GreatLakesFlying
Pre-takeoff checklist
A few weeks ago I shared some concerns I had about my flight school and my progress towards my PPL ("The closer I get to checkride, the further it feels", March 4, 2018). As you may recall, after about 60 hours of dual and 60 hours of solo, my second instructor at my old school kept finding things that we needed to work on. The process felt random and the instruction a bit disorganized.
The feedback that I got from this forum was to look for another instructor. And I did, at a different school. The new instructor and I went up for an evaluation flight and 1.5 hours and afterwards he told me to contact a DPE to schedule my checkride. And in the meantime, the new instructor and I went up a few more times to establish the 3 required hours for checkride prep and to get me familiarized with the new airport and its surrounding space.
Two weeks ago, I finally had my checkride. And in addition to be certifiable, I am now certificated.
Switching schools was the best thing I did. I found an awesome outfit at 06C and I was teamed up with an outstanding instructor: current airline pilot who still enjoys wearing his CFI hat when not flying for work. The new school itself is a well run and organized operation. I couldn't help compare it with my previous school that was disorganized to the point of neglect.
Working with a new instructor, who turned to be a very effective teacher, was reassuring. After our first evaluation flight, we debriefed for more than an hour, going over the practical tasks in the ACS. Basically, I was ready to meet all the requirements in a passable manner: some of my maneuvers were very good, some were ok, and the bottom line was that I was ready.
The checkride itself went quite well (well, I passed). The oral was thorough and I found that I was well prepared for it. The flight was interesting! I got a discontinuance due to an actual, real engine emergency: the oil temperature sensor failed an hour into the checkride. I had to make a precautionary landing at a nearby airport where a very helpful mechanic gave us a hand.
Looking at that oil temperature gauge redlining, was surreal. Is this really happening, to me? In the middle of my checkride? For a second I thought, I hoped that it was the DPE's doing to initiate an emergency simulation. "It's your airplane mate" he said, and asked "what will you do?"
Thankfully, by the time we discontinued I had covered just about everything except for short field landings, power-on and off stalls, steep turns, and s-turns. And a few days later the DPE and I went up again to complete the practical test.
As a newly-minted private pilot, I am looking forward to learning more. Get checked out in a different airplane. Become familiar with the G1000. Take a friend for a shoreline tour. Chart a course towards an instruments rating. Brush my night-flying skills with my instructor.'
At the same time, I am reflecting at the lessons learned from my switching to a new school:
The feedback that I got from this forum was to look for another instructor. And I did, at a different school. The new instructor and I went up for an evaluation flight and 1.5 hours and afterwards he told me to contact a DPE to schedule my checkride. And in the meantime, the new instructor and I went up a few more times to establish the 3 required hours for checkride prep and to get me familiarized with the new airport and its surrounding space.
Two weeks ago, I finally had my checkride. And in addition to be certifiable, I am now certificated.
Switching schools was the best thing I did. I found an awesome outfit at 06C and I was teamed up with an outstanding instructor: current airline pilot who still enjoys wearing his CFI hat when not flying for work. The new school itself is a well run and organized operation. I couldn't help compare it with my previous school that was disorganized to the point of neglect.
Working with a new instructor, who turned to be a very effective teacher, was reassuring. After our first evaluation flight, we debriefed for more than an hour, going over the practical tasks in the ACS. Basically, I was ready to meet all the requirements in a passable manner: some of my maneuvers were very good, some were ok, and the bottom line was that I was ready.
The checkride itself went quite well (well, I passed). The oral was thorough and I found that I was well prepared for it. The flight was interesting! I got a discontinuance due to an actual, real engine emergency: the oil temperature sensor failed an hour into the checkride. I had to make a precautionary landing at a nearby airport where a very helpful mechanic gave us a hand.
Looking at that oil temperature gauge redlining, was surreal. Is this really happening, to me? In the middle of my checkride? For a second I thought, I hoped that it was the DPE's doing to initiate an emergency simulation. "It's your airplane mate" he said, and asked "what will you do?"
Thankfully, by the time we discontinued I had covered just about everything except for short field landings, power-on and off stalls, steep turns, and s-turns. And a few days later the DPE and I went up again to complete the practical test.
As a newly-minted private pilot, I am looking forward to learning more. Get checked out in a different airplane. Become familiar with the G1000. Take a friend for a shoreline tour. Chart a course towards an instruments rating. Brush my night-flying skills with my instructor.'
At the same time, I am reflecting at the lessons learned from my switching to a new school:
- if you feel there is something wrong with your current school or instructor, you may be right;
- seek external perspective: post in this forum, talk to other students. You are not alone and there are people ready to offer helpful suggestions;
- set realistic goals: in my case, I thought that after 60 hours of dual I should have been ready. I was and it now feels that the old school was just wasting my time;
- find an instructor that you "click" with. A lot of my frustration could have been avoided if I had admitted to myself sooner, that my previous instructor was not a good fit for me.
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and a 
to you!
