Will Kumley
Line Up and Wait
It only took 6 attempts to get a date that worked between the DPE, aircraft maintenance, weather, and my schedule. Was super nervous the past week as all weather reports were showing no clouds in the entire area. Actually lost a bit of sleep averaging 4 hours of sleep each night for three to four days prior to the checkride.
Day of check ride arrives and weather is great with few clouds at 2500 ft but dissipating fairly quickly. Personally I was a wreck. So nervous I thought I was going to get sick. Checked out the plane and had an uneventful flight to my DPE’s airport. Pretty sure that was a good first step to calming my nerves. Performed 2 really nice landings before parking on the ramp where I see the DPE with another person getting ready to go up. She informs me to expect a small delay as they are a little behind schedule.
During the delay I hit the diner and grab a bite of real food, actually thought during my meal that it was a good stress relieve to just be there enjoying a meal not concerned about the pending checkride.
After the other pilot gets back and gets debriefed I hear he didn’t fair well and will have to come again. Bummer, but it’s game time for me and I can’t let another persons actions rattle my nerves. Oral portion was realistically about an hour and a half but took 2 hours with some lighthearted banter mixed in. Not a single issue that needs to be discussed further.
Time to fly, sky is still amazingly clear, virtually no turbulence in the air and winds are less than 6 knots. Couldn’t have asked for better conditions. A few minor hiccups in flight but I noticed all of them and made corrections as necessary to fix the situation. 95% of the time I think I was making corrections before even getting out of the ACS specs but I still verbalized what I was doing and why. Short field landing was on point but I could’ve gotten on the brakes sooner. No biggie, she didn’t tell me I failed and I put it behind me. All other evolutions went well and landings were within spec.
We taxi back to the ramp, she tells me I did great and I’m a pilot!!!!!
Flight home was also uneventful with a smooth landing at my home airport. It was later than expected so the office was closed. Thankfully someone was inside and let me in so I could return all the books. Pretty sure my instructor was still flying as he congratulated me over the radio and his car was in the parking lot as I left. My legs were like jello for the rest of the night.
Slept like a baby last night and woke up knowing I had prepared properly for yesterday. Now I’m crossing my fingers that my sons allergies stop messing with him so I can take him up Thursday before we have to drive him back to college. He’s home on spring break and hasn’t flown with me yet. Both the wife and daughter got a couple flights with the instructor up front during my training.
Day of check ride arrives and weather is great with few clouds at 2500 ft but dissipating fairly quickly. Personally I was a wreck. So nervous I thought I was going to get sick. Checked out the plane and had an uneventful flight to my DPE’s airport. Pretty sure that was a good first step to calming my nerves. Performed 2 really nice landings before parking on the ramp where I see the DPE with another person getting ready to go up. She informs me to expect a small delay as they are a little behind schedule.
During the delay I hit the diner and grab a bite of real food, actually thought during my meal that it was a good stress relieve to just be there enjoying a meal not concerned about the pending checkride.
After the other pilot gets back and gets debriefed I hear he didn’t fair well and will have to come again. Bummer, but it’s game time for me and I can’t let another persons actions rattle my nerves. Oral portion was realistically about an hour and a half but took 2 hours with some lighthearted banter mixed in. Not a single issue that needs to be discussed further.
Time to fly, sky is still amazingly clear, virtually no turbulence in the air and winds are less than 6 knots. Couldn’t have asked for better conditions. A few minor hiccups in flight but I noticed all of them and made corrections as necessary to fix the situation. 95% of the time I think I was making corrections before even getting out of the ACS specs but I still verbalized what I was doing and why. Short field landing was on point but I could’ve gotten on the brakes sooner. No biggie, she didn’t tell me I failed and I put it behind me. All other evolutions went well and landings were within spec.
We taxi back to the ramp, she tells me I did great and I’m a pilot!!!!!
Flight home was also uneventful with a smooth landing at my home airport. It was later than expected so the office was closed. Thankfully someone was inside and let me in so I could return all the books. Pretty sure my instructor was still flying as he congratulated me over the radio and his car was in the parking lot as I left. My legs were like jello for the rest of the night.
Slept like a baby last night and woke up knowing I had prepared properly for yesterday. Now I’m crossing my fingers that my sons allergies stop messing with him so I can take him up Thursday before we have to drive him back to college. He’s home on spring break and hasn’t flown with me yet. Both the wife and daughter got a couple flights with the instructor up front during my training.
