flyingsailor
Filing Flight Plan
Thought I’d post a write up on my last checkride.
Earned my CFII (as my initial with the FSDO) back in ’09, and then promptly stopped flying for 5 years due to work. Finally decided to start again and work on my CFI SE addon. Decided to do the ride in 2 a/c (an Arrow and 172) which worked out quite well. Practicing/Studying for the addon was a lot more difficult than the CFII (likely due to being so rusty you’d need a tetanus shot before looking at my logbook).
Finally scheduled the checkride. The DPE is very well known, and I was more worried about disappointing my recommending instructor or the DPE by doing something boneheaded, than I was about passing/failing the ride. The week leading up to the ride, the stress began to build. I kept researching everything, trying to be at least conversant/able to teach 2 or 3 layers deep on every topic, and know where to go for deeper.
After talking to the DPE, we settled on a time and he said he wanted me to teach a maneuver on the ground that we’ll fly in the air. We settled on eights-on-pylons. I know it isn’t required for the add-on, but didn’t want to start out by arguing with the DPE on the phone. Besides, figured given the amount of time since doing the CFII ride, it’d be good practice. Started dissecting the eights-on-pylons maneuver from every angle. Besides knowing it cold, started thinking of what questions he (or a student) could possibly ask. That’s when I went down the proverbial rabbit hole. I thought of the question “Where does 11.3 come from in the pivotal altitude equation”? (I’m an engineer by education)
The DPE doesn’t like travelling up to our airport (usually it’s a fly to him for the ride event as he doesn’t like the horrendous traffic), but makes exceptions for people doing rides with different a/c on same day. With that, started watching the weather and began growing a little concerned. Forecast was for wx to be acceptable for a CFI ride, so held my breath. Left the house at 0600, met him at the airport, and of course the wx ended up being worse than forecasted. Decided to at least knock the oral out and see if the wx lifts.
Oral was relatively un-eventful. After going through both aircraft’s logbooks, spent a lot of time on “how to” and “what would you be looking for” questions. Such as “how would you teach collision avoidance here and at an uncontrolled field”? A couple questions on airspace and “how would you teach local airspace to a new PPL student? OK, how about a commercial pilot?” (Since we’re a Class D, under a B, inside the DC SFRA). “If you’re sending a student to XYZ airport, what would you be concerned with/be looking for, in their pre-flight planning”?”
Couple questions that I brain-farted in my ability to describe/teach (I’m horrible at drawing). For example, in explaining governors and oil-pressures, rather than push an already poor drawing/presentation, whipped out my iPad, found a good cutaway drawing of one, then was able to teach off that drawing much more effectively than my stick-figure approach.
Finally came the Eights-on-Pylons lesson. Pulled out my plane model and a small whiteboard, and taught the maneuver. Rather than lecture, would ask questions as I’m teaching it make sure “the student” was understanding the concepts. He never asked when I said “divide by 11.3”. Wasn’t going to let all that work I did go to waste, so I worked in a question about it. He honestly didn’t know and it felt a bit refreshing to be able to stump a DPE. So the last part of the lesson was a trigonometry/algebra lesson, going through the derivation to arrive at the 11.3 (actually 11.299). When I was done, he insisted on a copy of the derivation (he likes to keep little things like this for future checkrides). So, if you’re going for your CFI ride and get asked where does 11.3 come from… I’m sorry, that was me.
Overall the oral was really laid back. It seemed more of a professional discussion that drifted in and out of explaining things to a student and explaining things to another aviation professional. With it all over, went to look at the wx.
Airport was now IMC. Decided to wait an hour and see what happens. After an hour, no change in the wx, so we “called it” and he issued a notice of discontinuance. After that, we still stayed around and chatted for an hour or two. During that time the field went from IFR to Marginal, so it was lifting. Looking outside, it seemed it got better, so tuned the ATIS and ceiling was now 1800 and 10SM (which matched what we were seeing)…jackpot. He grabbed his bag and said “Let’s go!”.
The aircraft was already pre-flighted. On the walk out he asked a couple questions, we got in, ran through the startup, and he taxied to the runup area. He asked me to demo a soft-field takeoff/landing. Did a short field after that, then on the final time around on the downwind, there was confusion with tower on where exactly traffic was on final for our runway. I said I don’t quite like this, and told tower I wanted to do a right 360. DPE liked that and things ended up working out.
While we were in the pattern, looking out to the west, the wx actually appeared to be lifting. Once we landed, discussed how to proceed. Since the he lived to the SW and wanted to get home to beat the traffic, agreed that he’d start heading home, I’d fly the 172 out to a field closer to where he lived, meet him there and we’d continue the checkride.
In case things didn’t work out, he went in to issue a second notice of discontinuance (to update the info for what we just did).
