I had to take my Advanced twice before passing it but a friend at the school 
for the blind told us his dad had started testing right along with his son. 
We all lived in Nebraska then and the FCC examiner came once every three 
months up from Kansas City to Omaha for the exams.  This guy took his 
general 13 times before finally passing the written test.  He drove over 150 
miles every three months to Omaha to test and several times, 4 or 5 times, 
he drove 300 miles to Kansas City and the FCC office there to take the test. 
He finally got it, though.  This was when you were required to take the CW 
test each and every time even if you passed the CW once already but this guy 
got to be so well know by the FCC examiners, they knew, after a half a dozen 
times, he could pass the CW test of 13 WPM so they would just hand him the 
written test when he walked into the office.

Phil.
[log in to unmask]