Checkride stories.

Rebel Lord

Rebel Lord

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Rebel Lord
My PPL checkride is coming up fast so post your stories, good, bad, or ugly so I can see what others have gone through before me ;)
 
Felt like I slept 30 minutes the night before, just couldn't shut my brain off with going over information in my head. It was so much easier than I made it out to be in my mind though, and the actual event felt more like hanging out with another pilot and chatting about aviation for a few hours than an exam. Know your stuff, but try not to stress over it either.
 
Challenged said:
Felt like I slept 30 minutes the night before, just couldn't shut my brain off with going over information in my head. It was so much easier than I made it out to be in my mind though, and the actual event felt more like hanging out with another pilot and chatting about aviation for a few hours than an exam. Know your stuff, but try not to stress over it either.
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I was the same way, I could not sleep at all. I literally almost drove into another car driving to the airport, from lack of sleep. But the checkride itself was non-eventful. The oral took under an hour, I nailed every question. The flight wasn't perfect but it's not supposed to be, and never is. I passed and the DPE asked if I ever considered being a CFI because I'd probably be good at it. Then I drove home and crashed for like 15 hours. I honestly don't know how I was able to function with almost no sleep but I think the adrenaline kept me awake and alert.

My advice, study up to the day before, then go to bed and get a good night sleep.
 
EdFred said:
I showed up, we talked, we flew, I passed.
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Pretty much it. If you don't know a question, just say you don't know. Don't give him/her a wrong guess. Or at least know where to find the answer.
 
AggieMike88 said:
Someone needs to post a link to the Pete Flemming thread.

@Rebel Lord, one of the best things you can do is to find others who have recently flown with the examiner, and then pick their brains for what was emphasized, what went well, and what could have been better.
Click to expand...

If you know your stuff there's no need to do any of that.
 
Busted before I even got in the plane. On round 2 my actual flight it was bizarre did a short field take off ( well he said do a short field then proceeded to tell me to take off normally). Did a landing that counted as my short and soft field, did forward slip to a go around and started off on my XC. Went right into slow flight and by slow flight I mean I started to throttle back hit about 85mph in the C150 and he said thats good right there never even got flaps in or throttle out of the green arc. Flew about 3 or 4 miles did a groundspeed and time to destination calculation(used gps which was weird figured i'd have to do it with the e6b). S turns and turns about a point. Did an unusual attitude recovery and back to the airport for an emergency decent/somehow counted as my diversion. Never got above 1500ft agl, furthest from the airport was 7 miles. I think the only question I got asked in the air outside of groundspeed/time to destination was about electrical fire.

Total time maybe30 minutes if you count us sitting on the ground playing with the VOR(counted as my means of navigation lol). Somehow he put down 1.5 in my logbook with .3hours hoodtime so I think he might just be a confused old guy or just doesn't give a damn or got bitched at by my instructors and gave me a joke ride. Needless to say I wasn't excited when I passed, just a little confused about what the hell just happened and irritated at having spent so much money. o_O
 
Here's the write up I did on usenet. Hope it helps.

15G21. My gut said don't go. The examiner said it's my call. It was my
call. My instructor told the examiner (in my hearing) "He can handle
this. We've been out in worse." He told me "I think you should go." I
went. I got pink slipped. It was _my_ call.

OK, the good parts: I passed the oral with flying colors. DPE
complimented me on my knowledge and gave me a few tidbits to hang onto
as well. I took off with a stiff crosswind and while it wasn't perfect,
it was pretty good. The cross country portion went pretty well,
although with a 30 kt headwind, it took a while to get to my second
checkpoint. I handled the diversion just fine. My instructor has always
harped on using all the nav gear in the plane on the diversion, so I
started to set the Loran for the airport I was diverting to. DPE said
"No! This is pilotage." Live and learn. He asked me where we were now
on the chart and I showed him. "This concludes the cross country
portion." Next, steep turns. Not bad. Not perfect, but not bad.


Then MCA. Uh-oh. Plane didn't want to hold altitude with 2200 RPM.
Normally it only takes about 1800 with my instructor and I. Kept
working at it. Busted once for 300 feet off. DPE asked for full flaps.
I put on full flaps. Wow! What a strange feeling. 40 some knots, almost
the same attitude as level flight stall horn on. turning reluctantly to
a different heading. 400 feet low! Busted.


