Mark Montague DPE Checkride Gouges

Oral Emphasis

Montague leans heavily into weather knowledge, airspace, and regulations. Expect to discuss atmospheric stability, lenticular clouds, and the difference between SPECI and METAR reports. He also focuses on NTSB reporting requirements — he uses real-world scenarios (like a passenger injury) to test whether you actually know what's reportable and what isn't. Airspace planning is a big deal: understand terminal area charts, airways, and be ready to plan your navlog through Class C airspace and any active TFRs (Beale AFB TFR is a likely topic).

Common Questions

• Questions about aircraft systems at a deeper level — for example, why control surfaces like ailerons and flaps are corrugated, not just what they do.
• Scenario-based NTSB reporting questions to see if you can distinguish between what must be reported and what doesn't need to be.
• Weather interpretation: stable vs. unstable atmosphere, cloud types and what they indicate, and how SPECI reports differ from routine METARs.
• Expect him to probe your knowledge of ICEFLAGS and TTMCPRAWNS mnemonics.

Practical Focus

• Soft field takeoff and landing — he gave the entire runway to work with, so don't expect a short-field setup for this maneuver.
• Stalls performed with a bank angle (around 15°), not just wings-level.
• Slow flight conducted in clean configuration (no flaps).

Examiner Style

Montague is conversational and will talk through topics with you rather than firing off rapid quiz-style questions. He's not trying to trick you — he genuinely wants to see that you understand the material. He's a big advocate of talking to ATC and using flight following; he values pilots who communicate and appreciate having "an extra set of eyes" from controllers. If you show that mindset, you'll be speaking his language.

What Surprised Pilots

• The aircraft systems question about corrugated control surfaces caught pilots off guard — it's a design/engineering detail most students don't study.
• Stalls with a bank angle rather than wings-level was unexpected.
• His emphasis on wanting pilots to actively use ATC services and plan routes through controlled airspace (rather than around it) stood out as a philosophical preference, not just a test topic.