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!! 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!!

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/general/exams/weak.htm


You probably have the test guides for your area, ours are here:
http://www.tc.gc.ca/civilaviation/general/flttrain/planes/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.

re:check ride

I did my check ride April 30, 1977. My dad flew with me to Wiley Post from Watonga, OK which is about 50 miles. We got out of the 150 at Cleek Aviation. We went inside and found John Cleek and I announced my presents, dad just sat down in the lobby. John told me to go preflight the airplane and he'd be there in a minute. I waited at the airplane when I was finished with the preflight. John came outside, ask if everything was ok, I said looks good. We got in the plane, he said "I'll take care of the radio for you." We taxied to Rwy 17, was cleared for take off, he told me to do a short field T/O, so I did. After we got into the air and out of OKC area, John told me to "just go out here somewhere and do what you've been doing." After some S turns and some turns about a point, and a few other things, he had me do a take off and departure stall. I did just fine with it but he said "let me show you something with a 150" so he took the controls and demo'd a different technique for recovery and then flew the plane from then on, up til landing and he let me land. When we were finished, he typed up my temporary cert while he was telling me a few things the FAA was up to. He handed me my temp and said I'd be getting the real thing in a couple weeks and told me to have fun. We were done.
Ahh, life in the good ole days.

Marshall Alexander
RV10 N781DM

The one big "error" I made on my check ride in the Cessna 150 was that I had the gall to use the ailerons as well as the rudder to keep the power-off stall that was requested of me nice and straight instead of falling off to one side. My examiner claimed that one should ONLY use the rudder and that any use of ailerons was a sure fire way to turn the plane over on its back in a heartbeat. I knew better, as my instructor had told me all about which part of the wing stalls first, and that ailerons were still effective in a stall (as was proven to me over and over), but I also knew that now was not the time to set the examiner straight on this issue. So I obliged him for the time being. I clearly remember my instructor's response when I told him about it after having gotten my passing grade and the examiner departed - he hung his head, shaking it back and forth disbelievingly. "Its sad that there are still people out there teaching this"

While I still passed, it would have been nice to know this about the examiner before I flew with him.

erich

checkride

Make sure you know your airplane.
I rented several in training and I checked out in the Archer.
I made a mental note to locate the static port before going to the exam.
Of course I forgot.
What do you suppose was the first thing the examiner asked me when we got out to the plane? Yep. And I couldn't find it. Doooh!

I finished late and ended up flying home in the dark.
When I got home my wife was sure I had been killed and had called my parents and everything. So, call home when your done!

Steve

The memories flood back...

I remember that day well.

7/9/80 dawned clear and almost windless. I went over last-minute details with my instructor, Jerry. The last training flight had included 9(!) loss-of-power exercises; 2 being within a foot of landing (1 farm field, 1 beach). He went over my log book and realized that although I had exactly 20 hours of solo, I was shy .6 hrs of dual. So, I fired up the PA38-112 and taxied with Jerry, verrrry slowly to runway 32 at E16 (nee Q99).

We sat in the run-up area until the Hobbs clicked over the last .6, he signed my logbook, and told me he had all confidence in my flying. Practiced short field T/O on departure and headed to SRU where I had practiced short field T/O & landings many times.

Coming into SRU on runway 31 always rated about an 8.9 on the sphincter scale as you came in right over powerlines and had to "plop" it down to get stopped in the 2,520' that comprised the amount that was available before going off a cliff. Made a good landing.

I picked up the examiner and we went over all the paperwork, questions and then headed to the aircraft. I remember taking at least 25 minutes in the pre-flight. I took off on runway 31 and set up for Vy of 53kts with 1 notch of flaps. Accelerated to 61 kts and held that as I watched the mountain looming in the windscreen.

I had always hated T/O's from runway 31 at SRU. You fly into rapidly-rising terrain in a box canyon. On a warm day, with 2 adults on board, it was close. We cleared the mountain with 50' to spare. Accelerated to 70kts and eased the flaps up. The examiner put the hood on me and started calling headings and altitudes and speeds.

We flew along for about 25 mintues, the examiner handling the radio. He pulled the hood off at the same time as he pulled my engine. (Trim to 70KIAS, Switch tanks, Mixture - full rich, Carb heat - On, Primer - locked, Mag check - L/R/Both). Nothing seemed to help, so he told me to find a place to land. I looked out the window and saw Fremont Airport directly below.

I made a turn over the field, called for a midfield entry for downwind for runway 31. I kept it high 'n' tight on downwind, cut a close base and turned onto final. Full right rudder and full left aileron and dropped like a rock. Just before the end of the runway, I dropped flaps, centered the aircraft and chirped on the numbers. The FAA examiner just said, "I'm impressed."