I elected to go home at this point. He asked for a normal landing and
after a very wide pattern at the request of the tower, I did a pretty
good crosswind landing, in a pretty good crosswind. I got credit for
that as well.


My instructor appologized for saying anything. He also said he won't
charge me for any instruction needed to get through the checkride. I
think he's a very square guy. Although I wish he'd kept his mouth shut.


It was _my_ call.
John Stevens
Still Solo Student, ~56 hours.


Woohoo! I passed my retest this morning and am now the proud owner of a
genuine FAA temporary pilot certificate!

In our earlier story...


Student scheduled for oral & practical test. Passes oral with no
problem. Winds are 15G25, student dosen't want to go fly, but
instructor pushes a bit. Student goes out, busts altitude on MCA.


In today's story...


I met the examiner at 8AM. (I like flying in the morning this time of
year, the air is calm.) He went over the paperwork and asked if I had
any questions. I asked where we were going as the cross country part
was already done. He said go to whatever area I normally practiced in.
He asked for a soft field takeoff (I did short field last time). That
went fine. We flew out to the practice area and climbed. He asked for
MCA in the landing configuration (where I busted last time and stalled
slmost spinning with my instructor last week). I did a couple of gentle
clearing turns and throttled back. I did it flawlessly, holding
altittude turnng 90 degrees, holding heading. Then he asked for a 30
degree bank while holding MCA. Um, OK. My instructor always told me
gentle banks at MCA. Well, I know I'll need some power so I throttled
up and did 180 degree turn at 30 degrees of bank, no problem. DPE said
"That was excellent. I knew you could fly last time, your mind was just
scrambled up."


"Clean it up and go back to normal cruise." said the DPE. Next,
climbing stall, your choice of direction. Did one to the right. Man it
seems like that 172 will never drop the nose. Next, power off stall in
landing configuration. No problem. Simulated engine out. No sweat. Go
around, no sweat.


"Show me turns around a point."


Two trips around the fertilizer tanks to the left and we're done with
that. Stablize plane on heading of 120, 1000 of altitude. Put on hood.
Fly along for a bit. After about 30 seconds, I got my scan going and it
all smoothes out. "Climb to 1500." Did that. Then unusual attitudes,
one down, one up. "Descend to 1000." OK. "Take off the hood."


"Call tower and take us home." I listended to the ATIS first, because
that's the safe thing to do and I am PIC. I think he liked that.


Soft field landing first. Touch and go. My achillies heel, just ask my
instructor. Landing gently without a slightly high flare and a bump is
hard for me. It wasn't perfect, but it was passable. The take off was
sloppy and I bounced a bit. Sigh.


Short field landing. Pick your spot. I did the approach high and steep
the way I was taught. On speed, and made my point. Then I jumped on the
brakes because the PTS says "Maximum braking". Bad idea. Still had
flaps down, and some airspeed and so locked the brakes. I did keep the
plane under control and made the first turnoff.


We were done! I even remebered my after landing checklist and turned
off the Transponder.


DPE had a few things to say about my landings:
1) You are landing flat because you are trying to see the runway over
the nose.
2) Takeoffs need to be firm. Get your attitude picture in your mind and
DO that.


General comments were that I fly well and I PASSED!​
 
You're going to be nervous, make mistakes, and not do everything perfect. The beauty of the checkride is you don't have to perform every maneuver perfectly. As long as you make a correction in a timely matter and don't do anything that could compromise the safety of the flight then you're good.
 
Winds were 13knots about 20 degrees off the runway. On takeoff I figured I didn't need to apply crosswind correction because it was almost right down the runway. Sure enough, gust of wind lifted the wing. Never had that happen before. I immediately moved the controls to put it back down. Examiner laughed and said that's why we need to use crosswind correction on takeoff.

I proceeded to use crosswind control inputs for the remainder of the take offs. Passed and learned a valuable lesson.
I suspect that I would have failed if I hadn't immediately fixed the problem or if I continued to make the same mistake and not apply correction on the other takeoffs.
 
