Private pilot - airplane; written test passed!
- Thread starter AndyMac
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AggieMike88
Touchdown! Greaser!
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The original "I don't know it all" of aviation.
Congratulations!
Zeek
Pre-Flight
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Zeek
Here we go! Passed!
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Dude, I was starting to get nervous! That’s awesome, what a feeling hey? I’ve been flying several times now as a Private Pilot, and on my first flight I didn’t know what to do with all my new found freedom, so I ended up doing 10 touch and go’s. I swore I was going to take a break from training, but now I’m already looking into to starting my instrument, and am doing my transition training to the 172 this Friday (I’ve only flown in a 172 once on my second ever flight). If you get a chance I’d love to hear the check ride story. Also, what’s next for you? Are you going to enjoy it for awhile, do instrument, buy a plane?
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denverpilot
Tied Down
Congrats!
Here we go! Passed!
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AndyMac
Pre-takeoff checklist
Alright. Check ride story? That's a tough one because I was pretty anxious about it so my memory of all the details isn't fantastic. Let's see what I can remember.
To start with, we did all the usual stuff. Specifically of note, we went over my log books which I had printed out from foreflight. This was a really smart play. It turns out foreflight is a really inconvenient thing for the DPE to have to navigate to find all the requirements. I had used the post-it tabs to identify all the requirement flights, and had printed out detail pages (screenshots from the web logbook) to show things like takeoffs, landings, and landings to a full stop. He was pretty specific about what a pain it is to scroll through the logs in the app and how easy it is to get lost and have to start over, etc.
Additionally, there was some question over my cross-countries (well, all xc's actually... this was a philosophical question of his.). My DPE's interpretation of the FAR was that you could only count time spent on legs over 50mi, which my CFI (who was there for this portion) couldn't agree with. In the end, I did so many (and so long) xc's, it wasn't going to matter so he let it go.
The oral was not particularly memorable, except that I did pretty well. I think he would have wished for me to be more familiar with the details in the POH (which I had to keep referencing) but was happy enough with my knowledge. We went over the areas I had been deficient in on the knowledge test - ridiculous stuff. Drugs/alcohol, stalls (seriously?!), and magnetic compass (lol). I credit Jason Schappert's audio-book version of 'passing your private pilot checkride' entirely for being able to answer the magnetic compass questions. Didn't matter how many times I reviewed that section, I couldn't remember ANDS or UNOS (like, the acronyms - forget remembering the meaning lol).
The systems we discussed were, get this - the wheels/tires (!?!) and the fuel system. My knowledge was ENTIRELY deficient on the wheels/tires. I knew I could fill them, that the pressure required is listed in the POH, and that I could change the tires, but I didn't know if the wheels were steel or aluminum, or if they were tubes or tubeless tires. It was a little embarrassing, but he was able to tell me that they are aluminum, and made of two parts, from which I could surmise that they were tubed tires. He asked if I could use fix-a-flat or patch the tubes. I said no.
We discussed my fictitious xc to Mackinac Island at length. We examined all the airspaces, discussed the wx brief, talked about some stuff found in the chart supplement specific to the destination (noise abatement, hazards like birds and mud daubers, non-standard pattern altitude.)
Once the oral was over, he said "well the oral portion is over. nice work, you've passed" and instead of experiencing relief, I realized as if by surprise, now I had to do the flight portion. It was like maybe I hadn't let myself be stressed over it yet because it wasn't a sure thing? Anyway, my heart rate doubled as soon as he said it.
Pre-flight went fine, though once we had the engine running and our headsets on, radios all tuned up I realized the wheels were still chocked. I shut down, removed the chocks, then we did it all over again. It wasn't a bust-level thing, but it starts things off wrong I'm sure.
We climbed out and turned north, and I used pilotage and dead reckoning to identify our first checkpoint. Unfortunately, I had been instructed to explain what/how/why on stuff but he perceived this as me trying to make a presentation - thought I was grandstanding, so that put him off starting with the very first dang thing. He asked how I was going to find the next checkpoint, I had a good answer so we skipped to a divert. He let me use foreflight so it was a breeze. Gave me the foggles, I did a climb, a descent, 2 unusual attitudes, all very easily - had them off in 3-4min maybe? He set me up perfectly for maneuvers, but I didn't clear the area the way he had expected so we ended up in the wrong place for when he failed my engine right after a steep turn.
I did the procedures right, but the field I picked wasn't good. There were high tension power lines and we were high for it. There were other options and in a real failure I absolutely would have used them, but had been taught to pick a field and stick to it. Well, I got into a slip with 20 deg flaps and he was not happy. "why are you slipping before all your flaps are in?" so I explained that the POH cautioned against it, which he didn't appreciate. Of course, during that time, I still hadn't completely committed to the slip so we were way too high. I tried to go around for safety (power lines, minimum safe altitude) which he didn't appreciate. In the end, I banked for another field next to it, which would have been fine. He had me go around, but he had been yelling, etc. It was awesome.
