PPL Checkride Tuesday

LoLPilot

LoLPilot

Line Up and Wait
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LoLPilot
I've got my checkride on Tuesday! Any suggestions, tips, advice? I have read Captain Levy's checkride column. Both oral and practical are appreciated.
 
I have no advice. You'll probably be just fine. But I do have a request.

When you're done, can you give us a write up? I kind of miss those days in the past where we would have write ups after all the check rides it's interesting to see what's going through people's minds

Good luck
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
I have no advice. You'll probably be just fine. But I do have a request.

When you're done, can you give us a write up? I kind of miss those days in the past where we would have write ups after all the check rides it's interesting to see what's going through people's minds

Good luck
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Sure 6PC. I must admit I'm nervous about the oral. I read an older write-up on here and it sounded like it was pretty intense. More intense than my end of course check was.
 
Fly well. Relax. Enjoy.

And get some sleep the night before. I never do, but it would make it easier. :)

Oh, and Get ‘er Done!
 
Make sure AC papers are in order; my plane's registration expired a few days prior to my CR, so expired reg is no reg! Luckily the owner of the plane was the school's mx guy, so I talked to him and he got me a copy of the temporary reg.
Make sure you went through AC mx log book and also your log book has all your endorsements. Double check your xc planning and ask your CFI to check too. Brush up on all weak areas, memorize your numbers (Vspeeds, etc). Failing on the oral portion is a bad indication!

Once you're done with the oral, it's half victory!
Remember, you are PIC and you can use all available resources, that means the DPE too ;)

Get back here and report to us about your full victory and post a nice write up for our edification.

GOOD LUCK!!!! :)
 
Hippike said:
Make sure AC papers are in order; my plane's registration expired a few days prior to my CR, so expired reg is no reg! Luckily the owner of the plane was the school's mx guy, so I talked to him and he got me a copy of the temporary reg.
Make sure you went through AC mx log book and also your log book has all your endorsements. Double check your xc planning and ask your CFI to check too. Brush up on all weak areas, memorize your numbers (Vspeeds, etc). Failing on the oral portion is a bad indication!

Once you're done with the oral, it's half victory!
Remember, you are PIC and you can use all available resources, that means the DPE too ;)

Get back here and report to us about your full victory and post a nice write up for our edification.

GOOD LUCK!!!! :)
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Thanks! My CFI and I have talked about oral prep and the chief instructor at my school said I did well in my mock oral, but whenever my friends and family have quizzed me from the exam guide I have felt like an idiot!
 
As you fly, verbalize what you're doing. It helps to calm you down, and helps the examiner know what's going on in your head as you do the maneuvers.

And while there are the tolerances for altitude and course, many DPE's will cut you some slack if you notice you're out of spec, say that you noticed, and say that you are correcting.

Like the others, I look forward to your write up
 
LoL your way thru the checkride. hopefully you'll say the same thing 99% of the rest of us did after we were done...…"hhmmfff, that's wasn't so bad"
 
instead of friends and family quizzing you, have another pilot quiz you with real world questions and random hypotheticals. That helped me when I prepped.

Good luck
 
Maintenance logbooks, know where annual, 100 hour, other inspections are signed off. Tab them! Know you can tell the examiner you know the answer and ask if you can look it up, such as a Part 91 rule. Don't take all day looking for it though. Go over the areas you missed on the written with your CFI. Airspace, know what is what on the chart, cloud clearance and visibility.

Lay a $100 or two next to your checkbook. If he asks what it's for, say tip. ;)

Good luck! You'll do fine. Try to sleep the night before, don't cram.
 
Don't be afraid of telling the DPE to hold on a minute while you are flying. He may be trying to distract you. Mine kept asking about a spot on the map while I was trying to climb out on the cross country portion and I told him to shut up (not literally) and that is what he wanted.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
I have no advice. You'll probably be just fine. But I do have a request.

When you're done, can you give us a write up? I kind of miss those days in the past where we would have write ups after all the check rides it's interesting to see what's going through people's minds

Good luck
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I just went back and looked, I didnt do a post checkride write up. I did have a training thread that was sometimes interesting.

OP, you're ready. If you were not, you wouldnt be going. Oral: If you dont know an answer, and chances are there will be some, dont guess or BS, tell the DPE "I dont know, but I know where to find the answer". When I did mine the DPE asked "where"? I told him, a couple times that was good enough and a couple of times he made me look it up. Flying: If you get A little out of whack on one of the maneuvers admit that you're off and tell him AS YOU ARE CORRECTING what you are doing to correct it.