Four different times I was certain I had just failed. First, I tried to ID an VOR that I had used two days before to triangulate my position. It had been decommissioned the day before....(did you read all the notams???, well, I thought so....) Second, on my simulated emergency landing, He had me combine my emergency descent and landing. I did a textbook Emergency Descent, lined up perfect on my simulated landing spot, he say..thats good, by the way, did you see that power line crossing that hay field? Ummmm, there was a power line? Yes, what would you have done???? I told him, and it was good. Then I really got lost going back to the airport, thought I had busted MGM's Delta, confessed and climbed, it was all good. Lastly, on my short field landing I would have bet that I wasn't over the centerline, I groaned.....he said "what"??? I said that wasn't very good, he said it was within the PTS. All in all, he actually got to see me screw up and fix it myself and that's what they really want.
 
Took my first check ride with the FAA ,way back when. Was a learning experience,just had to do what I had learned in training.
 
Challenged said:
Felt like I slept 30 minutes the night before, just couldn't shut my brain off with going over information in my head.
Click to expand...

I had a sure fire cure for that ... or so I thought. I'm in the medical field, so I'll make sure my call shift (24hr) is 2 nights before the test which should guarantee a full night's sleep. Problem was my last two flights with the CFI were that week and they were awful (West Texas summer, 3pm with high winds and huge thermals) ... only the crosswind landing well above the 152's demonstrated XC component went smoothly.:(

When I arrived to test, I had a total of 2 hours sleep in the past 50+ hours. I wanted to do the oral only and use the IAMSAFE to waive off the practical. Long story short, no problem on oral ... practical still a go ... winds direct crosswind above the 152's book limit. Tell DPE in the run-up area were above the limit and let's wave off. He says he has a few more questions and has me clicking AWOS every two minutes until we get a wind report right at the limit. We depart ... since we're up by 930 am, I get smooth air for once and get all the maneuvers knocked out without fighting TB and Thermals (piece of cake). All of the take offs and landings are pretty much at or above the XC component for the 152, but again no problems. Near completion, he acts like he forgot to request a slip to land which I do and at touchdown he also asks for the "go-around" that he "forgot" to request (he didn't forget). As soon as I cleaned up on the go-around, he said he'd like to demonstrate a couple of things ... I knew I had passed.

Only area he nearly got me was on the distraction. I expected the "old pen trick" ... he got me on the first takeoff. As soon as I was wheels up on a short field take off he asked about our XC flight plan and all the frequency changes. We're 11 miles from Class C and I needed to CTAF to FSS to open flight plan and then to KELP APP for transition of their airspace in rapid succession. As a big dummy I'm explaining this as we're climbing through 400 AGL when he states the plane feels "sluggish" ... <head slap> FLAPS! I tell him nice distraction and he states "it nearly got you" and starts laughing.
 
I did an accelerated program so by by the morning of the check ride I was mentally and physically done...but I was prepared. Had very little nerves once we got started and it was a casual process with an outside but regular DPE of that school.

Got through the oral and on to the practical portion. Did some maneuvers and landed at another field for the short field landing...we were probably 3/4 of the way overall done and once we touch down he says "I have the airplane"...thought for a moment "crap, what did I just do to fail?"...turns out nothing...he taxis though a gate at a hangar and has me shut down.

We go inside what turns out to be his office and he says "I just need to do a few wrap up things from a check ride yesterday"...I'm thinking W the Holy F??? I am on my check ride after handing you a $400 check and we stop to do your office work!?!? "Uhhh, there is another check ride scheduled after me and they are waiting for this plane"..."They will wait" he replies...I am fuming, but keeping my cool. After about 10-15 min he says "go get your log book" which I go retrieve outta the plane. He then signs me off and prints my temporary certificate right there even though we still had a few maneuvers to complete, which we did on the way back to my home airport.

