gmwalk
Pre-Flight
I had my checkride today and I passed!
Well, its been a long journey. I started flying in 1976 and got about 48 hours total I did almost everything needed for a PPL, but I never took the checkride. I restarted again last November at age 48. Since November I did about 30 more hours and as of today I have my PPL!
The checkride was good and bad. I did very good on the oral, but my flying wasn't my best.
The DPE asked me a series of questions covering safety, regulations, weather, and procedures. He had the PTS infront of him and just asked questions based on the PTS outline. He unfolded a sectional and asked me questions about various features and annotations on the chart. He said I did extremely well on the oral and that we should then go out and fly.
He wanted me to have the hood ready because very soon after takeoff he was going to have me put it on. We took off and at about 75' he said "your engine is on fire!" so I calmly put it right back down on the remaining runway.
We took off again and after a short climb I put on the hood and he gave me some headings and altitudes to fly. Well, I was all over the place! I have always in the past nailed this with my instructor. The altitude would start to drift high, I would catch it, correct it, and then the coarse would drift. I was just behind the plane. Every time I noticed it, I would call out either heading or altitude. It was like that most of the ride. My VOR intercept was poor, but I did it. I did good on the slow flight. I almost messed up the power-off stall by not applying full power quickly enough.
Actually, I would have to say that the DPE was very good. He said that I appeared to be tense and that was contributing to my being a little behind the plane. He also said that because of that I thinking too much about each manuever. He gave me some pointers which were great. One thing, I think, that helped me was that I like to talk through every manuever: takeoffs, landings, stalls, everything. I think he liked that because he never had to guess at what I was doing. Even when I was messing something up, I was calling attention to it and telling him the correction.
We then went back to the airport for some T&Gs short and soft field takeoff and landing. On one of the takeoffs he pulled the power just after I turned cross wind. I set up for best glide and got back to the runway. I was so focused on making the runway that I did a no flap landing. A beauty too! I got a full stall just (with a little tailwind) as the wheels touched. That made me happy.
After that, it was back to the shack to get my new license. On the way back to KLWM I had my altitude and heading nailed all the way with no real deviations at all.
Now I know what a rookie I am. I have so much to learn!
Well, its been a long journey. I started flying in 1976 and got about 48 hours total I did almost everything needed for a PPL, but I never took the checkride. I restarted again last November at age 48. Since November I did about 30 more hours and as of today I have my PPL!
The checkride was good and bad. I did very good on the oral, but my flying wasn't my best.
The DPE asked me a series of questions covering safety, regulations, weather, and procedures. He had the PTS infront of him and just asked questions based on the PTS outline. He unfolded a sectional and asked me questions about various features and annotations on the chart. He said I did extremely well on the oral and that we should then go out and fly.
He wanted me to have the hood ready because very soon after takeoff he was going to have me put it on. We took off and at about 75' he said "your engine is on fire!" so I calmly put it right back down on the remaining runway.
We took off again and after a short climb I put on the hood and he gave me some headings and altitudes to fly. Well, I was all over the place! I have always in the past nailed this with my instructor. The altitude would start to drift high, I would catch it, correct it, and then the coarse would drift. I was just behind the plane. Every time I noticed it, I would call out either heading or altitude. It was like that most of the ride. My VOR intercept was poor, but I did it. I did good on the slow flight. I almost messed up the power-off stall by not applying full power quickly enough.
Actually, I would have to say that the DPE was very good. He said that I appeared to be tense and that was contributing to my being a little behind the plane. He also said that because of that I thinking too much about each manuever. He gave me some pointers which were great. One thing, I think, that helped me was that I like to talk through every manuever: takeoffs, landings, stalls, everything. I think he liked that because he never had to guess at what I was doing. Even when I was messing something up, I was calling attention to it and telling him the correction.
We then went back to the airport for some T&Gs short and soft field takeoff and landing. On one of the takeoffs he pulled the power just after I turned cross wind. I set up for best glide and got back to the runway. I was so focused on making the runway that I did a no flap landing. A beauty too! I got a full stall just (with a little tailwind) as the wheels touched. That made me happy.
After that, it was back to the shack to get my new license. On the way back to KLWM I had my altitude and heading nailed all the way with no real deviations at all.
Now I know what a rookie I am. I have so much to learn!