A quick story, during my ride I really got lost. He had turned me around under the hood and then done the emergency decent and while we were low had me do a turn about a point around a small pond. When he said lets go back to the airport for some landings, I headed north because i knew i was somewhere south. I quickly realized that I didnt know where I was. I confessed immediately to him and told him that I thought I might be close to MGM's airspace and I needed to climb. I did. Kept flying north..........finally found a landmark that I recognized....I had flown right over the airport. When I told him I was good, he said "great, lets go do some landings". During the debrief he told me that he knew I was nervous and that I did exactly what I was supposed to do when I got lost. he said it was a plus that I did that right. Not really a quick story....but there ya go. You will be fine.
 
AggieMike88 said:
And while there are the tolerances for altitude and course, many DPE's will cut you some slack if you notice you're out of spec, say that you noticed, and say that you are correcting.
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The good news is, it's actually in the ACS...
  1. Unsatisfactory Performance

    Typical areas of unsatisfactory performance and grounds for disqualification include:
    • Any action or lack of action by the applicant that requires corrective intervention by the evaluator to maintain safe flight

      ...

    • Consistently exceeding tolerances stated in the skill elements of the Task.

    • Failure to take prompt corrective action when tolerances are exceeded.

      ...
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Just don't "consistently" exceed tolerances, and don't exceed them by so much that the examiner feels the need to save himself.
 
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You're a pilot.
So just be yourself!
 
Just have fun, enjoy the experience. I really enjoyed it and it is something I will remember.
 
Concentrate on what you're doing, not what he/she might be thinking...

Also, enjoy the sleep later that evening. It'll be good lol.
 
Don’t overthink the oral. It’s not so much a test, but rather just you and the examiner having a conversation. As for the flight portion, if you can satisfactorily complete the required maneuvers without any assistance from your CFI, than you’re good to go.
 
Amount of sleep the night before check ride: 1 hour total, 10 minutes at a time, with an hour of intense thinking about the check ride in between.

Amount of sleep the night after the check ride: 8 hours total, from the moment the head hits the pillow until the alarm goes off.
 
Relax ,try to enjoy the flying,remember a cfi sId you where ready for the test.
 
If your CFI says you're ready...you're ready. Get a good nights sleep, drink plenty of water during the oral, take a leak
before you fly, and go have some fun. He's your first passenger so don't forget the passenger briefing, they love that.
 
Thanks guys! I've been practicing the briefings with my CFI. I have heard of some guys making safety cards for 172's like they have on airliners and giving one to the examiner. I am also thinking of making cheat sheets to put on my kneeboard for all the different things, so like slow flight would say CLEARING TURNS, WATCH ALTITUDE, etc. Landings would say "CHECKLISTS," etc. Or would that make me look woefully unprepared?
 
Possibly over prepared...

Better to get a few simple out and back flights practicing these flows so they are memory items. Then back them up with a checklist
 
LoLPilot said:
Thanks guys! I've been practicing the briefings with my CFI. I have heard of some guys making safety cards for 172's like they have on airliners and giving one to the examiner. I am also thinking of making cheat sheets to put on my kneeboard for all the different things, so like slow flight would say CLEARING TURNS, WATCH ALTITUDE, etc. Landings would say "CHECKLISTS," etc. Or would that make me look woefully unprepared?
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Kneeboard Cheat sheet makes you look more prepared, I think. It’s a practical test, not memorization test
 
Don’t forget to use the checklists. Not just your prestart and runup, but cruise flight and prelanding as well. It’s important, I think and am being currently taught during of IFR training to not rely on remembering that stuff, just bust out the list and call it out.
If you bust altitude or off heading don’t be quiet and think they won’t notice.. be vocal, call out the busted altitude and that your are correcting, call out the heading correction. I think it’s impoetant to show them you realize you made a minor booboo and that you know how to correct.
 
benyflyguy said:
Don’t forget to use the checklists. Not just your prestart and runup, but cruise flight and prelanding as well. It’s important, I think and am being currently taught during of IFR training to not rely on remembering that stuff, just bust out the list and call it out.
If you bust altitude or off heading don’t be quiet and think they won’t notice.. be vocal, call out the busted altitude and that your are correcting, call out the heading correction. I think it’s impoetant to show them you realize you made a minor booboo and that you know how to correct.
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One of the Line guys at my school told me the same thing. He said if you know you're gonna bust call it out and say you're correcting. As far as checklists I'm good about almost all of it EXCEPT landing. I get busy in the pattern and forget. Both my instructor and another one I flew with told me "airline guys use flow checks. If you want to rattle off GUMPS in the pattern it shows the examiner that you DO have a system. Then if you have time you can run the full list but the examiner will understand that you're also trying to keep your eyes outside and run some sort of systematic approach at the same time."
 