Had he not given me my certificate at that point, there would have been a formal complaint to the FAA regardless of the outcome...and I was still a bit peeved, but relieved that the process was successfully over.
 
mikeinbama said:
Four different times I was certain I had just failed. First, I tried to ID an VOR that I had used two days before to triangulate my position. It had been decommissioned the day before....(did you read all the notams???, well, I thought so....) Second, on my simulated emergency landing, He had me combine my emergency descent and landing. I did a textbook Emergency Descent, lined up perfect on my simulated landing spot, he say..thats good, by the way, did you see that power line crossing that hay field? Ummmm, there was a power line? Yes, what would you have done???? I told him, and it was good. Then I really got lost going back to the airport, thought I had busted MGM's Delta, confessed and climbed, it was all good. Lastly, on my short field landing I would have bet that I wasn't over the centerline, I groaned.....he said "what"??? I said that wasn't very good, he said it was within the PTS. All in all, he actually got to see me screw up and fix it myself and that's what they really want.
Click to expand...

Who did you take your ride with? LP?
 
Check your paperwork before you go. Ensure that you have:
1. Filed the IACRA with all the right information. Check it again after your instructor signs off on it.
2. The endorsements related to your written test, along with the written test results.
3. The endorsement to take the test.
4. All endorsements required for solo flight of the aircraft you will take the test in, including on your student pilot certificate.
5. All endorsements required for the cross-country flight to the test and back home (in case you do not complete and pass the test) in that aircraft, including on your student pilot certificate.
6. The aircraft logbooks that show it is current for annual, 100-hour, and any other necessary checks.
7. A good snack that won't upset your stomach but can get you through until supper if need be.

I rested reasonably well albeit for half as many hours as usual because I was excited, then got up early, flew 120nm to my exam, and got there at 8:45 a.m. The examiner asked for my logbook and immediately pointed out that I was missing one of the above items. It was such a basic thing from four months earlier that my instructor and I had both missed it completely while getting ready for the exam. The examiner had that page in the FAR bookmarked because it happens a lot. He sent me home, but agreed that I could take the test later that day if I got the paperwork squared away. I flew home, dealt with the paperwork, bought more fuel, and flew back to the exam. I got back there at about 11:30 a.m. We did the oral and I did well. It was a lot like others have said: Talking to a very experienced pilot about flying. Don't get too friendly because he isn't there to be your friend, but don't be afraid to talk just because it's an exam.

He told me exactly what the flying portion would consist of and then we went flying at about 1:30 p.m. By that point, my breakfast was long forgotten and convective currents had started in earnest. There was no wind or turbulence at all earlier in the day, but I ended up flying the entire check ride with a grumbling stomach in moderate turbulence. The hood portion was particularly grueling as a result and I thought I might get sick. I really should have had lunch or brought a snack.

There was also a moment when the tower waved us off of a landing we had been cleared for, when we were on short final. The examiner grabbed the PTT and said something to the tower about that. After that, he told me to just go around the pattern and make a full-stop landing and we would be done.

If I had checked my paperwork more thoroughly one last time before going to the exam, I would have flown in no-wind, smooth conditions and had a nice victory lunch. Missing one item from before my first solo cross-country flight turned it instead into a bumpy all-day affair. I logged 7.1 hours that day including my flight home after the check ride. I had a headache for the rest of that day and most of the next due to all the turbulence on an empty stomach. I probably burned 60 gallons of avgas.

But after we landed and taxied back to the GA ramp, he told me I passed.
 
There's a great video where DPE Andy Munnis explains what's expected and what the common mistakes are. It's 2hrs, but it's so worth it. See it, follow his advice and you're good to go.

 
iamtheari said:
Check your paperwork before you go. Ensure that you have:
1. Filed the IACRA with all the right information. Check it again after your instructor signs off on it.
2. The endorsements related to your written test, along with the written test results.
3. The endorsement to take the test.
4. All endorsements required for solo flight of the aircraft you will take the test in, including on your student pilot certificate.
5. All endorsements required for the cross-country flight to the test and back home (in case you do not complete and pass the test) in that aircraft, including on your student pilot certificate.
6. The aircraft logbooks that show it is current for annual, 100-hour, and any other necessary checks.
7. A good snack that won't upset your stomach but can get you through until supper if need be.


But after we landed and taxied back to the GA ramp, he told me I passed.
Click to expand...

