Backcountry Pilot

[hooznext offline]

OK, after 5+ months and a little over 50+ hours my instructor says I am ready for my check ride! I have it scheduled for first thing Saturday morning (I can't wait to get it over!).

Any of you out there (Examiners included) have any last minute advice or suggestions on things to review last minute?

The flying part does not have me too worried, I feel pretty good, I know I could be smoother and more consistent on landings but overall I feel confident I can perform up to the PTS.

Weather has been the most difficult, I am cramming all I can in the last few days between a full time job, a business I own, a family, and flying to stay fresh.

If you don't mind, suggestions would be appreciated, any gotcha's you experienced on your check ride. And I am sure the general population would enjoy some check ride stories if you want to share, I know I would.

Thanks!

[Zzz]

Have you taken a simulated checkride with another instructor? That was very valuable to me and we found a couple things I needed to work on.

The oral exam was the most difficult for me. The DPE likes to hammer you on the category of any questions you missed on the knowledge exam (I missed 2 questions.) In my case, it was weather diagrams. My primary instructor had also gotten his Private and Instrument from this same DPE, so he knew that the guy liked radar summary charts, so I beefed up those.

I was nervous as hell, and when he asked me sort of a trick question, I dove into my Jeppesen Private Pilot Manual for the answer because I liked how it was organized...well he then added "You realize that [manual] is not an official approved source of information, don't you?" Haha, I about shit.

We got off to a bad start and I felt like the rest of the oral was him looking at me with suspicion, like I was some sort of class clown who hadn't really studied. Ahh, fun memories.

[OregonMaule offline]

Just relax and have fun. I know that is hard to do. Your instructor will not send you for the check ride unless there is a very high probability you are going to pass. It makes them look bad.

Remember the basic stuff. That is what I got ask.

#1 USE the CHECKLIST!

You will be fine! Rob

[Vick offline]

I'll second Zane's thoughts on the oral, I thought mine was pretty rigorous too. They look for chinks in your armor and when they find one they like to dig deeper - which can get very uncomfortable for you in the hot seat. Even an examination can be instructional though, so don't feel too bad if you miss something; compartmentalize and move on. You should be well prepared obviously, but they don't expect you to know everything - they expect you to know where to look something up that you don't know and to understand that your ticket is just a "license to learn".

Good luck!

[electricsnail offline]

I just took an instrument ride on sunday and now am an instrument pilot. My advise

A) Get an easy examiner like mine (i'll sell you his name)
B) Look over the PTS oral section make sure you are confident in each section.
C) Have your instructor or even better another instructor give you a practice checkride just like the real thing oral then flying and you will know where you need work.
D) Relax...it's hard but well worth it if you can do it. Nervous pilots never fly up to their potential.


Good luck !

Mike

[low rider offline]

I had a guy that was about 95 do my multi check,he would scream at me and hit me with his hat(I am not kidding)He did all kinds of crazy stuff to me.I was warned about him and actually looked forward to it.I just pretended he was some nut-ball passenger on drugs and stayed focused on what I was doing,Fly the plane and don't do anything to scare the passengers................

[denalipilot offline]

not mentioned previously: I confess I dressed nice for my private check ride. Tie and all. My instructor suggested that it made a good impression on that particular examiner. The oral consisted basically of flight planning a route I had never flown, and the flying was straightforward. Only tricky part was being asked to use the more obscure, seldom-used departure and arrival procedures for MRI (in Anchorage). Fortunately they are published in the Alaska supplement and you just need to know where to look.

One other awkward part- After some slow flight and maneuvering, he asked me to put on the hood and do some figure-eights over the VOR. I wanted to look at the magnetic compass to verify that the DG was accurate, but when I explained why I wanted to take a peek at the compass, I got this reaction like I was a cheater and trying to sneak a glance at the ground. At least that's how his response felt. That episode left me feeling pretty edgy for the rest of the check ride. Maybe something to clarify with the examiner ahead of time.

Good luck- get some sleep the night before

-DP

[punkin170b offline]

No checkride is perfect. When something little goes wrong, keep flying the plane. The examiner must tell you if your checkride is disapproved WHEN a bust happens... not any later than that; and not at the end of the checkride. So if you think you have screwed something up, and the DPE has not "disapproved" the ride... FORGET IT and move on!

