Scott Alan Eslinger DPE Checkride Gouges
Designated Pilot Examiner
Preparing for an FAA checkride with Designated Pilot Examiner (DPE) Scott Alan Eslinger? GougeHub has a first-hand Scott Alan Eslinger 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 sits on file for Scott Alan Eslinger, and it covers a PPL checkride. The pilot described a fast-paced ride that leaned hard on the ACS. If you like to think out loud and stall for time, plan ahead. This examiner keeps things moving and expects you to keep up.
The oral centered on details that pilots often skim past. Know how to find and calculate the Maximum Elevation Figure on a sectional chart. The pilot called this out directly, so be ready to walk through MEF without hesitation. That kind of chart reading shows the examiner you actually use the tools, not just memorize them.
Weather came up through METAR work, with attention to the remarks section. Plenty of applicants read the body of a METAR and ignore the remarks, but that gap will show here. Practice decoding the remarks until they read plainly to you. Know what each entry means and why it matters for your flight.
The pilot also warned about sneaky gotchas tied to the ACS. These are the small questions that trip you up when you assume the obvious answer. Read the ACS task by task and think about where a careful examiner could press you. Scott Alan Eslinger seems to enjoy finding the edges of what you know.
The single report focuses on the oral topics above and does not spell out the flight maneuvers in detail. Treat the standard PPL flight tasks as fair game and fly to ACS tolerances. Prepare your MEF, your METAR remarks, and your chart skills first, since those are the named emphasis areas. If you fly with this examiner soon, add your own write-up so the next pilot knows more.
Examiner Patterns
Preliminary insight — based on 1 report
- Oral style: 1 pilot reported the examiner walked through ACS task areas sequentially
- Oral duration: 1 pilot reported — under 1 hour
- Flight duration: 1 pilot reported — under 1 hour
Based on self-reported pilot submissions. Data methodology
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:
“Describe the different classes of airspace and their VFR weather minimums.”
⚠ Common Pitfall: Class D often reverts to Class G (or another class per the chart supplement) when the tower closes. The examiner may point to a spot and ask you to describe the airspace — Class G can be tricky, so know where it starts per the chart. Watch the floor of Class E: it can be the surface, 700 AGL, 1,200 AGL, or 14,500 MSL. And remember Class E is still controlled even though you needn’t talk to anyone VFR — there may be IFR traffic in it.
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: Kansas City FSDO
Status: Active Designee
- Private Pilot Examiner: Airplane Single Engine Land, Rotorcraft Helicopter
- Commercial & Instrument Rating Examiner: Airplane Single Engine Land
- CE: Rotorcraft Helicopter
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.