Rental Checkride?

I was just checking the rental terms at an FBO in the city I plan to visit
over Christmas.

I've got most of my hours in the type I wanted to rent and the FBO said
they want 3 takes offs and landings, then a power on and power off stall.
They charge the time to do this as dual.

I can see 20 minutes of landings, then a climb to do the power on and off
stalls... depending on traffic, it seems like it would take .75 to 1.0 dual
hobbs time. Basically, I'd spend more money on the checkride than I
intended to spend on the actual flight.

Is this a little stiff or is it the normal practice?

--
Dallas

On Dec 6, 10:23 am, Dallas wrote:
I was just checking the rental terms at an FBO in the city I plan to visit
over Christmas.

I've got most of my hours in the type I wanted to rent and the FBO said
they want 3 takes offs and landings, then a power on and power off stall.
They charge the time to do this as dual.

I can see 20 minutes of landings, then a climb to do the power on and off
stalls... depending on traffic, it seems like it would take .75 to 1.0 dual
hobbs time. Basically, I'd spend more money on the checkride than I
intended to spend on the actual flight.

Is this a little stiff or is it the normal practice?

It's pretty normal. Sometimes they claim its an insurance requirement
but of the FBO policies I've seen I've not seen one that actually says
what a check out includes (other than landings).

-Robert

On 12/6/2007 1:23:39 PM, Dallas wrote:

Is this a little stiff or is it the normal practice?

I would say it is normal. The one time I rented far from home I had to go
through a three hours checkride for a C172S rental, a model in which I had
about 500 hours at the time, at an FBO in Palm Springs, CA.

Look at it this way: It is always valuable to have a different instructor
evaluating your piloting skills. If you are fortunate you might actually
receive some previously unknown tips or lessons from the instructor during
your checkride.

--
Peter

This is an excellent point Peter. I have never come away from an episode
of dual instruction without
feeling I had improved or restored some skill, or learned something
operational that I had never considered.

Sometimes, if there is an age, or experience, difference between myself and
the instructor I suggest
that even if they are an absolute hard ass about how I conduct myself in the
airplane for the next hour or two that
I'm still as likely to be a good friend and a frequent flying partner. I
am expecting a learner/mentor relationship
even in a straightforward rental check and am looking forward to a good
workout.

Also consider, unless the boys in the other thread successfully reform our
tort system-- the young men and women
who check us out, and the barely profitable operations which rent the
airplanes to us, are engendering some liability
when they engage us as customers. I am suprised most operations are not
more "defensive."

Todd


"Peter R." wrote in message
...
Look at it this way: It is always valuable to have a different instructor
evaluating your piloting skills. If you are fortunate you might actually
receive some previously unknown tips or lessons from the instructor during
your checkride.

--
Peter

Todd W. Deckard wrote:
This is an excellent point Peter. I have never come away from an episode
of dual instruction without
feeling I had improved or restored some skill, or learned something
operational that I had never considered.

The Wings program has a flight portion for a reason.

On Thu, 6 Dec 2007 13:46:08 -0500, Peter R. wrote:

I had to go through a three hours checkride for a C172S rental,
a model in which I had about 500 hours at the time

Three hours? Can I assume a large part of that was on the ground?

Did you consider those requirements fair?


--
Dallas

On 12/7/2007 12:57:01 AM, Dallas wrote:

Three hours? Can I assume a large part of that was on the ground?

Did you consider those requirements fair?

In this case I got my money's worth: I had the instructor take me up to Big
Bear airport, an airport at 6,752 feet elevation about 45 minutes flight from
Palm Springs, for a high altitude airport checkout/lesson.

Now that you mention it there may have been some ground instruction; I don't
recall now. This was back in early 2003.


--
Peter

Dallas wrote:
I was just checking the rental terms at an FBO in the city I plan to visit
over Christmas.

I've got most of my hours in the type I wanted to rent and the FBO said
they want 3 takes offs and landings, then a power on and power off stall.
They charge the time to do this as dual.

I can see 20 minutes of landings, then a climb to do the power on and off
stalls... depending on traffic, it seems like it would take .75 to 1.0 dual
hobbs time. Basically, I'd spend more money on the checkride than I
intended to spend on the actual flight.

Is this a little stiff or is it the normal practice?

My check flights usually went like this;
I'd always start you off by asking you some weight and balance questions
based on the specific airplane being checked out.
By the time I had watched you preflight the airplane I pretty much knew
what to expect from you in the air.
By the time we reached the end of the runway I had either verified my
initial impression or based on your performance that far, made a mental
list of things I wanted to verify in the air.
By the time you rotated, climbed to altitude and leveled the airplane I
had a good idea of your general flying abilities.
At this point I would have you fly the airplane at minimum controllable
airspeed and note your skill and comfort level doing that.
Then I'd have you do a simple stall series power on and off going as
deep with the stall configurations as I deemed necessary as you
progressed while performing them.
Then we'd go into the pattern where we'd do a power approach and one
with no power available from the key position, preferably on a crosswind
runway.
If this all went well, you'd get the airplane.

Generally, this can be done in an hour if all goes well. This should be
about standard in the industry unless the pilot being checked out is
known to the operation and/or the check pilot. Expect this if coming in
cold asking for a check ride.

--
Dudley Henriques

Dallas wrote:
I was just checking the rental terms at an FBO in the city I plan to visit
over Christmas.

I've got most of my hours in the type I wanted to rent and the FBO said
they want 3 takes offs and landings, then a power on and power off stall.
They charge the time to do this as dual.

I can see 20 minutes of landings, then a climb to do the power on and off
stalls... depending on traffic, it seems like it would take .75 to 1.0 dual
hobbs time. Basically, I'd spend more money on the checkride than I
intended to spend on the actual flight.

Is this a little stiff or is it the normal practice?


That's not uncommon at all. After all, they don't know you
from Adam so they want to make sure you are in fact a safe
and competent pilot before they rent you an airplane.

Once you are checked out you will be able to rent from them
anytime.

Dallas wrote:

Is this a little stiff or is it the normal practice?


It's more normal than not, in my experience.

On past sightseeing trips in places I don't go to often, I've just
brought the CFI with us, skipping the formal checkride.