I'm about to take my Practical, any tips??

C

c_cwilliams

Filing Flight Plan
Joined
Sep 17, 2013
Messages
1
Display Name
Display name:
c_cwilliams
In two weeks, I'm scheduled to take my practical for my PPL and am looking for some advice. The flying aspect I have down patch and feel very comfortable with performing all the maneuvers, however, I'm quite nervous with the oral part of the test.
I'd love some tips from those who have passed tyis already, maihly focusing on the oral part of the test, what questions to study up on, what to expect, how to propery answer if I'm unsure of an answer.

Any and all tips are appreciated!!
 
Don't crash. :)


Seriously, enjoy it
 
Good Luck, we're all counting on you.

If you're unsure of an answer state as much, trying to BS it is worse. For some reason I had never seen some of the weather products he pulled up on some website. I stated as much, he asked me how I'd get the info, I told him and life went on. I'm not sure about other DPEs but mine was more of a lengthy conversation than him sitting there with a check list asking questions then only writing on his clipboard before moving on to the next question.

We discussed all sorts of things that wasn't even in the PTS, like mid field takeoffs, what I'd do if ATC offered me one and why. When it came time to go fly the winds had picked up and he didn't say a word. I told him "If you weren't here I'd go flying today, so I'm not going to let you being here stop me, let's go"

After the test, he said I needed to work on my crosswind landings. :D
 
Best tip, which also is the hardest one. Relax. It is alot easier than what you think.

My practical was just a nice 2.5hrs chat about aviation in general. In the end he said "oh you passed a long time ago, I just wanted to see how much you really know about this and that".
So if you dont get something right, dont BS or panic. I you dont know something admit and explain where to find that info. Chances are you shouldn't even know that yet...
 
relax and have fun. if you mess up on a maneuver, dont focus and dwell on it. the DPE will give you another chance usually and he'll say, lets try that steep turn again, or lets try s turns again. remember the DPE's WANT to pass you! i'd say study the sectional a lot. my DPE pretty much just took out the map and told me to identity the things he pointed to.
 
My oral was pretty relaxed even though I was stressed out about it...especially the morning of. He did ask me a few things that I had no idea about and had never ever head of...one he basically led me to the answer, the second was a term I had never even heard of...I said I honestly had no idea and did a Google search on my Iphone!

Here are three videos that helped me a lot to get prepared...



 
Last edited:
c_cwilliams said:
In two weeks, I'm scheduled to take my practical for my PPL and am looking for some advice. The flying aspect I have down patch and feel very comfortable with performing all the maneuvers, however, I'm quite nervous with the oral part of the test.
I'd love some tips from those who have passed tyis already, maihly focusing on the oral part of the test, what questions to study up on, what to expect, how to propery answer if I'm unsure of an answer.

Any and all tips are appreciated!!
Click to expand...

The oral is easy if you know your stuff. The examiner is going to ask you a series of questions on each topic, each getting more in depth, if you get the first two or three correct, you're good, they don't expect you to know everything. What they want to see is when you come to the question that stumps you is that you admit it and DON'T TRY TO BS YOUR WAY THROUGH IT! The correct answer to something you don't know is "I don't know, I would have to look in <name the reference material here> for that." They are assessing your attitude as much as anything. Be willing to admit what you don't know, but know where to look to find the answer.

As far as studying up, study up the chart legend! Examiners love the chart legend lol. They will find symbols on that chart that you never noticed before.

There comes a point in a checkride where the examiner starts instructing, unless they have told you you have failed prior to this, it is a good thing, this is the point in the ride where you have passed in their mind. I got this right after the 'diversion' because I impressed him with a bit of quick chart navigation work. You see, each of those lines of latitude on the chart is 30' apart and a minute of latitude is a nautical mile. Now in a 152 using 90kts for speed and 6gph for fuel burn, that gives me 20 minutes and 2 gallons for each line spacing. When he said "Ok the fog rolled in and it's all IFR in front of us, we need to go East. Can you take us to ABC?" I found ABC on the chart and turned that general direction, then took my forefinger and pinky and placed them on two lines of latitude along a line of longitude to get my spacing, then measured off the distance to ABC and told him "No, we don't have the fuel for that, but I can take US to XYZ along the way and a bit back up to the north." With no plotter or E6B, I came up with the answer he was looking for in about 5 seconds. He even asked "How did you figure that so fast?" Lol. That's when he started instructing. At that point, it's no longer your ride to pass, it's now your ride to fail.
 
Last edited:
Many good points. Remember, that the odds are well in your favor that you will pass. Your CFI would not have recommended you for a checkride if they did not think you would pass. Mistakes are expected, both in the oral and the practical. It is how you respond to those mistakes that counts. Now this does not mean you can make a huge number of mistakes, but in most instances a single mistake is not going to cause you to fail. From everything I have read and experienced most DPE's realize you are nervous and are going to try to put you at ease. If you can speak to others about the DPE's style, some DPE's will even talk to you before the test and give you some pointers that may be helpful. Mine did both on my PPL, and IFR.

Again, remember you are much more likely to pass than fail. So relax.
 
Yeah, if a maneuver starts to get away from you before completion, recover to straight and level and tell them what went wrong. Remember, the standard that a DE is really looking for is 'safe', and the biggest factor in safe is the ability to make good decisions.
 
