Stewart Douglas Stewart DPE Checkride Gouges

Oral Emphasis

Stewart focuses heavily on whether you understand the reasoning behind your answers, not just the correct response. If you can explain the "why," you're in good shape. Pilots reported that his online lectures closely mirror his oral focus areas, so reviewing those is strongly recommended as part of your prep.

Common Questions

• Expect scenario-based and conceptual questions where you need to explain the logic or regulation behind your answer, not just state facts.
• His publicly available lectures give a strong preview of the types of topics and question styles he favors — pilots who watched them felt well-prepared.

Practical Focus

• Approaches flown included a LOC, LNAV, and LPV — and he sent the specific approaches to the applicant ahead of time so there were no surprises.
• An unpublished hold and unusual attitudes were also part of the flight portion.
• He places strong emphasis on radio communication — be precise and concise when talking to ATC.
• He allowed the applicant to take their time and didn't rush through any phase of the flight.

Examiner Style

Described as friendly, fair, and genuinely wanting pilots to succeed. He's not looking to trap you — he wants to see competence and that you care about being a safe pilot. If you make a small error, he won't immediately fail you as long as you recognize and correct it. The overall vibe is conversational and supportive rather than adversarial.

• Forgiving on altitude deviations caused by turbulence on a rough weather day.
• Sends approach plates ahead of time so you can prepare.
• One pilot liked the experience enough to want to return for their commercial checkride.

What Surprised Pilots

• Despite some negative reputation online, pilots who actually flew with him found the experience fair and even enjoyable — suggesting the bad reviews may not reflect the typical experience.
• The level of pre-checkride transparency (sending approaches in advance, having lectures publicly available) stood out as unusually helpful and not something every DPE does.