Sport Pilot Examiner (SPE) = Designated Pilot Examiner (DPE)

Just like private pilots who are certificated to fly standard category aircraft (what most people think of as airplanes), the sport pilot has to go through a “final exam” or what is known in the aviation world as a “checkride” to finally obtain their license to fly with a passenger on board their aircraft and operate as pilot in command or PIC.  This is done after the sport pilot candidate finishes all of their required aeronautical experience, including required training, and receives a passing sport pilot knowledge test report.

The sport pilot examiner, or the SPE, is category specific just like the sport pilot knowledge tests.  The examiner must first be rated as a sport pilot in a specific category/class, then complete a sport pilot certified flight instructor rating in the same category/class and then build a minimum standard of flight hours prior to taking an examiner written knowledge test and passing a grueling week of training and checkrides of their own administered by the Light Sport Aviation Branch, also known as AFS-610, within the Federal Aviation Administration.

Standard aircraft category designated pilot examiners (also know as a DPE), test pilot candidates in standard category aircraft for specific ratings from recreational pilot right up through to the ATP levels.  The DPE is assigned to a FSDO (pronounced ‘fizz doe’ which stands for Flight Standards District Office) and administers checkrides for the pilot candidates that operate within their specific regions.  The DPE can only operate within their assigned regions in the categories light sport aircraft that they are endorsed to examine.

The initial groups of sport pilot examiners have been assigned the region of “the entire United States”.  What that means is the examiner can travel, or candidates can travel to them, for the purpose of testing for their sport pilot certification.  This has been done as a way to help build the initial infrastructure of the sport pilot rule.  The light sport aircraft categories are many and the current qualified examiner candidates are limited in many of these categories; by assigning the examiners “no boundaries” AFS-610 has created opportunities for sport pilot candidates that would be unobtainable had they instilled the DPE boundaries of the current FSDO territories.  As with any “new project” building a foundation of qualified aircraft, instructors and examiners is the largest wall for AFS-610 in initiating the sport pilot rule.

Each category of light sport aircraft has its own specific set of required aeronautical experience that is required for the candidate to meet prior to taking your checkride and the SPE is required to make sure as a candidate that your logbook reflects these requirements.  The checkride itself is broken down into two parts: the oral exam and the practical exam.  The SPE is required to conduct the checkride in a particular sequence and administer the exam to the specifications laid out in the practical test standards, better known as the PTS.  The PTS is broken down into areas or operation and the examiner lays out a plan of action that follows the category/class privileges matrixes established by the PTS and the TASKS that are required to be satisfactorily completed by the sport pilot candidate.

Even though this process sounds complicated, your flight instructor will teach you the aeronautical knowledge and the abilities to fly by this standard and the PTS will become the standard to which you operate your aircraft too during all flights.  The areas of operation are broken down into ten comprehensive operational areas that will test your newly acquired pilotage skills.  They include:

• Preflight Preparation
• Preflight Procedures
• Airport Markings and Lighting
• Takeoffs, Landings, and Go-Arounds
• Performance Maneuvers
• Ground Reference Maneuvers
• Navigation
• Slow Flight and Stall
• Emergency Operations
• Postflight Procedures

Your oral exam will take approximately 3 to 4 hours to complete and the practical exam, or actual flight portion, will be accomplished in around an hour of flight time in the aircraft category/class you are seeking privileges in.  The flight portion of the checkride must be conducted in an N numbered airplane; an airplane that is registered and has been inspected for airworthiness by a designated airworthiness representative of the FAA.

Remember, the sport pilot rating is not category specific.  Once certificated as a sport pilot your category is represented by a logbook endorsement that states what category/class of light sport aircraft you have been certificated or endorsed to fly.  Additional endorsements in other categories of light sport can be added to your rating by meeting the required aeronautical experience requirements and by receiving the proper endorsements by your flight instructors and taking a subsequent proficiency test in those categories.

Just like the standard category examiners the sport pilot examiners are additionally endorsed to quality to be sport flight instructor examiners or SFIE.  They too are endorsed as category/class specific.  Once certificated as a sport pilot you are required to complete a satisfactory flight review every two years to evaluate your currency and maintain your privileges as a sport pilot.  This process is completed by a certified flight instructor in the category/class that you are seeking your review in.

A complete listing of current SPE/SFIE and the category/class that they are rated in can be obtained at:

http://www.faa.gov/licenses_certificates/airmen_certification/sport_pilot/

About the Author
Robin Burpee is the owner/manager at Destination Flight located at the Three Rivers Airport in Three Rivers Michigan.