Member Services

The date of your upcoming checkride is circled in red on your calendar. As it approaches, you and your flight instructor will sit down and do some preliminary paperwork. You'll check your logbook to make sure you've completed (and your CFI has signed off) all the requirements for the desired pilot certificate or rating. Then you'll fill out an FAA Form 8710, which you will give to the designated pilot examiner (along with a few other documents) before you take the practical test. It's vital that the form be accurately completed, with no misinformation or pertinent blocks left unchecked. Otherwise, your application could languish at the FAA for months -- or worse, be disapproved (see "Boarding Pass," July 2004 AOPA Flight Training).

Fortunately, AOPA members can fill out a user-friendly online version of the form to make this process a little easier. Interactive Form 8710-1, Airman Certificate and/or Rating Application, checks your information as you enter it and flags all inconsistent or incomplete responses.

Print out the completed form, sign it, and give it to your DPE on checkride day. (AOPA interactive forms can't be sent directly to the FAA.) You have the option of storing the data on AOPA's secure Web server or deleting it at the end of your session. You can also use AOPA's interactive Form 8710 to check your data before you submit any information via the FAA's online Integrated Airmen Certificate and/or Rating Application.

The interactive Form 8710 is part of AOPA's growing selection of interactive forms, which includes the popular TurboMedical, an educational tool to help you gather the information needed for an airman medical or student pilot certificate. AOPA members, including those with free six-month AOPA Flight Training introductory memberships, are invited to try out this technology. E-mail your feedback to AOPA's Aviation Services department ([email protected]).

See AOPA Online for a complete listing of nearly 100 online forms, including the interactive Form 8710 and TurboMedical.