Henning said:
The oral is easy if you know your stuff. The examiner is going to ask you a series of questions on each topic, each getting more in depth, if you get the first two or three correct, you're good, they don't expect you to know everything. What they want to see is when you come to the question that stumps you is that you admit it and DON'T TRY TO BS YOUR WAY THROUGH IT! The correct answer to something you don't know is "I don't know, I would have to look in <name the reference material here> for that." They are assessing your attitude as much as anything. Be willing to admit what you don't know, but know where to look to find the answer.

As far as studying up, study up the chart legend! Examiners love the chart legend lol. They will find symbols on that chart that you never noticed before.

There comes a point in a checkride where the examiner starts instructing, unless they have told you you have failed prior to this, it is a good thing, this is the point in the ride where you have passed in their mind. I got this right after the 'diversion' because I impressed him with a bit of quick chart navigation work. You see, each of those lines of latitude on the chart is 30' apart and a minute of latitude is a nautical mile. Now in a 152 using 90kts for speed and 6gph for fuel burn, that gives me 20 minutes and 2 gallons for each line spacing. When he said "Ok the fog rolled in and it's all IFR in front of us, we need to go East. Can you take us to ABC?" I found ABC on the chart and turned that general direction, then took my forefinger and pinky and placed them on two lines of latitude along a line of longitude to get my spacing, then measured off the distance to ABC and told him "No, we don't have the fuel for that, but I can take US to XYZ along the way and a bit back up to the north." With no plotter or E6B, I came up with the answer he was looking for in about 5 seconds. He even asked "How did you figure that so fast?" Lol. That's when he started instructing. At that point, it's no longer your ride to pass, it's now your ride to fail.
Click to expand...

Nice! I'm going to try this out, that's a pretty neat trick. I'm two weeks out from my ride depending on DPE availability in west central FL.
 
asechrest said:
Nice! I'm going to try this out, that's a pretty neat trick. I'm two weeks out from my ride depending on DPE availability in west central FL.
Click to expand...

It helped coming into it with a boat captain background.;)
 
Every DPE is different know everything and you'll be fine. Even if yiu get something wrong hell teach you they love that. It may be a lot of bs and not much grilling. I just did mine it wasn't as bad as I thought.
 
Best piece of advice I got before my check ride was, " the DPE knows more than you about flying." It's great advice because once I reached the stage where I was able to take my check ride I had prepared so much that I knew a lot and felt good. But my CFI told me that because he wanted me to realize that it was ok to not know everything perfectly and that a mistake was ok. In fact I ended up getting most questions right but not all during the oral.

The advice also stopped me from trying to over answer a question. If the DPE asks you a question like, " what is vx for the plane you plan on flying today?" Just give him the VX number. Don't answer with, "well VX is 72 knots in this airplane but on a windy day I may climb in a shallower angle to increase airspeed to prevent a potential power on stall from a gust, which if that were to occur I would rapidly lower the nose, make sure the ball is centered, level off tithe horizon and regain steady flight and after that I'd make a decision about whether the conditions of the day were safe to fly...." Answers like the second one will get you in a ton of trouble.
 
marcoseddi said:
Every DPE is different
Click to expand...

I think that's the bottom line. I had been forewarned by my CFI that the DPE was a crusty old fart but was "fair." The oral went ok. The practical was dramatic. He gave me a continous ration of crap from when I first started taxiing (he exclaimed, "WHERE"S THE FIRE?!?") until I parked the plane after the ride was done. Along the way he demonstrated how he could recover from a power on stall and a 1/2 spin with less altitude loss than I had in the power on stall, he crumpled up my flight plan and tossed it in the back of the plane shortly after take off, etc, etc.... I figured if he hadn't directed me back to the airport, I hadn't failed yet. I passed. :D

I will say he taught me a few things (not teach, per se, just accurate criticism of my flying) and in the debrief he said if I thought the checkride was stressful just imagine what I'd be up against if weather was turning to crap and I had my family in the plane with me. I reckon he had a point.
 
Go in with the mindset you already passed - since you did. No instructor is going to send someone for a test without performing a test to slightly higher standards than the PTS and seeing you pass . . .

So, consider yourself already passed - it makes the ride go a lot smoother.
 
My DPE was great (circa 2007). For the stalls (we were starting power on), he indicated he wanted the full 20* bank and nothing less ... and that if I entered a spin, that was OK as well, but if he had to recover it for me that that would be a fail. I wasn't sure if he was joking or not about the "spin" ... all of my stalls to that point had been without bank. Had no problems. He was showing/teaching by mid test so I knew things were going well.
 
I was just in your shoes recently and was very nervous as well about the oral part until I found this app on the ipad called "Private Pilot Checkride" its made by asa. That has a ton of questions for the oral part and really helped me a lot. It showed me where I was lacking knowledge, so I studied those areas I didn't know pretty hard. I'd recommend it. BTW, I got about 2 hours sleep that night. I was not my normal self on test day. I'd suggest you get a good nights rest, but I also knew that advice and couldn't do it myself. Start studying now and as hard as you can so maybe you can sleep better that night. :) good luck!
 
Don't show up to your checkride holding a lit doobie, even if you live in Washington.

More seriously, understand your head WILL play games with you. It's surprising just how bad it can get. The DPE only cares if you're a safe pilot, but it's hard to really believe that.
 
MAKG1 said:
Don't show up to your checkride holding a lit doobie, even if you live in Washington.

More seriously, understand your head WILL play games with you. It's surprising just how bad it can get. The DPE only cares if you're a safe pilot, but it's hard to really believe that.
Click to expand...

Yeah, make sure you finish it in the parking lot.:D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top