Checkride on Saturday!

K

Kellan Bradshaw

Filing Flight Plan
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Apr 27, 2023
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kellan.bradshaw
Hi there!

Back in April I posted a thread titled, "Looking for Advice! & A Quick Introduction". Many of you had very helpful suggestions for how to self-fund my flight training while working full time and balancing bills. At the time I was a bit discouraged at the prospect of it all, but with hard work and lots and lots of research, I found myself an independent CFI and began training.

We started the second week of May. I passed my written (with a 92%!) June 10th. And now, my check ride is this Saturday!
I am extremely excited as well as pretty nervous, but I'm feeling overall prepared and just ready to finally be a damn certified pilot after a whopping 9 years of flying.

I just wanted to hop on here and express my gratitude to everyone that chimed in with their helpful feedback. It was the advice of a handful of people that actually got me here in the first place, so I am immensely thankful.

I'll make sure to post an update here on Saturday (if I remember) with how it went.

Thanks again everyone,
Kellan Bradshaw
 
imagine that, hard work and perseverance paid off. working hard and sacrificing for something you want will make it 1000x more rewarding in the end. good luck, we're all counting on you.
 
Have fun and don’t overthink it!
 
GOOD LUCK! Try not to stress about it and trust the judgement of the CFI who signed you off. Remember - as far as your CFI is concerned, you've already passed and now he's just looking for the FAA to confirm it.
 
Very congratulations! I predict you will enjoy the checkride and do exceedingly well.
 
Put your documented good knowledge to work Saturday, evidenced by an excellent grade on the written.

Validate the training skills of your instructor, and prove his good judgement in signing you off for the ride.

These are the things that will pass the check ride. If the examiner is any good, luck will have nothing to do with passing. I have faith that your CFI is well skilled, and has fine judgement of your skills.

My check ride was extremely comprehensive, but mostly enjoyable. All flying was a thrill then, and the check ride was flying. Have a fun day, but keep alert to all that is happening. Flying requires vigilance at all times, whether taking a flight test, or just flying.

Again, have a fun day!
 
Congrats on having the checkride coming up! My advice is same as above posts, but add get plenty of rest and be relaxed.
 
You have given a lesson yourself to anyone that wants to be a pilot ... work hard and focus. These days there seems to be a lot of the "I deserve it, you owe it to me" mentality going around. This proves that if you want something you go out and earn it. Good job! Thanks for being a leader by example ...
 
I'll give you the same advice my cfii gave me just a few weeks ago before my instrument ride.... You are ready just go do what you know how to do.

Aside from that. Good night sleep, eat something, lots of water hydration is a very overlooked issue imo.
During the oral answer the question and nothing more. For instance Q. Is this a pencil ? A. Yes Not a big long explanation of why its a pencil.
During the flight portion. TAKE YOUR TIME its not a race. This is what bit me on my PPL checkride. Yes it required another checkride. On my retest DPE lets do some stalls power off followed by power on. Got it power off stall recover stabilize regroup take a drink of water then power on.

I think you get the point.... You will kill it !!!
 
Good luck tomorrow.

Get as much rest as you can, have enough water and pack a lunch. For the oral, try to anticipate what topics are being questioned, that way you can knock out 3-4 topics in one go. If a question isn’t clicking, take it slow and talk about what you know or ask if the question can be re-worded. I always try to go off memory first, then I will state if I feel uncertain about a topic, and how I would look for the answer such as by referring to the POH, the FAR/AIM, the internet or FSDO, then you should actually open up the POH and/or FAR/AIM to show that you know how to find the answer.

For PPL, I would have a photo printed (I have a poster of them) of the 6 pack, know your instruments and how they are powered (electric, vacuum, pitot tube, etc). Know your weather, clouds, airspace, requirements for pilot / airplane to be legal, logging times, etc. I would have a 3x5 index card with these details for easy reference and strategically place all of your notes on the table. You’ll want a large conference size table to lay out everything.

For me, I always found it a bit draining to jump from the oral straight to flying, pack a lunch and ask for a 15 minute break in between the oral and flying portion is my advice.
 
Oh man...
Today was an absolutely perfect day.

Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who chimed in here to offer their support, encouragement, and advice.

I am very pleased to let you all know that I passed my private pilot checkride today and am now a certified private pilot!

I cannot recommend Dawn Zurcher enough to anyone who happens to be operating in Arizona and is nearing their checkride. She was so enjoyable to work with, very fair, but absolutely still challenged me.

I can't wait to get going with my home airport's rental company and start flying as PIC!

Now I'm off to bed. I don't think I've ever been this exhausted in my life. Oh, and I've decided to not even think about anything aviation-related tomorrow, lol. My brain is absolutely fried.

Thanks again everyone,
Kellan
 
Congratulations Captain!
 
Congratulations!! And good luck with trying to take the day off from airplanes…. Will not happen I guarantee :cool:
 
Cool beans! That's "one in a row" as my old friend used to say.

"Pilot Kellan Bradshaw!" Got a nice ring to it ...

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Congrats sir. It is a wonderful feeling when you pass these things. I have my instrument checkride in 10 days. I am starting to feel nervous and tired of studying.
 
ahmad said:
Congrats sir. It is a wonderful feeling when you pass these things. I have my instrument checkride in 10 days. I am starting to feel nervous and tired of studying.
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That was exactly how I felt 10 days out from my checkride -- like I had had ENOUGH with studying, lol.

You'll knock it out of the park. I'm excited for you!
I'd wish you good luck, but luck has nothing to do with it. When I was nervous, my grandpa told me, "When preparation meets opportunity, success is inevitable." You've prepared, you've been granted the opportunity, now go succeed!
 
Kellan Bradshaw said:
That was exactly how I felt 10 days out from my checkride -- like I had had ENOUGH with studying, lol.

You'll knock it out of the park. I'm excited for you!
I'd wish you good luck, but luck has nothing to do with it. When I was nervous, my grandpa told me, "When preparation meets opportunity, success is inevitable." You've prepared, you've been granted the opportunity, now go succeed!
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Thanks. Unfortunately, the checkride is pushed back. Way back. The DPE wont be available on the date we were going for and then I am out of town for a week. Looks like I'll be studying for another several weeks. ha
 
Congrats on the oral. Unfortunate about the flight.
 
Where in Arizona are you based? There are quite a few of us here. And congratulations on your PPL!
 
Congrats to everyone who passed and good luck to the upcoming exams.

Passed my instrument checkride last week. Feels great to have the instrument ticket except the weather has now been completely vfr since I passed. go figure. ha
taking a break till I get my 2nd class medical then onto commercial training.
 
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