EightEightRomeo
Filing Flight Plan
It took me twenty months, but on Monday I passed my PPL ASEL on the first try. 
The check ride was really no different than the many I've read and enjoyed seeing here. It was 2.6 in the air which I thought sounded long, but didn't seem that long. He threw in a Class Charlie arrival and departure which took up a good 30 minutes after being vectored around. Did not do power on stall or emergency descent.
Saved the use of GPS as a backup plan since I knew he'd fail some equipment. Turns out I only used it to get my distance from the Class C area for my initial call up.
The oral portion in the morning was also long...3 hours! That was largely a conversation rather than non stop Q&A. He asked me maybe 20 or so direct specific questions. A majority of the oral was scenario based discussions and "what if's". Emphasis on ADM and SRM.
My take away during the debrief was to obviously be safe, but to also show mastery of the aircraft. Make sound decisions and execute them. Put the airplane where you say you want to put it...not 6 degrees off, or 90 ft higher than you planned. Realize that the questions I've been asking my instructor all along in flight won't get me very far when asked to a passenger. More than once I heard " you're the pilot".
The whole training endeavor was such a thrill for me. I didn't know something could be so challenging, and so much fun at the same time. I started out with THE BEST instructor on Earth. A 12,000 hour ATP FO for one of the majors who enjoyed putzing along in our club J3 more than the 757 or 767 he flies for a living. Unfortunately his company "filed", perhaps you heard, and he was re assigned. Fortunately, my next instructor was also great, and finished me out to pretty tight standards. They, like any good instructor will over prepare the student. It makes sense to me. Now my mission is to get my HP endorsement in the C182 I purchased during training, my beloved 88Romeo.
Thanks all for reading!! For the students getting ready to see your DPE....Captain Ron said it best...Relax.
The check ride was really no different than the many I've read and enjoyed seeing here. It was 2.6 in the air which I thought sounded long, but didn't seem that long. He threw in a Class Charlie arrival and departure which took up a good 30 minutes after being vectored around. Did not do power on stall or emergency descent. Saved the use of GPS as a backup plan since I knew he'd fail some equipment. Turns out I only used it to get my distance from the Class C area for my initial call up. The oral portion in the morning was also long...3 hours! That was largely a conversation rather than non stop Q&A. He asked me maybe 20 or so direct specific questions. A majority of the oral was scenario based discussions and "what if's". Emphasis on ADM and SRM.
My take away during the debrief was to obviously be safe, but to also show mastery of the aircraft. Make sound decisions and execute them. Put the airplane where you say you want to put it...not 6 degrees off, or 90 ft higher than you planned. Realize that the questions I've been asking my instructor all along in flight won't get me very far when asked to a passenger. More than once I heard " you're the pilot".
The whole training endeavor was such a thrill for me. I didn't know something could be so challenging, and so much fun at the same time. I started out with THE BEST instructor on Earth. A 12,000 hour ATP FO for one of the majors who enjoyed putzing along in our club J3 more than the 757 or 767 he flies for a living. Unfortunately his company "filed", perhaps you heard, and he was re assigned.
Fortunately, my next instructor was also great, and finished me out to pretty tight standards. They, like any good instructor will over prepare the student. It makes sense to me. Now my mission is to get my HP endorsement in the C182 I purchased during training, my beloved 88Romeo. Thanks all for reading!! For the students getting ready to see your DPE....Captain Ron said it best...Relax.
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