Congrats! One thing I always did was a separate sheet of paper with all the endorsements, long XC, night landings etc listed w/ the date so it was easier for the DPE to look them up. Never had to redo any paperwork stuff, and hopefully worked in the applicants favor. A little attention to detail by CFIs goes a long ways.
 
Challenged said:
Felt like I slept 30 minutes the night before, just couldn't shut my brain off with going over information in my head. It was so much easier than I made it out to be in my mind though
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I'll second that, I'm typically pretty confident. Even though I knew my stuff, got no sleep the night before, had myself convinced I was gonna tank. Showed up, breezed through the oral, and the flying part was a cake walk. My instructor always told me, that he would be a lot harder on me and hold me to much higher standards than the examiner would, and that if my check ride wasn't a lot easier than my training, he didn't do his job. Well, he was right. The biggest thing you have to realize, the examiner wants you to pass (well most of them). They know you wouldn't be there taking your checkride if you didn't know you stuff. My examiner saved soft field landings for last (my biggest struggle in training, which from what I understand is a little easier for high wing guys). He said, do a soft field landing for me and we are done, I'm gonna be asleep over here so don't wake me up! Legit made snoring sounds of short final. Winds were calm that day and we had been using both runways that day, was even kind enough to give me the up hill runway. Nailed it. Getting my PPL was one of the coolest things I have accomplished. Go in there with a little confidence and you'll be fine. Now I just need to keep that in mind myself when I take my IR checkride here soon!
 
Obvious, but get a solid nights sleep, proper breakfast and just chill.
 
Random question I know, but whatever happened to the P.O.A. monkey? You know, to get it to, ummm, somewhere.
 
stratobee said:
There's a great video where DPE Andy Munnis explains what's expected and what the common mistakes are. It's 2hrs, but it's so worth it. See it, follow his advice and you're good to go.

Click to expand...

During my oral I mentioned this video to my DPE. He said, "Andy's a good friend of mine." and 4 seconds later his phone rang. He turns the screen to me and it says "Andy." We both look at each other for about 5 seconds because it was eery! He denies the cal and says, "I'll have to call him later. Haven't talked to him in a while. That was weird!" That was the hardest part of the whole day. Oral was a breeze. Rapid fire and back and forth. Nailed it. The flight portion was one of the best flights I've ever had. The most nerve-wracking part of my day was picking out donuts on my way to the airport. I was calm and confident. It was a lot of fun.
 
My check ride with the DPE was weird. Instead of Dr. Jekell and Mr. Hyde I got DPE and Mr. Wonky. My oral exam was one of flabbergastiness (is that a word...well it is now) and frustration. I started flight training back in the mid 80's with two weeks of ground school and 18 hours of flight instruction, (soloed at 8.7) So there was no record of me ever having any ground training that I could find. My CFI was in Phoenix (check ride was in Tucson) so the DPE called and woke him up to ask if he could send something. My CFI emailed him something that was just North of: "This dude has received ground instruction and is good to go." The DPE bought it. After that, I was concerned that he'd find something else...he didn't.

He then made a speech about when the oral starts it is the point of no return, make or break, this is it buddy, your time of interrogation, DPE style. He was very formal and it made me more than a little nervous. He asked the normal questions of what I needed with me to fly and the requirements thereof which I answered correctly... then Mr. Wonky showed up.

Oral exam:

