Frank Brooks Black

Verified pilot · CFI · Oct 2014

Did my CFI initial (instrument) with him. He is a fair guy. Oral was good. He knows right away if you know your stuff. It was a fast checkride, he almost fell asleep.

Verified pilot · CFII · Mar 2015

Brooks Black is what DPEs should strive to be. He is by the book, he knows immediately if you know your stuff or not. The distractions in the flight portion are real life, no tricks. Very up front on what hes going to expect. I did my CFII initial with him. If you pass, you deserve it.

Verified pilot · CFII · Mar 2015

I just did my CFII initial ride with Brooks. He's very straight forward and to the point. It's a little intimidating at first if you know his background. He was a former FBI Agent. He does a very good job of putting you at ease at the beginning of the checkride. He's very fair. Just make sure you're prepared. He will know if you did your part right away.

Verified pilot · IR · Passed · Sep 2015

It is best to show Brooks you respect him and his time by being prepared. He does not expect perfection. My DPE for private (name withheld) was a total jerk. I was prepared and the oral was very brief. On the flight portion, he began yelling almost the moment we took off. As a result I was very apprehensive Brooks is completely different. He comes across as stern, but he is very easy to talk to. Make sure you have everything prepared in advance. I did my instrument ride with Brooks. The oral was 3 hours but I had the entire pre-flight done, including plotting the chart, all plates out with the best one for the current weather and runway in use (get a flight briefing at 800-wxbrief before the oral begins and tell him you did so). He expects to see a flight log prepared with leg times, fuel burned, total time enroute, ete, etc. I had one prepared and a a DUATS prinout for back-up that were within 3 minutes of each other. I also had the FAR/AIM tabbed and available. Know your charts and plates cold. Know all symbols. Know the take-off minima or alternatives to your airport. DON'T B.S. him. He knows you're under stress and will forget some things, he's cool with that if is is just a few things BUT you MUST say I don't know or I don't remember and he will respect you if you are otherwise prepared. If he begins asking really weird or obscure trivia, you are passing and he respects you. He doesn't yell. He will also answer questions if you are doing well and it is based upon complex stuff he doesn't expect you to know. The flight is actually easy if you fly safely and follow his instructions. Train and study hard and don't B.S. him and you will be fine. You cannot bust minima and you have to follow procedure, but if you have trained well, it is not tough. Best day of my aviation career was when we pulled up to parking after the instrument ride and he told me I passed.

Verified pilot · PPL · Dec 2017

I did my Private, Instrument and CFI with Brooks. All the reviews are accurate and consistent and so is Brooks. He is VERY tough when it comes to going by the book, you must know your stuff to pass but isn't that every examiner? With Brooks for some reason I always felt comfortable getting in the plane and flying with him. I did not feel he was sitting next to me to catch me making a mistake , we simply went flying. I will never forget his words when I got my private back in 2000.