Michael Phillips DPE Checkride Gouges

Two reports are on file for Michael Phillips, both for the commercial certificate. One was a retest covering the Power-Off 180 and Area of Operation V onward. The pilots describe an examiner who emphasizes exact answers, prepared documents, and ACS standards throughout.

The oral was short on the retest since it picked up where the prior attempt left off. He discussed the flight briefing, which was a cross country using pilotage and dead reckoning. He gave the option between chandelles or lazy eights, and between steep turns or a steep spiral for performance maneuvers. He explained upfront that a scenario would come, and he expects immediate action on it. He also explained an emergency scenario where you do not cut the mixture or turn off the fuel selector. Questions come during the flight, and he expects answers within a reasonable timeframe, workload permitting.

The flight departed Glendale and followed the cross country navlog. He gave the scenario right after the first checkpoint at Glendale Power Plant. The divert was to Wickenburg to pick up a document, then continue to Flagstaff. He worked with Luke Approach to navigate within the SATR airspace.

Maneuvers ran through slow flight into a power-off stall transition, then a chandelle. A power-on stall followed, then steep turns and an accelerated stall. The emergency was an engine fire with an emergency descent near the glider port, then eights on pylons. He briefs which stalls go to first indication versus full break beforehand.

The return to Glendale included a go-around evaluation due to a straight-in landing instruction, then a Power-Off 180. One pilot noted his landing was not the prettiest but stayed within ACS standards. He tests by the book without tricks, and a pin comes with the pass.