iWantWings
Pre-takeoff checklist
I thought I would share the experience I had during my first Flight Review ( biennial flight review) that I just completed (pat myself on the back). And writing it in the Pilot Training is kind of the right section because it is really an extension of the private pilot training.
A brief background: I don't feel great writing this, but it is fact: I've flown only a handful of hours during 2014 that I could log as PIC. And not that many in 2013, my first year since I had gotten my certificate. So "flight review" or not, I knew it was "a must" to fly with a CFI and get an evaluation (but the one thing I did right was to occasionally fly with a CFI to check me out that I have not decayed to a point where I was no longer safe (I logged this as PIC)).
Preparation
So my preparation for the flight review consisted of completing a number of FAA Wings online courses, such as
- "Flight Review Prep Guide" (this was indeed a "guide", but good one).
- "Positive Aircraft Control"
- "Do the Right Thing: Decision Making for Pilots"
- etc.
I also did a TON of "chair flying"; this costs nothing (aside from one's own time) and it pays huge dividends (assuming the fundamental concepts being "exercised" are well understood).
Afterwards I asked my CFI to please push me to the max and do his best to find anything and everything that wasn't "up to par".
Both the ground and the flight went really well, I'm glad to say.
Ground:
- scenario based stuff (i.e. "what if...", "what would you do...", etc.)
- weather: sources, interpreting, discuss any experiences, questions, etc.
- charts: basic stuff such as weather minimums for various controlled and uncontrolled airspace.
- VFR Coridors through LAX Bravo
- And then I had various questions (such as flying through controlled airspace without a transponder (future plan*), etc.
- etc. This took about 1 hour (seemed a lot less though).
Flight Review
- Takeoffs: short field, soft field, aborted (simulated loss of power).
- Landing: short field, soft field, no-flap (no slips allowed), power-off, "obstruction on runway"-go around.
- Performance maneuvers: power on/off stalls, intentionally uncoordinated stall, steep turns, slow flight
- Hood (lots of it): recovering from unusual attitudes by references to instruments only, intercepting and navigating VORs, lost procedures.
- Simulated emergencies: engine out, engine fire, electrical/cabin fire
- Controlled and uncontrolled airports
- Distractions in flight (kind of funny)
Edit: there were 2 consecutive flights for a total of 2.6 hours
Conclusion
Maybe the "content" being tested is much like a checkride, but to me the main differences were:
- although tested thoroughly, it really isn't a "pass/fail test". It's more of an evaluation
- and best of all, after 2 years since the checkride, even if my hours flown were so few, I really did not have a problem with the flight portion at all.
- and throughout the entire flight review, both ground and flight, the "demeanor" is different from that of a checkride, it is more "between pilots"-sort of thing (if that makes sense). Essentially the flight review is way more relaxed than a checkride.
Conclusion-Conclusion
Keep at it, be diligent, and after you get the certificate, you'll always learn without every flight seeming like a formal lesson. It really is rewarding afterwards.
*The school just got a 1944 J-3 (that has had a number of upgrades including electric start and 85hp upgrades) and I'm preparing (reading books) on tailwheels. So this will be my next aviation "thing".
A brief background: I don't feel great writing this, but it is fact: I've flown only a handful of hours during 2014 that I could log as PIC. And not that many in 2013, my first year since I had gotten my certificate. So "flight review" or not, I knew it was "a must" to fly with a CFI and get an evaluation (but the one thing I did right was to occasionally fly with a CFI to check me out that I have not decayed to a point where I was no longer safe (I logged this as PIC)).
Preparation
So my preparation for the flight review consisted of completing a number of FAA Wings online courses, such as
- "Flight Review Prep Guide" (this was indeed a "guide", but good one).
- "Positive Aircraft Control"
- "Do the Right Thing: Decision Making for Pilots"
- etc.
I also did a TON of "chair flying"; this costs nothing (aside from one's own time) and it pays huge dividends (assuming the fundamental concepts being "exercised" are well understood).
Afterwards I asked my CFI to please push me to the max and do his best to find anything and everything that wasn't "up to par".
Both the ground and the flight went really well, I'm glad to say.
Ground:
- scenario based stuff (i.e. "what if...", "what would you do...", etc.)
- weather: sources, interpreting, discuss any experiences, questions, etc.
- charts: basic stuff such as weather minimums for various controlled and uncontrolled airspace.
- VFR Coridors through LAX Bravo
- And then I had various questions (such as flying through controlled airspace without a transponder (future plan*), etc.
- etc. This took about 1 hour (seemed a lot less though).
Flight Review
- Takeoffs: short field, soft field, aborted (simulated loss of power).
- Landing: short field, soft field, no-flap (no slips allowed), power-off, "obstruction on runway"-go around.
- Performance maneuvers: power on/off stalls, intentionally uncoordinated stall, steep turns, slow flight
- Hood (lots of it): recovering from unusual attitudes by references to instruments only, intercepting and navigating VORs, lost procedures.
- Simulated emergencies: engine out, engine fire, electrical/cabin fire
- Controlled and uncontrolled airports
- Distractions in flight (kind of funny)
Edit: there were 2 consecutive flights for a total of 2.6 hours
Conclusion
Maybe the "content" being tested is much like a checkride, but to me the main differences were:
- although tested thoroughly, it really isn't a "pass/fail test". It's more of an evaluation
- and best of all, after 2 years since the checkride, even if my hours flown were so few, I really did not have a problem with the flight portion at all.
- and throughout the entire flight review, both ground and flight, the "demeanor" is different from that of a checkride, it is more "between pilots"-sort of thing (if that makes sense). Essentially the flight review is way more relaxed than a checkride.
Conclusion-Conclusion
Keep at it, be diligent, and after you get the certificate, you'll always learn without every flight seeming like a formal lesson. It really is rewarding afterwards.
*The school just got a 1944 J-3 (that has had a number of upgrades including electric start and 85hp upgrades) and I'm preparing (reading books) on tailwheels. So this will be my next aviation "thing".
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