Launched in the 172 and headed out to meet him. On the way there, wx looked like it was closing back in (nothing was as forecast that day). Landed and met him at the airport. We both agreed that we’ll keep a close eye on the weather and get as much as we can get done (ceilings were dropping). I had no issues ending the checkride with a third notice and having to file to get back home if it came to that. We both agreed and launched, pretty much planning on just doing the low-altitude stuff.
On the climbout, I’m not kidding when I say about a 6NM radius area opened up with ceilings 6k+ and a little sunshine. We immediately took advantage of it. He asked for a Chandelle to the left, which I did. Was a bit sloppy (I even mentioned that), he said “OK, let’s do one to the right”. That one I nailed. After that, asked for an emergency decent into a simulated emergency approach and landing.
Once down closer to the ground, did eights-on-pylons with a “after this morning, I’m expecting these to be perfect”. They went fine, then headed back to the airport for some takeoffs/landings. Short Field, Go-Around, Slips, and during the short field takeoff asked what I’d do if I lost my engine while we were climbing out. On the base-final turn (where I was going to slip) he started asking a couple technical questions on how things worked. Told him “good question, let’s discuss it once we land” (obviously the ‘distraction’).
Landed, taxied to the FBO and he congratulated me. He Fired up IACRA to do the paperwork and I pulled out the iPad to file back into the SFRA, looking at the latest radar. We chatted for a bit and I respectfully hinted that I needed to leave (wx had decided to nose dive again, with a wall of nastiness heading this way). After getting the temporary airman cert, again shook hands, I thanked him and headed out.
Managed to get back into the SFRA with no delay, parked the plane, and about 10 minutes after securing everything, skies opened up in a massive downpour.
Got home around 1900. 13 hours, 2 notices of discontinuance and a temporary airman certificate after leaving the house that morning.
Things I learned:
- The CFI checkride isn’t about what you know (you already have a commercial certificate), but more about presentation, professionalism, and decision making.
- Be able to scale the complexity of subjects while presenting them. How you address/present information to a brand new student vice someone who is experienced.
- Have a sense of humor.
- If you don’t know, or if you “think”, look it up, but couch it with “I think it’s this, but let’s check”.
- Don’t be afraid to move out of the “teaching” mode, into the flying “we’ll discuss later” mode if circumstances dictate.
- When you talk to the DPE before the ride, always ask if they’d like Coffee/Tea, Donuts, Muffins.. $5 at Dunkin Donuts goes a long way (though my DPE declined). Bring a couple bottles of water and offer one to the DPE for the flight.
Now on to getting the Multi PIC hours for the MEI.
Earned my CFII (as my initial with the FSDO) back in ’09, and then promptly stopped flying for 5 years due to work. Finally decided to start again and work on my CFI SE addon. Decided to do the ride in 2 a/c (an Arrow and 172) which worked out quite well. Practicing/Studying for the addon was a lot more difficult than the CFII (likely due to being so rusty you’d need a tetanus shot before looking at my logbook).
Finally scheduled the checkride. The DPE is very well known, and I was more worried about disappointing my recommending instructor or the DPE by doing something boneheaded, than I was about passing/failing the ride. The week leading up to the ride, the stress began to build. I kept researching everything, trying to be at least conversant/able to teach 2 or 3 layers deep on every topic, and know where to go for deeper.
After talking to the DPE, we settled on a time and he said he wanted me to teach a maneuver on the ground that we’ll fly in the air. We settled on eights-on-pylons. I know it isn’t required for the add-on, but didn’t want to start out by arguing with the DPE on the phone. Besides, figured given the amount of time since doing the CFII ride, it’d be good practice. Started dissecting the eights-on-pylons maneuver from every angle. Besides knowing it cold, started thinking of what questions he (or a student) could possibly ask. That’s when I went down the proverbial rabbit hole. I thought of the question “Where does 11.3 come from in the pivotal altitude equation”? (I’m an engineer by education)
The DPE doesn’t like travelling up to our airport (usually it’s a fly to him for the ride event as he doesn’t like the horrendous traffic), but makes exceptions for people doing rides with different a/c on same day. With that, started watching the weather and began growing a little concerned. Forecast was for wx to be acceptable for a CFI ride, so held my breath. Left the house at 0600, met him at the airport, and of course the wx ended up being worse than forecasted. Decided to at least knock the oral out and see if the wx lifts.
Oral was relatively un-eventful. After going through both aircraft’s logbooks, spent a lot of time on “how to” and “what would you be looking for” questions. Such as “how would you teach collision avoidance here and at an uncontrolled field”? A couple questions on airspace and “how would you teach local airspace to a new PPL student? OK, how about a commercial pilot?” (Since we’re a Class D, under a B, inside the DC SFRA). “If you’re sending a student to XYZ airport, what would you be concerned with/be looking for, in their pre-flight planning”?”
