"Mark James Boyd" wrote in message
news:41ce5918$1@darkstar...
Burt Compton wrote:

So if your site doesn't have an examiner, try to find / cultivate /
become a
DPE. It's good for your business - and good for soaring!

Burt Compton
Soaring Safety Foundation

Keep in mind there are some entire FSDOs that don't even HAVE
a glider-DPE. It sure would be great to fill
that up so there'd be more examiners.

Burt is absolutely right about this. There are about a 1000 DPEs
in the system, and maybe less than 100 glider DPE's. Even if
you can find one, they are often a LONG way away, so somebody ends
up travelling a lot.

So look into this. I think the minimums are 250 hours of glider
instruction
given, or thereabouts, and some other hour requirements.
If you've been CFIing for 4-5 years or more, you probably qualify
for the minimums, at least...

Cheers!
--

------------+
Mark J. Boyd
From my local perspective, there are precisely two glider DPE positons in
our FSDO and no others allowed. We did have a DPE (lives in Washington
state but can only do check rides in Montana) try to get authorization for
Colorado earlier this year, before the lastest appointment, and they
wouldn't take him on. Our most experienced DPE quit last year and the
subsequent appointment took several months. One is out of state for about
four months during the winter, the other is a bit heavy for the larger pilot
and does not yet have enough experience to do CFIG checks. We had an FAA
staffer from an adjacent FSDO in our club doing check rides, but he was
stopped from doing this and is now retired in any event.

You are right that there are some states without glider DPE's and there are
likely several good candidates lurking out there. However, unless they have
the required experience, there may still be limits on what services they can
provide in the near term also.

Frank Whiteley