A leisurely flight back to SRU with a perfect landing on runway 31. We walked in, he signed my logbook, shook my hand and told me, "(I) now have a license to learn how to fly."

I remember flying back to Q99 with a smile that wouldn't quit.

Congrats! It's a great time!!

I'll tell you what I remember most about mine. My examiner put me through all the necessary paces and then told me I would be dropping her off at a neighboring airport to stay with her sister. I had never been there even though I flew over it for a year (literally). The runway was long enough (2900' or so) but it was narrow (40'). Half of what my home field was. But I made a nice pattern entry, announced my way around the field and landed nicely on the centerline in some gusty August wind. As soon as I turned onto the exit taxiway, she smiled and said "you passed." This was something I hadn't even thought about the whole time. I was just doing what she asked from one maneuver to the next. So when she said those words I had a wave of joy come over me like I haven't felt before! I walked into the FBO with her to do my paperwork and then walked out alone and made my first PP flight home! What a great day.

Enjoy!

Reinforcement of What Has Been Stated.

1. Know the subject matter for the oral, cold. Whatever you missed on the written, study those areas in great detail. This will show the examiner that you are committed to fix any weaknesses.

2. As has already been said; keep your answers short on on point. If you asked what time it is, don't try to explain how your watch was built!

3. Just as there is no way to un-ring a bell, there is no way to undo an error. If you perceive that you have erred, keep flying and then do what you need to to mitigate the effects. When I was giving a checkride at work, if an error was made, quickly recognized, and corrected there was no penalty except they had to listen to me in the debrief. No matter what phase of flight you are in, ALWAYS be correcting back to center. Never show that you are tolerant of mediocrity!
Good Luck and post up when you are done!

Great stories and great advice. I was out flying last night with a new instructor who put me through my paces. He pulled the power on take/off, again after asking me to perform a steep turn to the left, and again when I was 3 miles south of KCBG. I pitched for 68 knots, went through the flow, announced my intentions, entered the pattern and put her on the runway. It felt good. I have two more lessons with him. The checkride is scheduled for 9/17/09 so WISH ME LUCK!!
First thing I will do if I get licensed is fly my wife somewhere (same day) and then go home and order my tail kit!
I'll keep you all posted.

Good Memories

The most memorable parts of my check ride were three events.

1. I taxied the plane over from the FBO I was renting from to the Examiners FBO. Did all the oral and flight planning work and then the examiner said "pack up and I will meet you at the plane." When I got to the plane he was already inside with his seat belt fastened and said "kick the tires and lets go". I thought for minute whether I should follow his instructions or do a complete preflight (which I had already done prior to taxing the plane to his FBO). I decided to play it safe and do another preflight. Whether it was a "trap" I don't know but better safe then sorry.

2. We didn't do too much in the air but diverted from the cross country to the practice area where he asked me to perform some stalls. I was taught by my instructor to perform full stalls. Well when I did the examiner took the controls and proceeded to show me stall recovery without getting in to a full stall. I told him I was taught to let the nose drop in the full stall condition. then he said "head back to the airport". I was sure I busted my check ride.

3. The examiner asked me to demonstrate a short field landing with a 50' obstacle at the approach end of the runway. So I set up the approach. Not a big deal (so I thought). Then as we got closer to the ground the examiner started yelling "Perfect, Perfect......". It took me by surprise because he was rather quiet during most of the exam, never giving any feedback.

I taxied back to the examiner's FBO and as he was getting out of the airplane he said "meet me inside I need to fill out some paperwork". I then asked if I had passed and he said "of course".

That was a very good day (1982)

Play by play

Here's a play by play of my checkride taken in May of '08. Every examiner has their own areas and maeuvers they focus on, so YMMV.

• Preflight and passenger briefing (give your examiner the required preflight briefing as if he were any other passenger)
• Normal takeoff
• Climbout under the hood
• VOR radial intercept under the hood
• Power on stall and recovery under the hood
• Slow flight (full flaps at 70kts)
• Steep turns (720? which was slightly different because I?ve always practiced 360?)
• Emergency descent (Caught me off guard as I never practiced this one. I pulled the power and pushed forward on the stick. After he said "use up that yellow arc" I realized what he was looking for and pushed harder.)
• Power off stall and recovery
• Turns about a point
• Entered the pattern at DAW, and I handled most of the CTAF throughout
• Short field takeoff and landing
• Soft field takeoff and landing
• Emergency engine outs on the downwind abeam the numbers (two of them ? first one needed more flaps but I saved it with a forward slip, second one was good)
• Go-around
• 360? turns on the downwind leg
• Then my instructor says "Take me home to PSM. My mouth is shut for the rest of the trip". I asked if I could use the GPS to which he replied, "If it is available to you, by all means use it."
• Crosswind landing at PSM

When my examiner noticed I was acting nervous, he said "You're not on trial for your life. I'm not holding a gun to your head. Just relax, fly the plane and have fun." That's the best advice I can pass on to you. Do not be concerned about failure, just relax and have fun. Good luck!