"So I was cleaning my pool this morning in scuba gear, can I go flying?"
**<----- denotes quotation for my thoughts, not what I said.
**what the hell were you scuba-cleaning your pool for if you know you had a check ride with me?...Oh, he's asking to see if I know...of course I know**
"Well, how deep is your pool?"
"Why does that make a difference?"
"Because I need to know if we have to wait for only 8 hours or 24."
"Okay....moving on. So what plane are we flying today?"
"So you really weren't in your pool this morning?"
"No."
"My Piper Cherokee 140."
"That's a good airplane I used to own one. So I hear Josh (my CFI) has an Arrow, can we fly that?"
"No."
"No? Why not? Aren't you signed off for single engine land?"
"Yes."
"So why can't you fly the Arrow."
"Because its a complex airplane and I can't just get in it and fly without some instruction and an endorsement."
"That's not right."
(at this point I'm starting to second guess myself...**what is he getting at?**
"I can't just jump in a complex airplane and go flying."
"I disagree but moving on...what constitutes a complex aircraft?"
"Retractable landing gear, movable flaps and a constant speed prop." **please, please don't ask me how a constant speed prop operates.**
"What is a constant speed prop and how does it work?"
**damnit**
"um..the rpm doesn't change but the pitch of the propeller does....it is um....you have this blue knob which controls the pitch and the black knob controls the...um **damnit...I'm sinking here...why do I need to know this when we're not even flying one**
(at this point I think he realizes the conversation is going off into the weeds)
"Okay...moving on...(he draws on a sheet of paper something that looks like this: ^I^) You have this runway see, and its between two mountains, how do you land?"
**That's it? That's the question...really?**
"So is there mountain wave turbulence?"
"Nope, the wind is calm."
"So is there room to go around and enter the downwind for another try if I don't like the approach?"
"Nope."
**Where the hell IS the runway...Tibet?**
"How long is the runway?"
(His eyes light up like I've asked the right question) "Its short...really short."
"Then I would make a short field landing."
"Okay....(draws again, two parallel runways with another line diagonally across them) So you have a heavy jet that just landed on this runway (the left one) and the wind is screaming this way (refers to the diagonal line) where do you land?"
"Could you define "screaming" because I might not land there at all."
"Okay...its within your airplane's cross wind limits."
"I'd note where the heavy jet landed and land beyond that."
"Okay..good."

These type of questions went on for an hour and a half...finally satisfied (on his part) and fully flummoxed (on my part) we go to:
 
The Practical

(He points to the fuel vent tube underneath the wing) "What's that?"
"That's a fuel vent tube."
"What does it do?"
"As the fuel is burned it allows the tank to equalize the pressure eliminating a vacuum."
**I nailed that one...ask me something else Wonky Boy.**
"What if that get's clogged up with bugs or ice or something?" (he removes my fuel cap, turns it over, nods and replaces it.)
**oh crap** "It probably...well the gas cap doesn't fit all that tight...it probably won't implode or anything. I have another tank..."
"Oh it fits tight enough....so how does it vent if the vent tube is clogged?"
"I assume through the gas cap...somehow."
"You assume...but do you know? I just gave you a major hint."
**what hint...he just looked at the bottom of my fuel cap...was that a hint?**
"I'm not here to instruct you. I'm here to see if you know your airplane."
**damnit....I don't know my airplane...what major hint**
"Moving on. (points to the primer lines) What is that little tube?"
**all right, finally the engine....my wheelhouse**
"That is a primer line."
"What does that do?"
"It provides a squirt of fuel to the cylinders to prime the engine so it will start more easily."
"How come there's only three of them? Don't you have four cylinders on this aircraft?"
**the ONE thing you know most about and you don't know this...and you never noticed that there were only three tubes**
"Um....I don't know." (the very first "I don't know" of the whole exam.) **crap, I've failed.**
"I don't know either, I was hoping you could tell me...something about Lycoming engines...." (he trails off)
**whew!! Dodged a bullet there....what was that major hint???**

after a few more questions that I answered satisfactorily...except why there can only be one coat of paint of the stabilator that I didn't know the answer to other than balance issues, we climb in for the flight. The wind is a quartering headwind at 15 gusting to 24...I'm nervous but at least it isn't a direct cross.

Since I'm a controller, my radio skills are more than sufficient (if I say so myself) so he had no issues, we taxi out to the runway.