Also, DPEs have some latitude to allow repetition of a maneuver if he/she is "unsure" whether you have met the standard. On the other hand, the FAA considers the PTS to be the "bare minimum" acceptable standard...

IF you don't know an answer on the oral portion, don't offer any BS. You can take a "stab", but offer it up as such. I would also offer to "look it up". Keep in mind, this cannot become a patttern...

This checkride is your show! You are the PIC and it will be logged as such. The examiner is your first passenger. Go have fun and show off what you know!

M

[z3skybolt offline]

Geeze...

....I know that I am getting old. 40 years ago no examiner would have allowed one to look up an answer in the book! But hey....my son gets to use his calculator to do college math.

Ah hell.....when I was a lad, a guy who got his licence 40 years earlier would have been trained by the Wright Brothers!!

"EVERY MAN OUTLIVES HIS TIME"...(if he is lucky)

Relax....enjoy the check ride. You'll do fine my friend.

Bob(old fart)

[WWhunter offline]

One suggestion I will give is to make sure your instructor knows what kind of examiner you will be using. His quirks, way he does things. They are different and cause problems.

I took my SES checkride last summer and while I thought I was taught everything correctly, when it came to the exam I nearly failed due to the way I took off. The instructors I used were used to a local examiner and when he couldn't do my exam I elected to use someone else. I was taught to lift one float out of the water when loaded heavy in an under-powered plane. (I was flying a Champ) The examiner was quite upset when I did this on take-off and really chewed my butt over doing it. Called my intructor and complained also. Told me it would get someone killed if I didn't watch it.
So, it was almost like learning all over....had a habit that I had to break. Not a good experience. Personnally I think the examiner is wrong but he is the one that issues the ticket. MTV, jump in here anytime.

[hooznext offline]

Thanks everyone, you've re-enforced everything my instructor has told me. I took lessons at an airport where the local college does flight training so there were lots of instructors to talk with. I took two to dinner the other night and had them give me a mock oral and they said I did good but had some suggestions on material to go over again.

The examiner I am going to is the one who did my instructors commercial and his CFI ticket so he is familiar with him. I am the first student he has sent to this examiner so he wanted to make sure I was extra prepared to make a good impression.

One thing I was wondering about and it seems silly to me is dress. Most of the college kids I see wearing ties and such to their check rides. I'm just a guy looking to get a private ticket, is that really necessary? I don't want to upset him but I think wearing a tie may be a little much in 80-90 degree weather. Any thoughts - experience on that?

[OregonMaule offline]

I don't want to upset him but I think wearing a tie may be a little much in 80-90 degree weather. Any thoughts - experience on that?

If the pilots who have used this examiner in the past say a tie helps, wear one. What ever it takes to pass.

I draw the line at the tu tu. John has a pink one if you need to borrow one.

Rob

[hooznext offline]

If it takes a pink tu tu to get my pilots license I'll do it.

I promise to get it back to Rob before JC.

[Green Hornet offline]

One thing they all look for is good judgement. no matter how bad you want to get it over make sure the weather is good. I saved myself by aborting the examine during high winds. DPE said good decision because if oyu would have headed for the runway I would have failed you!
Know the mechanics of the aircraft during pre flight. you will be asked about mags,etc.
Good Luck

[TomD offline]

He WILL pull the power on you for a simulated emergency landing.

If you keep monitoring where you would land at any given moment ( good idea in any case) and the wind direction it should not be a problem.

Busting the emergency procedure is a major issue w/ them.

TD

[OregonMaule offline]

And they love to pull the power right over some little grass strip and then watch as you land some where much harder.

Rob

[hooznext offline]

My instructor prepared me for that, I was under the hood, he gets me right over an airport with a 5800' paved runway, tells me to take the hood off, then pulls power to see what I do. I start moving towards this nice flat green field I see ahead and below, I realize I am setup with a tail wind, as I start turning to get into the wind I notice the field I was looking at was the threshold for the runway! Anyway, I had plenty of altitude, turned 180 and used a slip to get down quick and made the runway with about 3500' in front of me. He taught me to do power off approaches from the start, not easy with density altitude, full gross in a Cherokee. The Cessnas are on two mile finals and I have to turn base about 5 seconds after passing the numbers.

