Checkride: Signs, Signs, Everywhere Signs

Naturally it would be that airplane, in that tie-down spot. Of course my principal operations inspector would be aboard. Several years ago my one-year designation neared its end, and because of our Flight Standards District Office's (FSDO) high workload and low budget, getting the inspector to observe my conduct of a practical test had been a major scheduling challenge. Designated pilot examiners (DPEs) must renew certification for that authority yearly, and my FSDO insists on only one of several official renewal options: direct observation of a live practical test.

My authorization's last day had arrived, and the instrument rating applicant at hand was the only person available for nearly two weeks. He was nervous, as is always the case for checkride applicants. Having a passenger aboard the airplane during his test-a passenger who represented the FAA-compounded his anxiety. I did my best to be calm and reassuring.

During the practical test's ground portion I had used a sampling of airport-marking flash cards appropriate to the privileges sought, and the applicant had performed well in identifying them and relating what actions he would take upon encountering them. Soon we were at the airplane observing his preflight actions and observing local traffic flows and conditions. Surface winds dictated a departure from Runway 31, instead of our customary 19 Right or 1 Left. So the applicant asked me how to get to the "crosswind runway" as he stated that he had never used it in all of his training. The operations inspector looked at me, amused. I found myself repeating my familiar mantra, "I am just a passenger on this flight; you are pilot in command." I felt confident in this applicant, knowing that airport markings would direct him to that unfamiliar run-up pad.

His scrutiny of the yellow pavement stripes in front of his airplane did intrigue me. One solid yellow stripe boldly jutted right and left a few yards from the airplane's nose, perpendicular to where it sat tied down. Another yellow stripe, narrow, ancient, long faded, and nearly invisible, closely paralleled its newer, wider neighbor. Behind us, the sun cast a sharp, spinner-shape shadow on the newer taxi line as if pointing to the appropriate marking. Puzzlement still clouded his face as he herded the inspector and me into the airplane.

Preflight complete, the applicant briefed his passengers, started the engine, and obtained a taxi clearance. Then it happened. He gently powered out of the tie-down spot, and in an action that I at first took to be his immediate brake check upon initial taxi, the nose arced left, away from that newer, wider single yellow line. In unison the incredulous inspector and I swiveled our heads left and trembled at the sight of our port wing tip by the thickness of a teenager's beard missing the windscreen of the airplane parked next to us. Oh, how I despised having to utter the words, "That is disqualifying." Why was this applicant's action disqualifying? Was it unfair that what he took to be a double-yellow paint stripe actually was the taxiway centerline?

The second question's answer is simply no. Airport markings exist to minimize the risk of aircraft ground collision and other problems. As to the first question, markings and signage supplement, but never replace, pilot judgment. Wing tips invading the cockpits of parked airplanes usually do not indicate good judgment.

Judgment applies to airport markings in an extra-special way when those markings are temporary, and temporary markings exist for many reasons. Section 2 of the Aeronautical Information Manual's (AIM) second chapter has a usable discussion on airport markings. Today it even includes correct colors supplemented with color photographs.

Pilots, including pilot applicants, should be aware that many of these markings may be temporary when the need exists. When pilots are in situations that take them regularly to familiar airports, they may not even notice when changes are made-even when those changes are anything but subtle!

One (among several) such events that I have witnessed included a hazy, dusty summer morning when resurfacing crewmen were hard at their task, the runway cluttered with temporary, yellow-fabric "runway closed" markings for their protection. Whether these workers had nerves of steel or simply did not notice the approaching Aerostar bearing down on them, I certainly noticed the sound of the sleek twin. If airplanes can sound surprised, startled, anxious, or frightened, this one sounded all of them as it powered away from the DayGlo-clad workmen on its desperate go around. A few calmer minutes later it landed on another runway. Had that been a checkride, most DPEs would have issued a notice of disapproval for that demonstration.

Temporary markings look exactly like the markings shown in the AIM. The difference is that they are not normally painted on the surface. They may be strips of fabric, lengths of painted snow fence, or even chalky powder. Telling your examiner about these during the ground portion is good. Recognizing them and responding accordingly in the aircraft is much better.

During the ground portion of a practical test, when applicants are firm in their knowledge, it shows. That is usually a good thing. Sometimes, however, applicants confuse knowledge with assumption. For example, I have heard a number of confident applicants express their knowledge of airport signs and markings, firmly and accurately. Then they allowed human nature to take over, and at least some would embellish their knowledge as if to underscore the concrete firmness of their education. One particular subject on which many applicants felt firm in their knowledge is runway distance remaining markers. Square panels swathed in black with starkly contrasting white numbers standing at permanent attention along some runway edges, these monuments to aviators' caution clearly announce how many thousand feet of runway remain for an aircraft to safely come to a halt or suffer the consequences. Six thousand. Five thousand. Four thousand. So on. Applicants often speak of these, and then proclaim that these exist only at major airports' lengthy runways. While such a statement might not earn a notice of disapproval, these applicants are surprised when shown a photograph of a runway, devoid even of a centerline, basking in a summer landscape. One would not suspect that the foreign strip is anything but a gravelly country road-except for the black squares that alert any pilot viewing the tranquil scene: five thousand, four thousand....

Even private airports far away from major metropolitan areas can have these markings and signs. That universality is one reason pilots must know them-and why examiners must test that knowledge.

Dave Wilkerson is a designated pilot examiner, writer/photographer, and historian. He has been a certificated flight instructor since 1981 with approximately 2,000 hours of dual instruction, and is a single- and multiengine commercial-rated pilot.