This guide meant to be helpful to applicants. This explanation is provided so that you can save yourself the cost of a discontinued test or a disapproval. Read on and use the info to make your test go smoothly. This info is important because if the aircraft isn’t airworthy and I figure it out prior to the test then we can’t begin the test. If the aircraft isn’t airworthy and you attempt to go fly it, then the test will be disapproved.
AROW
You know you need the AROW docs in the aircraft, student pilot 101. But here’s some other gotchas. The airworthiness certificate can’t be so tattered and worn that there are missing pieces of information. The registration cannot be expired. The POH needs to be serial number specific unless the aircraft was manufactured before 1979. The weight and balance needs to be accurate to the aircraft, if the autopilot was removed last week but the most recent weight and balance is from 2 years ago you have an issue. FIX IT BEFORE THE CHECKRIDE!!
AVIATE
This is also basic pilot knowledge, and generally the AVIATE items are pretty easy to identify except the AD’s – those can be tricky. Be sure to truth test what you see in the logs in terms of AD compliance with the ADs for your aircraft, engine and propellor. You can go to drs.faa.gov and lookup all the ADs for the aircraft and then figure out if the maintenance staff is tracking and complying with all ADs. If you find an issue ask questions and get clear about your aircraft BEFORE THE CHECKRIDE!!
INOPERATIVE EQUIPMENT
This is probably the most common gotcha. Often I see inoperative equipment not addressed, or addressed incorrectly. Folks want to jump to 91.205 and tell me it’s not required by 91.205; ok, sure… but if you review 91.213 then you see there’s a larger process. If you get cross eyed looking at 91.213 then you are not alone. Google “91.213 flow chart” and you’ll find various graphical examples of how a person properly follows 91.213 evaluating their inop item against 91.205, KOEL, MEL, AC TCDS, ADs, STCs, etc. Once all those resources clear your item as not required it still needs to be either removed (yea you need a weight and balance update) or disabled/disconnected and placarded. But that’s not all – in both cases the logs need to be updated with the mechanic stating either they removed the thing or disabled/disconnected and placarded the thing. In some cases the pilot might be able to disable and placard the device by pulling and collaring a breaker and putting an inop sticker on the item and recording it in the logs; however, if you don’t own the plane I recommend not doing that and instead leaving that process to the owner or their mechanic.
91.405
You’ve probably never read this regulation. That’s OK, go read it now. Here’s the deal… the FAA allows stuff to be inoperative per 91.213, however if it’s going to be inoperative from one inspection to another and not be repaired then the regs require that each time the aircraft is inspected (100 hr or annual) the inoperative items need to be inspected again and the mechanic should verify the item is properly placarded and still safe to be inoperative and document it. So, as an example, if the autopilot has been inop for as long as you’ve been renting the plane, then there should be some form of notation with each 100 hour and annual stating the inoperative item has been re-evaluated and is still acceptable for continued flight. Now some folks may attempt to argue that is not what this regulation is about. To make it amply clear the FAA also released a legal interpretation you can review:
OTHER MISC GOTCHAS
Take your time when doing your preflight inspection, use a critical eye to evaluate the aircraft you are climbing into. You see dry rotted tires (no go), no tread on the tires (no go), fuel gauges that always read full or empty (no go), warning lights that have been painted over (no go), missing fasteners (no go), items that clearly don’t work but there is no placard (no go). Cracks in general are not allowed to be simply stop drilled if the crack is longer than 2”, so showing up to the test with a 6” long crack in your wing tip would be a no go.