Who are the DE's?

Just wondering while reading through several Check-ride posts....where do
the FAA Examiners come from? Are they full-time feds or are they CFI's that
do this part time?

And when I pay $300 for my checkride, does that money go only to the DE? or
is some/all of that a federal fee?

Just wondering how this game we all love works :)

This topic reminds me of the "Northstar CIT's" song from "Meatballs".


--
Chris Hoffmann
Student Pilot @ UES
<20 hrs