Will he intentionally try to trick you?

During the exam, I landed on 6L and had to cross 6R to get back to the hangar. As we taxied between runways, my examiner looked out the window and said: "Looks clear to me, let's go!" to which I replied: "With all due respect sir, TWR has not cleared me to cross 6R".

The examiner smiled.

Enroute to the practice area to perform maneuvers, we were still pretty low over a populated area when the examiner said: "Ok, let's see a power off stall".

Once again I replied: "With all due respect sir, we are still over populated areas".

Was he trying to flunk me? I dunno but I was not going to cross an active runway w/o permission nor was I going to break the rules concerning maneuvers.

Demonstrate that you respect flying, you know the rules, and that you will continue to learn long after the check ride. Mostly, I believe they want to know that you're safe, cautious, and plan to continue the never ending education. The cockpit is no place for arrogance.

I passed.

my check ride

I showed up at the designated airport a bit earlier than I needed to be there. I was very nervous. The FAA gentleman showed up a few minutes later and we talked about all manner of aircraft and flying. He then asked me for my written test results. I had missed three questions and the codes for those questions were listed on the printout sheet. He got out a book, that was as thick as any dictionary, and began to look up the particular questions I had missed. "Alright, the first question....." He looked back and forth between a few pages and "hmmmm'd" several times. I got concerned and asked what the problem was. He says, "I can't find this particular question code in the book. The answer codes go up to the letter "L" and your question is lettered with an "S". We moved to the second wrong answer. Once again several pages were flipped and the hmmmms came back. Once again he was unable to find that particular question for the same reason. He moved on to the last wrong answer code. He hmmm'd several times, flipped several pages and then looked in the back of the book, I assumed it was the index he was looking at. He then looked at me and said.... "This answer code doesn't even exist as far as the book is concerned. As a joke, I told him that I guess this meant that I didn't miss any of the questions. He agreed!

The day got better and better from that point on.

The best part..... it dawned on me, as I was flying home with an FAA endorsed log book, that I was really a pilot before I ever showed up that morning and that what we did in that 3 hours or so was just a necessary formality. Also, that was the first time I got an RV grin I just didn't know that's what it was at the time.

Pink Floyd said it best......

Actually there are many stories I just don't want to take up too much time.

Best advice given by my instructor.....

I was doing my night cross country and the instructor looks over at me with the most serious of looks.

"I need to give you some night flying advice. If you are ever flying at night and you have an engine out with no possible restart, wait until the very last minute and turn on the landing light. If you don't like what you see, turn the light right back off."

I'll never forget that!

Tips from my checkride

I passed my checkride about 3 years ago, and it was a stressful day for sure, especially during the oral. I did well on the written, but it became obvious that the examiner was looking for the limit of my knowledge and he found it! Thankfully I had taken the time to put tabs in the FAR/AIM so I was able to find answers quickly. In hindsight, he was just looking for opportunities to teach, not looking for things to fail me on.

The best checkride tip I unfortunately didn't remember until afterwards: the examiner is required to inform you immediately if you fail a skill and give you the option to end the checkride there and then. That means if you blow your altitude on your first steep turn (like I did), but acknowledge it and do better the second time, when he says to demonstrate a stall next without saying anything more about the steep turn -- you've passed the steep turn and can forget about it (I kept thinking about it which added to my stress).

Also, don't be afraid to go around. I went around twice on my short field because I was way too high the first time, and still too high the second. That was way better than missing the mark by a long way.

Good luck. I'm sure you'll do fine!

I had a very interesting checkride.

I live in Alaska and took my checkride out of Anchorage at Merrill which is a very busy airport.

Anyway, I get there a little early, but didn't have all of the paper work I needed. I was careful to use the checklist on the flight schools website, but I guess they now need a birth certificate for TSA and I didn't know that since it was a new requirement. Since I live 1 hour north the examiner suggested that I get back in my airplane and fly back to Wasilla where i can get my birth certificate from my wife who can bring it to the airport.