The one concern I have regarding the flying part, this airport is 28 miles from my home airport, outside the allowed 25 mile bubble during training, so I am not that familiar with the local territory. There are come VOR's but none near this airport, so when I come out from under the hood unless I recognize something it may take a bit to find my location to take him home. My instructor did this to me all the time while under the hood. He also made it a point to put me into the sun at times. We were working on unusual attitudes, hood on, open my eyes and I am in a climbing turn directly into the setting sun! I couldn't even see the yoke let alone the instruments!

I asked him when I hired him to keep the bar high and not to let up because I meet the minimum standards. It is not uncommon during a lesson to point out I am 40' off altitude or 5' left of center. When I landed at our local class C he wanted to feel the runway centerline lights until we lifted off again.

I like his teaching methods, we got along great, he pushed me when I could take it and he took time when I needed it. I am confident he prepared me, I just need to get through the oral. I'm probably being hard on myself, but I am spending every waking moment studying for the oral.

My only problem I have now is foggles. Mine got crushed, my home airport doesn't sell them, the local airport (30 miles) is out of stock. I have a pilot friend with some, but he is on vacation this week, trying to get in touch with my instructor to borrow a pair from him for Saturday. Ugh...it's the little things.

Anyway, been lots of fun, I'm sure I'll be fine as long as I relax and fly the airplane. It makes it a lot easier posting here to talk about it and vent a bit, none of my friends or co-workers really understand what I am putting myself through. But inside I want everything to go perfectly, in my mind I know what the odds are and I just need to accept any errors I make and correct them.

[GroundLooper offline]

At the point your exam begins, you are a pilot. You are not a student and rules that apply to students do not necessarily apply to you.

Have reference material with you. POH, AIM, even your manual (jeppeson, Rod Machado's private pilot, etc.) Study but know you can look up if you needed. Don't BS. The examiner wants you to know the answer or know where to find it. Of course, most of the time, you'd better know the answer.

For the checkride, be nervous as hell I did have some of the best landings I've ever had with the inspector. . Worked for me, I'd trust the advice of the other posters on this one.

Fly during marginal weather.... This is especially helpful under the hood. Just when I was about to drift out of tolerances, the examiner had me change directions as we were about to fly into a cloud. It also helped in my "diverting to another airport" scenario. The more difficult diversions had clouds. We ended up aiming for the easier one.

During my training for unusual attitudes I was presented with scenarios of 'speed is slow but increasing' or 'speed is fast but decreasing'. The examiner presented me with a new one, 'speed is slow but decreasing'. Almost did the wrong thing here.

If the VOR needle is jumping around, approximate by aiming for the middle of the swings. The Newberg VOR does that, I was told.

Always keep a landing spot in mind. Don't forget to look on BOTH sides of the airplane for suitable spots. Mine was less than ideal due to trees but I made it.

Don't let the examiner distract you during critical phases such as landings.
Do what you think is safe. Going around on a marginal approach is not considered a failure in landing but an exercise in good judgement. Going around multiple times may make the examiner question your ability. Going around 5 feet off the deck... The chief pilot informed me that if, in this situation, I was told a deer bounded on the runway to just land because going around for an imaginary deer would be a lot more dangerous than landing. He'd back me up on that one if it came to an argument.

The examiner will tell you if you fail BUT, you can elect to continue with the check ride. As I was told, the rest of the checkride can count towards completion. Did I misunderstand that?

What's the worst thing that can happen? You fail the checkride and have to do it again or, at least, the portions that you failed on. In the off chance that happens, you'll be a better pilot the second time around.

Craig.

[sstjames offline]

One thing I haven't seen mentioned that has happened on all of my checkrides is the examiner will try to distract you in a casual way. " O I dropped my pen can you grab it for me"(this was during climb out). Or the harder one for me was on short final said "What is that , do you see it?" I glanced quickly and asked if it was a danger to us and if it was not if she could please be quit until after we landed. After we landed she praised me and explained that one thing that wasn't specifically in the pts that she thought was extremely important was how I reacted on final because that is when passengers get nervous.

Good Luck,
Sara

[hooznext offline]

Thanks for everyone's input, it was helpful. The saga continues...check this out.