Couple questions that I brain-farted in my ability to describe/teach (I’m horrible at drawing). For example, in explaining governors and oil-pressures, rather than push an already poor drawing/presentation, whipped out my iPad, found a good cutaway drawing of one, then was able to teach off that drawing much more effectively than my stick-figure approach.
Finally came the Eights-on-Pylons lesson. Pulled out my plane model and a small whiteboard, and taught the maneuver. Rather than lecture, would ask questions as I’m teaching it make sure “the student” was understanding the concepts. He never asked when I said “divide by 11.3”. Wasn’t going to let all that work I did go to waste, so I worked in a question about it. He honestly didn’t know and it felt a bit refreshing to be able to stump a DPE. So the last part of the lesson was a trigonometry/algebra lesson, going through the derivation to arrive at the 11.3 (actually 11.299). When I was done, he insisted on a copy of the derivation (he likes to keep little things like this for future checkrides). So, if you’re going for your CFI ride and get asked where does 11.3 come from… I’m sorry, that was me.
Overall the oral was really laid back. It seemed more of a professional discussion that drifted in and out of explaining things to a student and explaining things to another aviation professional. With it all over, went to look at the wx.
Airport was now IMC. Decided to wait an hour and see what happens. After an hour, no change in the wx, so we “called it” and he issued a notice of discontinuance. After that, we still stayed around and chatted for an hour or two. During that time the field went from IFR to Marginal, so it was lifting. Looking outside, it seemed it got better, so tuned the ATIS and ceiling was now 1800 and 10SM (which matched what we were seeing)…jackpot. He grabbed his bag and said “Let’s go!”.
The aircraft was already pre-flighted. On the walk out he asked a couple questions, we got in, ran through the startup, and he taxied to the runup area. He asked me to demo a soft-field takeoff/landing. Did a short field after that, then on the final time around on the downwind, there was confusion with tower on where exactly traffic was on final for our runway. I said I don’t quite like this, and told tower I wanted to do a right 360. DPE liked that and things ended up working out.
While we were in the pattern, looking out to the west, the wx actually appeared to be lifting. Once we landed, discussed how to proceed. Since the he lived to the SW and wanted to get home to beat the traffic, agreed that he’d start heading home, I’d fly the 172 out to a field closer to where he lived, meet him there and we’d continue the checkride.
In case things didn’t work out, he went in to issue a second notice of discontinuance (to update the info for what we just did).
Launched in the 172 and headed out to meet him. On the way there, wx looked like it was closing back in (nothing was as forecast that day). Landed and met him at the airport. We both agreed that we’ll keep a close eye on the weather and get as much as we can get done (ceilings were dropping). I had no issues ending the checkride with a third notice and having to file to get back home if it came to that. We both agreed and launched, pretty much planning on just doing the low-altitude stuff.
On the climbout, I’m not kidding when I say about a 6NM radius area opened up with ceilings 6k+ and a little sunshine. We immediately took advantage of it. He asked for a Chandelle to the left, which I did. Was a bit sloppy (I even mentioned that), he said “OK, let’s do one to the right”. That one I nailed. After that, asked for an emergency decent into a simulated emergency approach and landing.
Once down closer to the ground, did eights-on-pylons with a “after this morning, I’m expecting these to be perfect”. They went fine, then headed back to the airport for some takeoffs/landings. Short Field, Go-Around, Slips, and during the short field takeoff asked what I’d do if I lost my engine while we were climbing out. On the base-final turn (where I was going to slip) he started asking a couple technical questions on how things worked. Told him “good question, let’s discuss it once we land” (obviously the ‘distraction’).
Landed, taxied to the FBO and he congratulated me. He Fired up IACRA to do the paperwork and I pulled out the iPad to file back into the SFRA, looking at the latest radar. We chatted for a bit and I respectfully hinted that I needed to leave (wx had decided to nose dive again, with a wall of nastiness heading this way). After getting the temporary airman cert, again shook hands, I thanked him and headed out.
Managed to get back into the SFRA with no delay, parked the plane, and about 10 minutes after securing everything, skies opened up in a massive downpour.
Got home around 1900. 13 hours, 2 notices of discontinuance and a temporary airman certificate after leaving the house that morning.
Things I learned:
- The CFI checkride isn’t about what you know (you already have a commercial certificate), but more about presentation, professionalism, and decision making.
- Be able to scale the complexity of subjects while presenting them. How you address/present information to a brand new student vice someone who is experienced.
- Have a sense of humor.
- If you don’t know, or if you “think”, look it up, but couch it with “I think it’s this, but let’s check”.
- Don’t be afraid to move out of the “teaching” mode, into the flying “we’ll discuss later” mode if circumstances dictate.
- When you talk to the DPE before the ride, always ask if they’d like Coffee/Tea, Donuts, Muffins.. $5 at Dunkin Donuts goes a long way (though my DPE declined). Bring a couple bottles of water and offer one to the DPE for the flight.
Now on to getting the Multi PIC hours for the MEI.
