[quote=TonyWilliams;485243]
Oral started like this:
1. How long is the temporary airman certificate good for? I said 90 days, answer 120 (I think a temp aircraft registration is 90) WRONG
2. If you lost the temp certificate, what do you need from the company? I said some kind of letter or copy of certificate. WRONG, illegal to copy temp certificate, need exemption 5585.
3. If you flew 8 hours, what is normal rest? I said 9. WRONG. It's 10, 'cuz the rule is less than OR EQUAL TO 8 hours equals 10. 9 hour rest is for LESS THAN 8 hours.
4. What does the F stand for in ALSF-2 and the R in MALSR? I had no frigging idea. WRONG (flashing and runway)
5. When you get to DH on the ILS, and see the approach lights, how low can you descend? Me, "100 AGL". Ok, you see the red terminating bar, how low? I said continue the descent (word for word out of the reg). He says no, it's 50 feet (basically the landing threshold crossing height) until you see the runway lights/markings (except centerline lights).
Not sure I still buy off on that. Surely, you can't land, but I've never seen any altitude restriction, nor is there a callout for that, or training on that.
I fail to understand how the ability to recite answers to obscure questions like a trained ape will guarantee the ability to be a successful pilot/captain. If a person is an unsafe/arrogant jackass or just plain can't do the job, then that is a different story. The way I see it, the point of the above exercise is just to boost someone's ego (at the expense of someone else). In the ATC world, most veteran controllers that I know of would just tell this pompous examiner to "go pi$$ up a rope." Does this mean that they are less safe or competent?! Don't get me wrong, as ATC certainly has its share of pr!cks and the training could last a long time (especially at the busier facilities), but the process was normally when the trainee acquired a certain number of hours and his/her trainers thought that they were ready the supervisor gave them a checkride (which was usually just a formality). And I don't think that the system is any less safe as a result. However, when a person is so uptight because they are afraid to make a mistake (e.g. in these part 121 checkrides), then in my opinion they are less effective and safety is degraded as a result.