Pilot's personality

[Waterobert]

Yesterday at my flying school student failed his practical test for the third time. When I asked my instructor if he knows what went wrong, he told me that that student has all the skills needed to fly an airplane however he is not a people person and have tendency to blame others for his own mistakes. My instructor didn't want to talk about other student's issues with me in more details. What qualities examiner is looking for and what issues he dosent want to see in new pilots ? Thank you for your opinions.

 

[Nickb145]

I think it also really depends on the examiner. There are examiners that make you feel like "you don't know anything as much as I do" and take your money kind of examiners and those that make you learn through out the checkride and want you to pass . I bombed my multi commercial oral simply because i felt like I didn't know jack squat. Even though i had plenty of time, I kept second guessing myself.

If a student fails more than once with the same examiner, there might be a personality conflict between the examiner and the student.

if they were different examiners, then it's the student. Just my thought

I would say get the student into an improv class. That way they can act impulsively and get used to pressure.

 

[mturnerb]

It is entirely possible (likely?) that the examiner is doing exactly the right thing. From studying accident reports it's clear that there are some personalities/people who just don't "get it" when it comes to humility/learning from one's own mistakes. IMHO this is why many pilots with superb natural skills get in trouble while the more cautious "average" pilots are safer and more successful over time.

We've all seen these personality types - in my experience these are the guys/girls who just know that the boss/business will be better off if they just "listen to me", despite limited experience and knowledge.

The best thing that may come from this is a realization on the student's part that self-criticism and accepting constructive criticism from others are skills a pilot must have to be safe and successful in the long term.

 

[David-aviator]

Yesterday at my flying school student failed his practical test for the third time. When I asked my instructor if he knows what went wrong, he told me that that student has all the skills needed to fly an airplane however he is not a people person and have tendency to blame others for his own mistakes. My instructor didn't want to talk about other student's issues with me in more details. What qualities examiner is looking for and what issues he dosent want to see in new pilots ? Thank you for your opinions.

Flight checks are supposed to conducted in accordance with Practical Test Standards for the rating desired. If he flunked 3 times he is not suited to be a good pilot or training was not up to PTS speed.

 

[esco]

Check the PTS

What qualities examiner is looking for and what issues he dosent want to see in new pilots ? Thank you for your opinions.

To your question:

1. What the FAA is looking for is in the Practical Test Standards; examiners should be looking for the same qualities.

2. What examiners are looking for generally, and what causes failures on the Practical, are well-documented. Google is your friend...

3. What a specific examiner is looking for can be determined using 1 & 2 above, then asking that examiner.

 

[curtis]

Maybe I don't remember the Regulations and PTS, but I don't recall having to have people skills as a prerequisite for being a private pilot. If he has all of the skills to pass then the IP is playing god. Typically in a flight school you have to pass a pre-check ride by another instructor before going before the actual check ride. Doesn't say much for the guy that signed him off to go take the check ride if he wasn't/or isn't ready.

The comments I made were based upon the OPs statement "...he told me that that student has all the skills needed to fly an airplane...

I would go and find someone else for my check ride if I met all of the required requirements.

Just my two cents.

 

[jclark]

Maybe I don't remember the Regulations and PTS, but I don't recall having to have people skills as a prerequisite for being a private pilot. If he has all of the skills to pass then the IP is playing god. Typically in a flight school you have to pass a pre-check ride by another instructor before going before the actual check ride. Doesn't say much for the guy that signed him off to go take the check ride if he wasn't/or isn't ready.

I would go and find someone else for my check ride.

Just my two cents.

I recall that back when I took my Private checkride, my instructor reminded me that the examiners know that most people that are signed off for the ride will have the necessary skills and that what I needed to keep in mind was the examiner wanted to see that I had SAFE, LOGICAL decision making skills.

The point being that the examiner may cut some slack on being just a little off the flight game if you knew it, expressed and showed that you were correcting. Also, if there as somethng happeing around you that you assess and made a SAFE decision on vourse of action.

I can still recall the "distraction" that my examiner gave me. It was during simulated engine out. I think that she wanted to see that I "flew the plane" and didn't get distracted from that and then blame her.

She also, rather smartly got me oriented at one airport who runways looked just like the runways of the intended airport. And as I was about to proceed, gave me another verbal sort of distraction. What she did was very good. But I could see someone saying "that would never happen in the real world and she should not have done that and therefore it was not my fault that I was headed in the wrong direction".

In my mind, that would send me back for another try at it.

 

[Waterobert]

I don't know what exactly went wrong , but not everyone has what it takes to be a good pilot. Examiner needs to feel safe with the future pilot. Perhaps pilot's argumentative nature didn't sit well with examiner. When you are near a big airport nobody needs a pilot who argues with tower over his landing clearance. Anyway, my instructor told me that you need to show not only your flying skills but also you need to show that you are safe to everyone in the air.

 

[LettersFromFlyoverCountry]

Any chance he wilts under the pressure of checkrides?

My instructor way back right after my first checkride "failure" said "it's always the ones who I think will sail through who flunk."

I hate checkrides. I'm not all that comfortable with BFRs. But I'm a heck of a good pilot.

 

[g zero]

Personality

Not everyone passes . Maybe the examiner is doing his job , and keeping this guy from killing himself and others .

 

[Waterobert]

Not everyone passes . Maybe the examiner is doing his job , and keeping this guy from killing himself and others .

You are right about that. Sometimes people are clueless that they have a problem until someone gets hurt.

 

[Infidel]

Yesterday at my flying school student failed his practical test for the third time. When I asked my instructor if he knows what went wrong, he told me that that student has all the skills needed to fly an airplane however he is not a people person and have tendency to blame others for his own mistakes. My instructor didn't want to talk about other student's issues with me in more details. What qualities examiner is looking for and what issues he dosent want to see in new pilots ? Thank you for your opinions.

I know a few pilots that can fly an airplane but when it comes to knowing FAR's, procedures, and airspace, they haven't a clue. And they've taken the position that they know what they're doing and it doesn't matter what is said or done. They won't change or strive to be better. "Personality!"

My opinion on this particular case cited is: there is a good chance this student is a complete A..hole. During my check ride I was a complete mess, "test" anxiety and I made sure my examiner knew it. It probably didn't hurt that I treated him with the utmost respect with manners either. I knew he had something I wanted badly and my type A personality wasn't going to interfere with that.

If the student fails a certain requirement during a check ride, he/she can elect to continue onto the next phase, granted, the examiner doesn't dictate otherwise for a safety concern, and perform the other requirements. The student can reschedule for another check ride and address the issue(s) that failed them. It happened to a friend who failed the navigation aspect. He continued and passed everything else. He rescheduled a week later and the examiner tested him solely on navigation on his second attempt.