Steve Anderson DPE Checkride Gouges

Oral Emphasis

Steve structures the oral portion directly around the questions you missed on your FOI and FIA knowledge tests. He'll have you teach lessons that incorporate those missed topics, so review your test report carefully before the checkride. Key technical subject areas reported include:

• FOIs: Learning process, teaching process, levels of learning (RUAC — be ready with a concrete example for each level), the explanation/demonstration teaching method and how each step applies to teaching a maneuver, and instructor professionalism and responsibilities.
• Principles of Flight: Airfoil design, how a wing stalls, and lateral/vertical/longitudinal stability — specifically how aircraft design features (dihedral, keel effect, weight distribution, sweptback wings) return the airplane to stable flight.
• Aerodynamics: Wingtip vortices, ground effect, how density altitude impacts stall speed (high DA vs. low DA), and the history behind Bernoulli's principle.
• Runway Incursions: He expects a prepared scenario that's relatable to actual training situations.
• Certificates, Documents & Endorsements: Know the required flight times and hours for a PPL checkride and be comfortable walking through logbook endorsement requirements.

Common Questions

Steve doesn't ask you to simply recite definitions or acronyms. Instead, he wants you to teach the material as if he's a student. Reported question styles include:

• Asking you to present a lesson on a topic and weave in examples a real student would relate to.
• Asking how specific aircraft design features contribute to stability — he wants you to explain the "why," not just name the concept.
• Asking about density altitude's effect on stall behavior and expecting you to compare scenarios (high DA vs. low DA).
• Occasionally asking historical or conceptual origin questions (e.g., the background of Bernoulli's principle).

Practical Focus

The flight portion was reported as relatively concise at about 1.5 hours. Notable details:

• He stated that he includes power-off 180s on every other CFI checkride, so be prepared for them even if they aren't guaranteed.
• Beyond that specific callout, expect standard CFI maneuver demonstrations — be ready to teach and explain each maneuver in the air, not just perform it.

Examiner Style

Steve is conversational and scenario-driven rather than formal or interrogative. Key style traits reported:

• He strongly prefers you use an outline of terms and talking points during your lessons rather than reading off a rigid lesson plan or rattling off memorized acronyms. He wants to see you teach, not recite.
• He values relatable, real-world examples that would actually help a student understand and remember the material.
• He tailors the checkride to your individual weaknesses based on your written test results, so no two checkrides are exactly alike.
• The ground portion is long (4-5 hours reported), so come rested and prepared to talk through topics in depth.

What Surprised Pilots

• The degree to which the oral was customized around missed written test questions — pilots recommended thoroughly reviewing your knowledge test report and being ready to teach lessons on every topic you got wrong.
• His preference for outlines over polished lesson plans caught at least one pilot's attention — he wants natural, conversational teaching, not a scripted presentation.
• The comment about power-off 180s appearing on every other CFI ride — worth preparing for even though it's not a given.