"Okay, make this a short field take off...and I'll tell you when we've cleared the fifty foot obstacle."
**obstacle?....you never mentioned obstacle. Roll with it Tim.**
"okay" (short field takeoff wasn't the best I've done, blame it on the gusty wind...yeah that's it)
"Okay, so we've cleared the obstacle"
"All right" (turns to heading from ATC)
"Okay...so where is the top of climb?" (I turn to the stack of paper in the back that I'd hurriedly placed there that the gusty wind blew all over the place)
**oh crap** "Its on my worksheet...um..."
"You fly the plane, I'll get it. (he looks for just a couple seconds and comes up with it) Is this it?"
"Yep, that's it...my top of climb is here and we've burned this much fuel." (I point to the paper where it states....**oh crap..you just opened yourself up for more questions about fuel burn...you idiot** (he ignores it or is satisfied with my worksheet info...or is having a stroke)
"I see, so what's the weather like at our destination."
(I rattle off the METAR info that I'd memorized...**oh crap...you shouldn't memorize anything** satisfied he says)
"Okay, say we don't know what the weather is, how can we find out?"
"We'll call flight service station in Prescott and they can give us a weather brief."
"Okay, let's do that."
**Okay I'm going to sound like a complete idiot because I already know what the weather is at the destination** (I tune in 122.2)
"You sure that's the right frequency?"
"Yes."
"That's not right, it should be 122.0."
"They discontinued use of that freq but still monitor it." **thank God I read that just last night**
"You sure?"
"Positive."
(Not believing me and in a smug voice) "Okay...call them up."
(keys up mic) "Prescott radio, Cherokee five six six zero uniform" (silence) Just when the mean mug showed up on Mr. Wonky's face..."Cherokee five six six zero uniform Prescott radio."
**HA!!**
"Yes, six zero uniform just wondering what weather you're showing over Palm Springs."
(they do the formal weather, very detailed and I almost feel sorry for them because they are doing something for me they didn't need to)
"Copy all, thank you, six zero uniform"

I realize this is getting a little lengthy so suffice it to say that we did some maneuvers which weren't perfect as I'd like but passable.

"Do you smell that?"
"Smell what? I don't smell anything."
**what the hell doesn't he smell?**
"My feet are getting hot."
"Your feet...wha...."
"We've got a panel fire."
**oh...I got it, a simulated emergency**
(I break out Mr. Checklist which I followed until I got down to "master switch off" which I skipped and simulated turning it off)
"Come on man my feet are on fire we need to get down!!"
"We're landing over there." (I point to a gravel road)
"Why didn't you follow the checklist?"
**uh oh...I thought I DID follow the checklist** "I did follow the checklist."
"You didn't turn the master off."
"I simulated that since we really didn't have a panel.."
"Okay, I'm going to discontinue this exam...(he went on to say a bunch of stuff about how we can continue but I was heartbroken and really couldn't pay much attention. We got back to the airport and I made all the landings he wanted which were decent but I'd never flown in wind like that before)

By this time my CFI had flown back from Phoenix and was waiting at my hangar. **now I have to tell him I failed.** We get out and the DPE explains that I never turned the master switch off and I failed that portion of the check ride but completed everything else satisfactorily. My CFI explained that we never actually turned the master switch off in training and took part of the blame. I was fuming, disappointed in myself.

"It's your choice, we can plan to finish another day or we can go back up and finish just that portion of the check ride."
"We're going back up."
"It will be another hundred dollars."
"We're going back up."

We go back up and I do the exact emergency procedure and this time, I shut off the master switch.

"Okay, take us back to the airport."
We do a short approach to my best landing of the day as the wind had died down a bit. We taxi back to my hangar. He gets out and says to my CFI, "he nailed it...good pilot."
**I nailed it...yeah on the second try**

DPE had returned and Mr. Wonky went back to...well wherever Mr. Wonky hangs out until it is time for him to come back.

It took a good week or so to get over the humiliation of failing my first check ride but with certificate in hand...I got over it.
 
Am guessing this was recent due to the FSS entries. I would've told the DPE I was "simulating" master off verbally in order to retain a transponder in case something fast was in the area and ONLY if he objected would I turn it off. I guess a smart arse would actually cage everything, actually switch fuel to OFF and pull mixture:eek:
 
@Timbeck2 : It's too bad you weren't a ways south, inside the Mode C ring for PHX, or other transponder-required airspace so you could have tossed him "I simulated the power failure because the transponder is required where we were flying"... at him. Sounds like quite a weirdo. But I must say, if I were simulating it, I'd say so out loud at the moment I chose not to actually turn it off. Prescott airspace is a really stupid place to be turning off the transponder, considering the training traffic density.
 
All I remember is that after the check ride, on the drive home, I suddenly remembered that I needed detergent so I could do laundry....
 
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