Are checkouts necessary from every flight school you rent from?

Question

If I can fly a Cessna 172 in one flight school why need an additional check out at a different flight school to fly the same type of airplane? Everytime I wanna fly somewhere different I need a check out. It's too costly and time consuming. Doesn't it make sense to just have a common or universal check out to satisfy all flight schools?

Answer 1

Faking a check out is easy.  This way the flight school (1) make more money (2) make sure that you REALLY know how to fly.

When a flight instructor signs you off, he is putting his own license on the line.  So allowing a stranger to come in and get signed off (without checkout flight) is putting his license for a stranger.

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I also Scuba Dive.  And even though check out dives are recommended, it is NOT required.  And often divers end up injured because of it.  But with airplanes, a simple mistake also kills people on the ground.

Good Luck...

Answer 2

I have yet to see anywhere you can rent an airplane without a checkout.  

This isn't so much a school requirement as an insurance requirement. Many places require a certain number of hours in a particular type of plane before a pilot is allowed to rent the plane, even after the checkout. This is an insurance thing.

I have never had a tough checkout, I wouldn't say they are costly or time consuming. All of my checkouts have been between 1 and 1.5 hours. Hardly a costly investment. I understand your point, I'd rather not pay the extra money and the hour of my time but in the end, its an hour.  On the plus side it gives you a chance to go fly with a new instructor and probably learn something new that you otherwise wouldn't have learned.

Once you spend more time flying you'll realize the insurance companies have their fingers in everything. Its just how it goes.

Answer 3

That makes sense, but the flight school is doing it to cover their own backside. If you bend their airplane, they get to eat the airplane payment until it's repaired or replaced.