Ronald Leo Horton DPE Checkride Gouges

As of this writing, only one report is on file for Ronald Leo Horton, and it covers a commercial pilot ride from May 2026. The standout detail is "The Book." Horton sends it the day you get your ride date, along with your route. It tells you pretty much everything you will talk about on the oral. One applicant called it like having the oral on paper ahead of time, and said he writes his own gouge.

The Book is titled COM Practical and covers the pilot and the airplane in detail. For the pilot, it lists your IACRA paper copy that your CFI approved but you have not signed yet. You sign in front of Horton before the test starts. It also wants your hours summary with tabbed cross-country and night VFR flights, plus your IACRA login and password ready to go.

For the airplane, he wants you to understand the maintenance summary completely. Bring tabbed maintenance logbooks or copies, and pictures are fine. Have the most recent 100 hour and annual entries for airframe, prop, and engine. Have the most recent AD status list too, plus a weight and balance for the day.

He gets firmer on carriage operations, performance charts, weight and balance, and advanced systems you might fly as a commercial pilot. The pilot said everything in the book got asked, but the oral was not heavy on questions. Horton likes to talk and explain things after, even when you answer correctly. They got into pressurization a little, then flew.

For the retractable gear, make a small sheet and add the VNE and VNO. Know the type of system and the emergency procedure. He does not dig deep into the systems. He just wants to know it is hydraulically actuated or jack screws and gearboxes, and how the emergency works.