Can You Select a DPE for Your Check Ride?

Most flight schools do have favorite DPEs for check rides, but they are not usually assigned to flight schools. [Credit: Daryl LaBello/Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University]

Question: I am about to be signed off for my private pilot check ride, and I am looking for a designated pilot examiner (DPE). I understand that the check ride endorsement is only good for 60 days. The owner of the flight school says they only use a particular DPE, but he's so busy I'll have to wait two months for a check ride. A friend suggested I go out of state to find a DPE, but the CFI I have been working with says the endorsement is only good in the state where I have been training. Do I have to wait for the school DPE or can I find someone else? I really don't want to have to repeat all that training.

Answer: You can find someone else. Most flight schools do have favorite DPEs and not-so-favorite DPEs, and there are DPEs who chose not to work with particular flight schools for various reasons, but usually, DPEs are not assigned to flight schools.

The FAA has a list of available DPEs qualified to do the check ride in your area. That information can be found here.

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Once the endorsement for the check ride is in your logbook, you have 60 days to get the ride done, or else a CFI needs to give you an additional three hours of training in preparation for the check ride—the lapse of the 60 days does not mean you have to repeat all the training.

The statement that the check ride endorsement is only good in the state you have been training is inaccurate. As the FAA is a federal agency, the endorsement is good in any state. Good luck on your check ride!

READ MORE: How Do New Flight Students Obtain Credentials?

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Meg GodlewskiAuthor

Meg Godlewski has been an aviation journalist for more than 24 years and a CFI for more than 20 years. If she is not flying or teaching aviation, she is writing about it. Meg is a founding member of the Pilot Proficiency Center at EAA AirVenture and excels at the application of simulation technology to flatten the learning curve. Follow Meg on Twitter @2Lewski.