I never said, or even suggested, that those weren't valid questions. I was pointing out that I got them wrong. Virtually all wrong... I listed them in the same order they were asked.

Further, this guy had been an examiner on the EMB-120 for quite some time. He knows what questions folks don't know. The "push to test" light near the brake handle is not in the Embraer manuals. It wasn't covered in class (to my knowledge). So, my references would not have helped.

Same thing on the "50 feet MDA" theory. There's nothing in the regs that specify this. It's an interpretation of the regs.

For whatever reason, on a personal level, the examiner and I absolutely did not "click". The instructor I had in the sim had a pretty bad reputation as being a hard *ss, and I got along with him just fine. Same situation in the jet, I had a sim instructor with a colorful reputation. I had no problems. But, in both cases, my sim partners in both planes (CRJ and EMB) clashed with those same instructors, and both had training issues (one failed his final sim check, the other, as I mentioned, didn't get signed off for the sim check).

I've had a lot of "check rides" in my adult life. I worked at 3 separate ATC facilities, and checked out in each one. I passed the FAA Academy in OKC on the first try, which had a 50% washout rate at the time. In Oakland Center, to get area rated required something like 8 to 10 check rides over 3 to 5 years. I checked out where another 40% did not.

At SoCal approach, certification took 6 check rides over typically one to two years. And Camarillo tower required two check rides over less than a year. Plus, obviously passing all my pilot certificates, and the CRJ course. Miscellaneous other check outs, too.

I had laid out all my documents for the examiner. When he arrived, he commented favorably on that. I mentioned that I've done this checkout thing a few times in my life, and mentioned my ATC background. He said that he had wanted to be a controller (at one time) too.

It seemed we might develope some kind of rapport, and he went right into the questions. Of course, I'll never know, but I wonder if he was a former ATC washout. We had lots of 'em, and as a young guy, I was as arrogant as any 30 year old making almost 100k year (in the early 1990's). Could have been an issue.

I really hate thinking those thoughts, 'cuz it deflects from the reality. I failed where other succeeded. There were many, many factors. I can tell ya that 4am every morning was getting old. Doing ground in SLC, then FTD in FAT, and sim in LGB, all without any appreciable break was tough.

The pressure of knowing you were committed to either passing or being fired even affected the folks who breezed through the program (except for me and my sim partner, everybody else was under 30).