Patrick Oconnell DPE Checkride Gouges
Designated Pilot Examiner
Preparing for an FAA checkride with Designated Pilot Examiner (DPE) Patrick Oconnell? GougeHub has a first-hand Patrick Oconnell checkride gouge report from a pilot who tested. Read oral exam questions, flight test patterns, and examiner insights.
↓ View 1 available gouge reportAs of this writing, only one report is on file for Patrick Oconnell, and it covers a private pilot checkride. The pilot described Oconnell as encouraging in personality. That tone shaped the day and made the experience feel supportive rather than tense. If you tend to get nervous on checkrides, this is good news.
The report points to comprehensive study topics going into the oral. The applicant prepared across a wide range of areas rather than a narrow set. That breadth matches what a thorough PPL examiner expects. Study the full scope of the ACS instead of betting on a few favorites.
The report stays light on specific oral questions. It does not name exact systems, documents, or weather and planning prompts that came up. So treat your preparation as wide and general. Cover aircraft systems, required documents, weather products, and cross country planning the way the ACS lays them out.
The flight portion is also thin on detail in this report. No particular maneuvers or ACS flight tasks were called out. Prepare every maneuver in the standard to be safe. Practice your steep turns, stalls, ground reference work, and landings to ACS tolerances.
One report cannot capture the full pattern of any examiner. The encouraging personality is the clearest signal here, and the broad study expectation backs it up. If you fly with Oconnell next week, prepare across the whole ACS and bring calm confidence. Then add your own write up so the next applicant gets more specifics than this one offers.
Analyzed across 113 site-wide Private Pilot checkrides in the GougeHub database, the same questions keep coming up. Here’s one of the 37 in the guide:
“How do you determine if your aircraft is airworthy right now? Walk me through the required inspections.”
⚠ Common Pitfall: Use a real airworthiness checklist — there are too many details to hold in your head. Not captured in AV1ATE: all ADs must be complied with, and life-limited parts must be current (e.g., a Cirrus parachute). A classic trap is an aircraft current on its annual and 100-hour, but with an expired AD — making it unairworthy. An STC is an amendment to the type certificate and carries its own airworthiness requirements.
All 37 questions, ranked by frequency, with Examiner Insights and Common Pitfalls from 113 real checkrides — written and reviewed by Andrew Gray, CFI-II.
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Ratings & Checkride Types
- PPL (Private Pilot)
FAA Designee Information
FAA Oversight Office: Scottsdale FSDO
Status: Active Designee
- Private Pilot Examiner: Airplane Multi-Engine Land, Airplane Single Engine Land
- Commercial & Instrument Rating Examiner: Airplane Single Engine Land, Airplane Multi-Engine Land
Source: FAA Designee Management System · Verify on FAA.gov →
Transparency Disclaimer: This page summarizes patterns reported by applicants. It is not an endorsement, prediction, or guarantee of checkride outcome. Every checkride varies based on the applicant and circumstances.