IFR Oral Exam Prep

PilotRPI

Line Up and Wait
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PilotRPI
Anyone used a book they like for the oral exam? I passed the written in January and almost ready to take the next tests. Saw available the Gleim and ASA, figure their might be others as well.
 
Best one out there now is the ACS. http://www.asa2fly.com/Airman-Certification-Standards-Instrument-Rating-Airplane-P3719.aspx

It's the open book in what you will be tested on and includes the references associated with the question and expected answer.

Exams are no longer a tennis match of rote question and answer. They are scenario based. So the older books aren't as much of a help.

Better is to go through the ACS as if it was an open book exam.


Even mo better is to sit with another instructor familiar with your examiner's style and do a mock oral or two.
 
When it comes time for your exam with a DPE, your CFI should put you through a mock oral to prep you. In addition, hopefully you will have the opportunity to talk to a few students who just went through the oral / practical with the same DPE.

Bottom line - the process is seemeless - if you pass the written and then progress through the 40 hours of training, and your CFI signs you off for the Practical, you are READY.

Most of the oral will revolve around the flight plan that you out together before the exam. It is more like a conversation.

Again- the best prep is a practice oral with your CFI and then discussions with students who just went through it with the same DPE.

Not as big of a deal as you might think.
 
Used the Oral Exam Guide by Michael Hayes. Thought it was really good preparation for the instrument check ride along with the ACS.

I am using his CFI Oral Exam Guide now and it's also good.
 
My instructor just put a bunch of people through the IFR with the same examiner so I’ll be sure to talk to them. We’ll be doing the mock oral in a few weeks. Last flight went really well.
 
The ASA oral exam guides are ok. I’ve always just sat down with another CFI for an hour and gotten a mock oral.
 
There's a video out there of Martha King doing an IFR checkride that's pretty good.

My oral pretty much covered just about every preflight planning item in depth: Weather (interpretation, when wouldn't I fly, etc...), Route Planning (how was I going to get from entroute to the IAF, do I need an alternate? had I needed an alternate how would I select it, what would I do if we lost comms ), My readiness (currency, BFR,etc...), Airplane readiness (inspections, certificates, etc..>). During the preflight there were some questions about the aircraft systems.

Once we fired up, it was a straight forward run of the IFR tasks in the book. The only real technical question at that point was during the partial panel approach, he asked about the interaction between the vacuum system and my autopilot. I told him the autopilot wasn't affected at all (and in fact, neither was the HSI he had covered up with the nopeekies). He suggested I fly the approach with the autopilot then, which I did for a few minutes but it was gusty enough he suggested I could do a better job hand flying.

The departure airport had a hold in the ODP, so we got the hold out of the way there. I used the AP to fly the hold so I could reconfigure to enroute from takeoff.
 
Here is a good video made by a DPE about the instrument checkride that I also found helpful.

 
My IR ride was a few years ago, but as I recall the oral part was basically going through the process I had followed in planning the flight he wanted in advance. As others had used the DPE I knew the questions he was likely to ask, as well. That helps. His way of evaluating my decision making process dealt with a question relating to reported weather at the destination (KOLM). In his scenario, the cloud bases were just above minimums for the ILS, which precluded any other approach. ILS 17 at KOLM. There was a tail wind of about 10 kts. What would I do? I said I would stay on the ground where I was, that was too much tail wind for me. He would have flown it, we have about a 5500 foot runway at KOLM. His choice, I still wasn't going to go. He was fine with my call. More conservative than his, but he couldn't fault it.

For the flying part, know your airplane and equipment. I was flying the ILS 17 into KTIW and had messed up with the button pushing on the 430W somewhere along the line. I had IDed the localizer, had the needles centered and the box was telling me to turn to intercept an intersection behind us. I pointed out to the DPE that I had messed up the buttons somewhere along the line, but we were established on the approach, the localizer was identified and the needles were centered. He was fine with my explanation and we continued on the approach. Know when you are being lied to by the box and why. SA is important.
 
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