After I got the required paperwork he asked me to do a flight plan. I asked him where he wanted to go and how much he weighed and he gave me that information so I sat down and drew at all out. The weather was bad up north where he wanted to go so when I was finished, I gave him the flight plan and told him I wouldn't fly that direction given the weather.

He went back to his office and looked it over, then came out and said lets go flying. I figured my flight plan was good since he didn't say anything.

So we get in the airplane and he doesn't want to wear a headset because he had surgery last week where they took some skin off of his backside and put it on his head. So I call up the tower and we go taxi.

It was odd since he was telling me to do one thing and the tower another. Several times I had to tell him what as going on and that I wouldn't be able to comply with what he wanted.

Anyway I get the airplane off the ground and we go over the drink toward the practice area. He asks see see some slow flight. About 60 mph. I told him that I have been practicing the edge of the aircraft's envelope which was 40mph and would rather do that. He nodded and I slowed the airplane down and did a 360.

Then he asks me to put the hood on and fly to the big lake vor. I start turning the vor nob, but the problem is that the vor in my airplane doesn't work worth a darn I also had a 296 on board, so I hit the nearest page then scrolled over to the vor tab. I then pointed to the vor then the 296 and said they don't agree so I'm going to trust the 296. The guy nodded, so I get to the vor and told him we are there.

Once at the vor he asked me to return on the 180 radial. Well, I didn't spend but 15 minutes practicing vor in the airplane since it didn't work that well, so this threw me for a loop. While the GPS is nice, it doesn't have a nice needle to follow, it just shows me which radial I'm on since I'm on the vor TO/FROM page. At this point I start chasing the vor (remember I'm still under the hood) then finally I looked up, took my headset off, and said, "We just went around the stupid thing", I'm just going to fly to the vor on the heading shown on the 296 then turn 180. Again, he nodded.

Once we where on our way back to Merrill, I had to start talking to the tower and there where 5 aircraft in the pattern. I had to listen to the tower and then listen to the instructor, then tell him what we where going to do.

He asks me to do a touch and go, do I did that, then the next time he asks for a full stop landing.

At this point I figured I failed. I didn't do the VOR thing right, and he didn't ask for S turns, short field landings, or any of it.

Once parked he says, "Well son, we are going to make a pilot out of you." I was blown away.

In hind sight, I flew the airplane well, but more importantly I figured out how to make it work when I had to sort out my vor problem under the hood, then sort out the traffic problem when the examiner couldn't hear the tower. He probably had seen enough and didn't care to do the rest of it.

Anyway, I'll never forget that day. It was just plain strange.

schu

Some other time ask me about night training. We went up to Talkeetna on a moonless night. Up that far north there aren't any houses or lights. It was completely black with no discernible horizon. When doing touch and gos you where flying into straight up black, and there is a mountain in front of you.

The 3rd time around the instructor asks me what do I think. I said it's scaring the tar out of me. He replied with, "Me too, lets go back."

Flying up here sure is an adventure, even the training part.

schu

aarvig said:

...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!

Click to expand...

You've gotten some good advice so I will tell the story of my somewhat unusual checkride on 8/25/66.

The examiner was also the owner of the FBO and wanted to get some publicity about a student getting his private pilot's certificate at the minimum age. Trouble is on the appointed day there was a solid 1,000 foot overcast over the entire region. Not too great for a private checkride.

We went out in a Cessna 172 and did part of the ride, including the cross country stuff. The clouds were too low for a lot of the maneuvers. Then we landed and got in a Cessna 150, I don't remember exactly why, probably because of better instrumentation. We still needed to do stuff like stalls and steep turns and instrument flying. We got out 10 miles south of the airport and the examiner said "climb up into the clouds." I didn't know what he had had in mind and at the time thought, "this can't be legal." Well it was legal and we did the remainder of the ride in the clouds. Climbs, descents, VOR tracking, unusual attitudes, steep turns and stalls. I don't know if there was a hood in the airplane but I know we didn't need one.

I thought at the time, and still think, that doing all that stuff in the clouds made it easier. I passed and the newspaper got their story!

check ride revisited

.......also, I took my first flying lesson in 1980 (in a 1978 Cessna 152 - N712TK) and had put in seven hours when the finances ran out and had to stop. Mustered the money together some 18 years later, and, in October of 1998 continued my lessons with my seven hours still intact. Here's the best part, the plane I took my check ride in was the same exact plane that I took the first seven hours in. It got bought by the flight school some time during my lull in flying. I started with that plane and finished with that plane, the smiles just keep coming!!!