Passed my Private Checkride, but don't feel like I did a good job

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Melissa2983298

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Melissa
I passed my checkride yesterday, but I feel like I messed almost everything up and didn't do a good job/shouldn't have passed. I didn't do as well as I had hoped on the oral (he asked very hard questions) and the flying part wasn't too bad, but I really messed up on the deviation...I passed and everything but I just feel like I messed everything up. Has anyone else had this feeling after a checkride?
 
The good news is, you can go practice some more to improve. It's a license to learn.

Congrats on your ticket!
 
Don't sweat it. As far as I can tell, many many folks feel that way. You aren't supposed to know everything when you pass your checkride. Go ahead and ease into things and keep flying like you're training and you will solidify quite a bit. Bring a CFI up every couple few weeks to keep you in tune until you're comfortable.
 
That's why they call it a "license to learn." Congratulations! Never stop learning.

Bob Gardner
 
No worries. You demonstrated that you're probably not going to kill yourself. Now you can go learn without someone watching. Congratulations!!!

On me check ride, I was less than stellar on a few maneuvers, made the worst landings of my life, and when flying through some turbulence, I hit my head so hard on the roof that I handed the controls over to the examiner at the risk of failing. I guess I got points for not killing us landing in crosswinds that I wouldn't fly in today. It was ugly.
 
Absolutely! I came back from the 2.2 hour PP flight portion of my PP practical test (yes, 2.2 hours, full of being told everything I had been taught was the wrong way to do whatever it was I was doing) feeling like I couldn't do anything right, and pretty sure I had failed (didn't know then what I know now about examiners having to tell you right away if you fail any Task). We walked inside, and he started typing a form with a pink copy attached -- and now I was completely sure that was the notorious "pink slip". Then he handed me my new Temporary Airman Certificate (which in those days had a white top sheet and a pink carbon copy that went to the FSDO).

Whew!

The next day I left with another rookie pilot (with 15 more hours and six weeks' more time as a PP) on a journey from Ann Arbor MI to Bozeman MT and back, after which my confidence had not only returned, but had been significantly strengthened.

So go fly, and learn, and enjoy.
 
We all want it to go perfectly, and it never does.

The only person you needed to impress was your passenger, the DPE.
 
Ron's last paragraph is the perfect antidote to how you are feeling.

Go do some $100 burger runs and try to plan/execute a longer flight as soon as practical. Both will do a lot to boost your confidence and expand your sense of accomplishment.

Congrats on the PPL and we all look forward to hearing bout your next adventure!
 
If you felt like you knew everything 100% after the checkride, you probably didn't get a good examiner. :lol: My PPL checkride wasn't too bad, but I felt like I was violated after my instrument checkride.
 
It is pass or fail and you passed. Congratulations! Just in time for some great flying weather.
 
You are in good shape. The people I worry about are the ones who feel like they nailed everything.
 
Wow I felt the same way. I went back last week and flew with the examiner who gave me my checkride just to brush up on my landings skills.

We talked and laughed about my checkride and how nervous I was. I told him I thought he hid my sectional and he laughed. Asked him if I did as bad as I thought.

He leveled with me and explained that he knew I was freaking out on the test day and knew I would mess up but I never was unsafe. My landings were a but harsh and that's why he extended the invite to come fly with him.

Moral of the story, your never as bad or as good as you think you are.
 
I think many people have the same feelings. By chance, are you a perfectionist in life? If you don't do it 100% right, you feel like you totally failed?

I think many pilots are that way. Perfect approches, butter smooth touchdowns on the refrigerators, sound like a 747 pilot on the radio are all attributes they strive for. Average is not in their vocabulary. They must be perfect or they have failed and must do it again.
 
You now have achieved a license to learn. Use this time to learn the finer points. Don't get complacent. Don't forget cfi's are good for after the practical also. It's good you realize your not perfect.
 
I passed my check ride in 2001 and always felt that very marginal weather and gusty winds saved me, as he gave me more latitude than I deserved.
 
Jhernandez04 said:
Wow I felt the same way. I went back last week and flew with the examiner who gave me my checkride just to brush up on my landings skills.

We talked and laughed about my checkride and how nervous I was. I told him I thought he hid my sectional and he laughed. Asked him if I did as bad as I thought.

He leveled with me and explained that he knew I was freaking out on the test day and knew I would mess up but I never was unsafe. My landings were a but harsh and that's why he extended the invite to come fly with him.

Moral of the story, your never as bad or as good as you think you are.
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Good for you Jesse!
That's awesome.

To OP:
Congratulations!
Checkride is over. you passed. you are a pilot.
 
I sure made plenty mistakes on my Private. I made some mistakes on my Instrument checkride. I will most likely make mistakes on my Commercial ride coming up. We are humans, we are not perfect. There is no point of the test if all of us are going to score 100%. You just have to move on and learn from your mistakes. Your examiner obviously thought you did something right and were safe, otherwise he wouldn't have given you your license!
 
Congratulations! You passed. That's all that matters. As others have noted, you've got the rest of your life to perfect your flying. After 35 years, I'm still working on the perfecting part every flight! Not sure I'll get there...but it's a heckuva fun ride! Go enjoy your new privileges.
 
You demonstrated sound pilotage and didn't bend any metal.

Now go proclaim your superiority to the grounded masses ....

:cheers:
 
There is no such thing as a perfect flight, and that includes all checkrides.
 