I have my students do a flow for landing going around and around in the pattern. Example, for Cessna 172...fuel-both, go up to Mixture-rich, across to Carb heat-off, further to Ignition-both. Short and sweet, hits all you need. Works good in the traffic pattern for repeated touch and wents.

Approaching and descending towards an airport, they use the descent or before landing checklist as you have more time 5-10 miles out from the airport.
 
MauleSkinner said:
Not quite true, but close. Airline guys use flows, backed up by paper (or electronic) checklists. Do what you're taught, but don't base your reasoning on bad info. ;)
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Thanks. They both said if you have time it is good to run the list, but if you do all of the other lists and use the flow for pattern work and then double check with the list if you can that is alright as long as you are systematic and you can demonstrate that you are catching what you need to do.
 
Definitely do a write-up when it's over - even if it's just for you. Just recently I was reading over my checkride notes from 14 years ago. Was an awesome, even amusing, walk down memory lane. As others have said - if the CFI says you're ready, you're ready. Be confident, though not cocky. Enjoy.

Also, if you make plans for someone, say your wife, to come out for a ride on your fresh ticket, do NOT accept the celebratory beer one of the hangar rats in the peanut gallery may or may not hand you. Oops.
 
mscard88 said:
I have my students do a flow for landing going around and around in the pattern. Example, for Cessna 172...fuel-both, go up to Mixture-rich, across to Carb heat-off, further to Ignition-both. Short and sweet, hits all you need. Works good in the traffic pattern for repeated touch and wents.

Approaching and descending towards an airport, they use the descent or before landing checklist as you have more time 5-10 miles out from the airport.
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"Landing Gear -- Down and Welded"
 
Oblivion said:
Definitely do a write-up when it's over - even if it's just for you. Just recently I was reading over my checkride notes from 14 years ago. Was an awesome, even amusing, walk down memory lane. As others have said - if the CFI says you're ready, you're ready. Be confident, though not cocky. Enjoy.

Also, if you make plans for someone, say your wife, to come out for a ride on your fresh ticket, do NOT accept the celebratory beer one of the hangar rats in the peanut gallery may or may not hand you. Oops.
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Thanks! My friends, family and girlfriend all think it's crazy and don't want to go in a small plane. Girlfriend said she would try but wants to ride with my instructor first. So the flying mostly just a me, myself and I thing.
 
LoLPilot said:
Thanks! My friends, family and girlfriend all think it's crazy and don't want to go in a small plane. Girlfriend said she would try but wants to ride with my instructor first. So the flying mostly just a me, myself and I thing.
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Time for a new gf! :D
 
Checkride be like tomorrow....

latest
 
AggieMike88 said:
@LoLPilot .... here is one of the longest threads we ever had about a private pilot checkride and part of the lore and legend of PoA.

Somewhat required reading for fledgling pilots about to take their checkride. Might help you take your mind off your impending doom.

https://www.pilotsofamerica.com/community/threads/private-checkride-went-horribly-wrong.63701/
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So I'm also in grad school and I had a nightmare the other night that my DPE showed up to one of my dissertation meetings and started asking me questions about my research.
 
AggieMike88 said:
@LoLPilot .... here is one of the longest threads we ever had about a private pilot checkride and part of the lore and legend of PoA.

Somewhat required reading for fledgling pilots about to take their checkride. Might help you take your mind off your impending doom.

https://www.pilotsofamerica.com/community/threads/private-checkride-went-horribly-wrong.63701/
Click to expand...

I had forgotten about that troll. LOL.

I think when he told Wayne he didn’t have a “prostrate” I lost it five years ago, reading that “live”.
 
LoLPilot said:
Thanks! My friends, family and girlfriend all think it's crazy and don't want to go in a small plane. Girlfriend said she would try but wants to ride with my instructor first. So the flying mostly just a me, myself and I thing.
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Ah, I'd taken my wife skydiving on one of our first dates and she loves riding two-up on the motorcycle (though has no real interest in going solo) and she'd also gone along with my CFI once, so she was pretty stoked then disappointed. Due to - whatever - it was another week until took her and my dad up. Mom on the other hand has been on the bike once but has ZERO interest in flying with me.

So, where's your flight? How's the outlook brief looking?
 
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