PPL Checkride in two weeks!
 

I've accumulated about 50 hours of flight training in the schools C-172SP, passed my written yesterday and I am scheduled for the big ole checkride on the 17th. I would love to read about your checkride memories so feel free to share them AND if you have any advice for me I would appreciate it!

Magical day!
 

My advice is prepare the best you can beforehand, but then just relax when the day arrives. It wasnt as bad as I thought it would be. If you do well on your 'oral', that will buy you some leeway in the air. My particular flight was a typical summer, gusty/windy day in the Rockies. So, consequently my maneuvers were more than a little sloppy for my liking...wasnt my best day. By the time we came back for t-n-g's, I think the winds had picked up to 15ktsG27 if I remember right. He had me do exactly ONE short field landing while the winds were howling...I was working hard on that one but I missed my touchdown mark...SHORT! never land SHORT on a short field!! :p But, with all that, he still passed me. Some of my maneuvers werent up to PTS but I think he gave me some wiggle room because of the difficult conditions and the fact I had done very well on my oral. And those sweet words, "congratulations, you are a pilot" are still etched in my memory! Good luck and enjoy it.

It has a lot to do with attitude!
 

When my wife was preparing for her check-ride, she drew an examiner who had a reputation for flunking a good percentage of students. Several people tried to encourage her to find another examiner. Her attitude was, "He's not going to ask me to do anything I shouldn't be able to do."
She passed with flying colors.

mine's at the end of this month!! :eek::D:cool:

Always helpful to talk with other folks that have used the same examiner to see what they focused on. Like all of us, they tend to be creatures of habit

good luck
erich

First Passenger
 

I just took mine last month and was very nerves. the beast advice that I got from my instructors was to look at the examiner as you're first passenger and just go fling and show him what you have been learning for the last six months. to take some pressure off of you I asked the examiner how many perfect check rides he had been on and he said none, every one stumbles at least once. also I studied the test standards and maneuvers Manuel frontwards and backward, the more prepared you are the lees chance you will be caught off guard. if you do mess up don't dwell on it, move on to the next step, and remember the inspectors wants you to pass almost as bad as you do.

a few weeks ago
 

know the oral stuff cold. Better not to get to the flight part already bothered.

I don't know about the FAA, but TC up here has a web site with "weak areas" documented. That helped, for places to put more focus on.

http://www.tc.gc.ca/civilaviation/ge...exams/weak.htm


You probably have the test guides for your area, ours are here:
http://www.tc.gc.ca/civilaviation/ge...lanes/menu.htm

Exciting! Having just passed mine almost exactly a year ago, I'd have to agree with what mattsmith said about not dwelling on mistakes. Obviously you're going in knowing all you can and preparing as best you can for the day.

Everyone makes mistakes though, especially under pressure--the FAA knows this. If you realize you're screwing up, admit it, call it out, correct it ASAP, and move on. The examiner will respect your ability to correct issues, and you won't be wondering if they noticed the rest of the time.

Good luck!!

Mine was last January. The weather was bad and closing in fast. The examiner was fair and compensated for the bad weather. We got all the required maneuvers done in short order, take offs and landings were a breeze, and once she verified that I was on course and identified my first check point for the x-country portion we were done, landing just before the snow squall hit. I logged 1.4 hours for the check ride. 8 months later I now have over 200 hours logged in my little C-152. My advice is to be prepared and confident. I explained everything I did and why during the check ride to the examiner so she knew I was knowledgeable, from the pre-flight to the final shutdown. Don't forget to use the check lists! Good luck and by all means have fun!:)

short answers
 

I forgot one, keep your answers as short as possible. show him or her you are confident, don't try to impress.