What everyone else said. I've taken 5 checkrides with 4 different examiners (three DPEs and one FAA inspector). I've always felt like I didn't do as well as I should have, made mistakes I shouldn't have made, but I haven't failed one yet.
 
I think you should tear up the temporary and send it in to the FAA and tell them you don't deserve it. ;)
 
EppyGA said:
I think you should tear up the temporary and send it in to the FAA and tell them you don't deserve it. ;)
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Exactly. Never accept anything less than perfection.
 
Been there done that.

Promise yourself to keep improving. You will be fine.

CONGRATS!!!
 
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Melissa2983298 said:
I passed my checkride yesterday, but I feel like I messed almost everything up and didn't do a good job/shouldn't have passed. I didn't do as well as I had hoped on the oral (he asked very hard questions) and the flying part wasn't too bad, but I really messed up on the deviation...I passed and everything but I just feel like I messed everything up. Has anyone else had this feeling after a checkride?
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If you didn't feel this way I would be worried for you. The fact that you knew you weren't perfect means you take aviation seriously. That healthy respect for achieving perfection and your desire to continue to learn will make you a safer pilot.





Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
Melissa2983298 said:
I passed my checkride yesterday, but I feel like I messed almost everything up and didn't do a good job/shouldn't have passed. I didn't do as well as I had hoped on the oral (he asked very hard questions) and the flying part wasn't too bad, but I really messed up on the deviation...I passed and everything but I just feel like I messed everything up. Has anyone else had this feeling after a checkride?
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Some examiners are ego-challenged and have to push the examinee until they validate their own sense of superiority. See Cap'n Ron's post.

EppyGA said:
I think you should tear up the temporary and send it in to the FAA and tell them you don't deserve it. ;)
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Only if you're hot. In this case, it means the examiner was probably hitting on you (see comment above)
Scott@KTYR said:
Been there done that.

Promise yourself to keep improving. You will be fined.

CONGRATS!!!!
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Fixed your spelling

******
My real answer- Checkrides are subjective. The CFI had confidence in you and it was validated by the DPE.
 
Melissa2983298 said:
I passed my checkride yesterday, but I feel like I messed almost everything up and didn't do a good job/shouldn't have passed. I didn't do as well as I had hoped on the oral (he asked very hard questions) and the flying part wasn't too bad, but I really messed up on the deviation...I passed and everything but I just feel like I messed everything up. Has anyone else had this feeling after a checkride?
Click to expand...

Its about being safe, and being able to learn. The DPE felt you could do both, and didn't bust anything bad enough to fail.

Go forth and learn and practice...
 
Just continue on. Looking back, we all probably felt that we exhibited faults. It happens.
What will also be embarrassing is when you get into a casual conversation with friends in the future and find that you have similar brain freezes on things you have no reason to NOT know. It happens. You obviously impressed the DPE and that's all that counts. Now, go out and be one with God.
 
Congratulations Melissa. I agree with everyone else. Keep flying Remember, practice makes perfect :)!
 
The examiner I had for my first 3 ratings definitely made me feel like that after every checkride. But one day I was talking to him in a casual sense and I jokingly offered him a ride in my airplane, but I had another pilot with me I'd committed the right seat to, so he'd have to sit in the back. (this was jokingly, mind you) he looked at me very seriously and said "that's alright. I signed your certificates. I'd ride in the back with my family" that was my best compliment to date. Ever. I'm betting your examiner feels the same way.

The cfi ride was different and with the fsdo. He basically said I knew enough to be a good instructor, but that I was going to have to learn the rest instructing.
 
Velocity173 said:
Exactly. Never accept anything less than perfection.
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Strive for perfection, even though it may not be achievable. But don't be down on yourself for failing to achieve it as long as what you do achieve is good and safe enough. Sort of like Chris talking about Britt in "The Magnificent Seven":
Chris: Men in this line of work are not all alike. Some care about nothing but money. Others, for reasons of their own, enjoy only the danger.
Vin: And the competition.
Villager: If he's the best with the gun and the knife, with whom does he compete?
Chris: Himself.
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Just keep competing with yourself to be better, and you'll be fine.
 
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No flight is perfect. Anytime I've flown I look back and see things that could have been better. That said, like your ride, I haven't bent any metal yet. There is only one thing to say about your PP ride - "Congratulations, pilot!"
 
Striving for perfection is not a bad thing. I start every flight with 100 points. I deduct points for every error I make (ex: miss a checklist item that's a 3 point deduction). I have never had a perfect score, but I keep trying...:yes:

Fly and learn... Learn and fly some more, but always keep rating your progress. There is nothing wrong with that.

Congrats and welcome to the club...
 
Marauder said:
If you didn't feel this way I would be worried for you. The fact that you knew you weren't perfect means you take aviation seriously. That healthy respect for achieving perfection and your desire to continue to learn will make you a safer pilot.
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Yes! It is the arrogant and overly self-confident ones that are the dangerous ones.


No flight is perfect. Anytime I've flown I look back and see things that could have been better.
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I have a 30K hour ATP friend who defines "a flight" as follows: "A series of small mistakes."

Read a few of Bob Buck's books, too. He claims to never having flown a perfect flight despite having thousands of Atlantic crossings and lots of other amazing experience in his logbook. Weather Flying is the classic, but there are four or five others -- every one worth a read.
 
Every time you tie down an airplane, you should think you did something "wrong", something that needs improving. You will be right, by the way.
The day you think you are perfect, get out of flying. You don't have long to live. I can't tell you how many graves of "perfect" pilots I've had to stand next to over the last 50+ years.
 
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