We did a turn about a point, but I set it up with a ~3/4mi radius. He wanted 1/4-1/2 but didn't say anything about it. Right afterward he failed my engine again (real low) and I got setup fast and into a nice stable descent to a good field so I guess he was happy with that? We climbed out and headed back to the airport.
On the radio, I was announcing a tear-drop entry. The pattern wasn't quite empty but the FAA circular is pretty clear about it being the recommended entry. Well, he didn't think it was appropriate. He helpfully suggested we simply join the downwind directly, which I was relieved to do. Did a nice normal touch and go (greased it), came around for a full stop short field. He said the only criteria is that I only get half the runway and need to be fully stopped by the mid-point. I had that 150 stopped in maybe 300'? well before the 1,000' markers. We did a soft field takeoff which, unfortunately, I kissed the ground after liftoff - it was gentle and wouldn't have posed problems on grass but it wasn't awesome and did a very nice soft field landing to wrap it all back up.
We taxied back in, shut down, and he congratulated me on being the world's newest private pilot, but I felt like he didn't feel awesome about it. He did post my picture on instagram, so maybe he came around?. The debrief made me feel pretty dirty (I didn't know about all the stuff above while I was flying) but hey, a dirty pilot is still a pilot!
I followed it up by taking each of my 4 older kids out for ~20min. It was a long process, but didn't scare any of them too badly hehehe. Thanks for asking!
As for what is next, I've joined a club (with @Huckster79 and 10 of our closest friends) with a killer 172. 180HP STC, Garmin GTN 650 and a G5, etc. Haven't flown it yet but I'm looking forward to it. It'll be nice to be able to carry fuel AND people, as well as climb hehe. It's also ~20% more affordable than the rentals I've been in, and at an airport quite a bit closer to my home so that'll all help.
I think I'll enjoy VFR flight for a little while, while I build up some hours (and maybe some $$?) then either a tail-wheel endorsement or maybe straight into instrument. Someday I'd like to do floats, but not for any good reason except that it sounds fun. I'll do HP or complex if I ever have access to a plane that requires it. What about you?
edit: instagram update lol
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Zeek
Pre-Flight
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Zeek
Holy cow, that is intense! It sounds like this guy likes things done in a very particular way, but how would you know that unless he told you? I was actually really concerned about slipping the 152, because my CFI always taught me with full flaps, however in the POH that is discouraged but not outright prohibited, and I didn’t know how the DPE would feel. When my DPE pulled my engine the first time I was high, and started circling down, it was really windy so I got a little off course and flustered on the first one. Our interaction went like this.
HIM-“what field are you going to put it down in?”
ME (at 3,000’ without pointing)-“that one”
HIM-“the one over there?”(points to field)
ME(just generally agreeing)-“yeah”
HIM-“there are power lines and trees there”
ME-“not that one, this one”(still without pointing)
He didn’t appreciate that so he pulled it again at about 1000’ and fortunately I nailed it. Your DPE kind of sounds like he was pretty brutal lol. I felt like my checkride performance was lower than the standard that I normally fly to, and didn’t feel incredible about how it went, so I can relate. Very cool being able to take up the kids! My older boy turned 3 about a week ago and my younger son is 6 months old, so I haven’t had them up yet, but I have had a chance to get the wife and my dad up which was great. I wouldn’t mind joining a club, but I’m not really aware of any that are real close to me or very economical. I would consider a partnership with the right person(s) or outright ownership depending on the situation. I plan on getting my instrument rating and would like to at least go commercial, but time will tell. Enjoy your certificate, I’m happy for you! Stay in touch/make some posts about your future flying adventures. Congrats again bud, fly safe!
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HIM-“what field are you going to put it down in?”
ME (at 3,000’ without pointing)-“that one”
HIM-“the one over there?”(points to field)
ME(just generally agreeing)-“yeah”
HIM-“there are power lines and trees there”
ME-“not that one, this one”(still without pointing)
He didn’t appreciate that so he pulled it again at about 1000’ and fortunately I nailed it. Your DPE kind of sounds like he was pretty brutal lol. I felt like my checkride performance was lower than the standard that I normally fly to, and didn’t feel incredible about how it went, so I can relate. Very cool being able to take up the kids! My older boy turned 3 about a week ago and my younger son is 6 months old, so I haven’t had them up yet, but I have had a chance to get the wife and my dad up which was great. I wouldn’t mind joining a club, but I’m not really aware of any that are real close to me or very economical. I would consider a partnership with the right person(s) or outright ownership depending on the situation. I plan on getting my instrument rating and would like to at least go commercial, but time will tell. Enjoy your certificate, I’m happy for you! Stay in touch/make some posts about your future flying adventures. Congrats again bud, fly safe!
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