates, he digs into privileges, duties, and responsibilities specific to that certificate.
• FAA Publications: He asks about free FAA resources (Instrument Flying Handbook, Instrument Procedures Handbook, Aeronautical Chart User Guide) and appreciates when applicants know the less-obvious ones.

Common Questions

Pilots report these recurring question styles and topics across multiple checkrides:

• Scenario-based altimeter questions: what happens if you fly into an area of different pressure without resetting.
• Microburst stages and their effect on aircraft performance.
• Right-of-way hierarchy questions — gliders on final, balloons, etc.
• Asking you to calculate pressure altitude and density altitude from given conditions, then asking conceptual follow-ups (e.g., what happens to PA when pressure increases?).
• For CFI: Teaching-style demonstrations — he may ask you to teach a maneuver like eights-on-pylons, including pivotal altitude and why it changes, or teach how to get weather and why certain briefing methods are preferred by the FAA.
• The "most important" Law of Learning (Law of Primacy) and Hazardous Attitudes — recurring FOI questions for CFI candidates.
• Runway incursion prevention, especially the significance of surface markings like the double solid yellow line.
• Lesson plan components: goals, objectives, elements, completion standards, and common errors.

Practical Focus

Flight-specific details in these gouges are limited, but pilots note:

• The CFI flight portion may be scheduled on a separate day from the oral — one applicant had the oral and flight nearly a month apart.
• For CFI, expect to demonstrate and explain maneuvers as you would to a student, with emphasis on staying coordinated (especially during eights-on-pylons).
• Aircraft used in reports include PA-28-181 (Archer). He's familiar with both Piper and Cessna platforms and asks platform-specific questions (e.g., reference datum location on a C172).

Examiner Style

Duvall is widely described as conversational, accommodating, and flexible — but thorough. Key observations:

• He's willing to shift checkride dates on short notice and will proactively reach out if his schedule opens up.
• He offers his personal guest house and car for applicants who travel to his location, and will pick you up from your hotel. He genuinely tries to remove logistical stress.
• He tends to get sidetracked with stories or tangential topics — this can extend the oral significantly. CFI orals have run around five hours.
• He completes as much IACRA paperwork as possible before you arrive to save time.
• His demeanor is direct and sometimes blunt (he may joke about missed knowledge test questions), but pilots describe it as good-natured rather than intimidating.
• He no longer conducts checkrides at Auburn (KAUN) as of mid-2024 — confirm the current location when scheduling.

What Surprised Pilots

• The transponder inspection question caught a CFI applicant off guard — Duvall pointed out that the inspection isn't universally required and depends on the airspace you operate in. He lives in Silver Springs, NV, where a transponder isn't always needed, and uses this to test whether you think critically about regulations vs. just memorizing acronyms.
• He was impressed when an applicant mentioned the Aeronautical Chart User Guide as a free FAA resource — he called it one of the most overlooked publications.
• For CFI candidates, he does not ask multi-engine questions if you don't hold a multi-engine rating — a welcome relief for single-engine applicants.
• If you hold an AGI certificate, the FOI section is essentially waived down to one or two quick questions.
• Multiple pilots noted that he may hint at an earlier start time — if he says "see you at the house at 0700" when the checkride is at 0730, take that as the real start time.