iWantWings
Pre-takeoff checklist
I'm so glad I passed it!
Sure, it's only a "license to learn", but it's nice to get to this milestone.
So in 38 weeks I averaged about 1.45 hrs per week for a total of 55 hours. All of that for about $10,000. I might take the time and create a matrix from the logbook and see in how many ways I can rehash the same data.
The Oral
The oral portion of the test went well. No surprise topic or questions but only the stuff listed in the PTS: aircraft logs, personal logs, special area emphsys and all of it in the form of "scenarios". The DPE also discussed NTSB reports and what could be learned from them - that was very interesting. It became evident that the DPE was placing special emphasis on "things" that get pilots (and not just pilots) killed while doing the PIC-thing. No-nonesense and it was much welcomed. I knew this was supposed to be an evaluation and not a "let me teach you this", but I ended learning quite a bit of stuff.
Also very useful were the DPE's questions on the maneuvers I would be asked to perform - that was like a mental preparation for the actual flight for me. Cool.
The Flight
Kudos to my instructor for running a dry-run flight the day before the checkride that very closely matched what the DPE had me do for the checkride itself.
The standard maneuvers, as listed in the PTS - all went well. Special emphays was placed on emergency procedures: DPE continued the power-off approach until she was certain the chosen landing area would be made (and with a guess that there would be available space to stop before smaking anything hard).
The Days prior to the Checkride
The days prior to the checkride I was giving myself only a 50/50 chance of completing it in the first try. Either because of something that DPE might consider to make the plane unairworthy, or something I would not know on the oral, or total screw up of something during the flight. The night before I went to sleep at nearly 3:00AM, trying to finish my Nav Log and decode all the various weather text from DUATS. Talk about poor planning and time management! Despite more than one instructor having told me that I was ready for the checkride, I just couldn't "see it" - there were too many things I knew I didn't know well enough. And than there is the story of my "favorite" rental C172 going out of service for weeks, just a few days prior to the checkride! But that's a different story and I wrote too much already.
So my fears and conerns faded as the test progressed and was kind of caught off-guard when DPE asked me to make a full-stop landing saying "if you don't make a mistake while taxing, you have just passed your checkride".
Corny as it sounds, for me that was a dream come true
Edit: there are a lot of people who helped me with this - CFIs, DPE and forums like POA and AOPA. All good stuff and am very thankful for all the help - I know I needed it and still do. Thank you!
Sure, it's only a "license to learn", but it's nice to get to this milestone.
So in 38 weeks I averaged about 1.45 hrs per week for a total of 55 hours. All of that for about $10,000. I might take the time and create a matrix from the logbook and see in how many ways I can rehash the same data.
The Oral
The oral portion of the test went well. No surprise topic or questions but only the stuff listed in the PTS: aircraft logs, personal logs, special area emphsys and all of it in the form of "scenarios". The DPE also discussed NTSB reports and what could be learned from them - that was very interesting. It became evident that the DPE was placing special emphasis on "things" that get pilots (and not just pilots) killed while doing the PIC-thing. No-nonesense and it was much welcomed. I knew this was supposed to be an evaluation and not a "let me teach you this", but I ended learning quite a bit of stuff.
Also very useful were the DPE's questions on the maneuvers I would be asked to perform - that was like a mental preparation for the actual flight for me. Cool.
The Flight
Kudos to my instructor for running a dry-run flight the day before the checkride that very closely matched what the DPE had me do for the checkride itself.
The standard maneuvers, as listed in the PTS - all went well. Special emphays was placed on emergency procedures: DPE continued the power-off approach until she was certain the chosen landing area would be made (and with a guess that there would be available space to stop before smaking anything hard).
The Days prior to the Checkride
The days prior to the checkride I was giving myself only a 50/50 chance of completing it in the first try. Either because of something that DPE might consider to make the plane unairworthy, or something I would not know on the oral, or total screw up of something during the flight. The night before I went to sleep at nearly 3:00AM, trying to finish my Nav Log and decode all the various weather text from DUATS. Talk about poor planning and time management! Despite more than one instructor having told me that I was ready for the checkride, I just couldn't "see it" - there were too many things I knew I didn't know well enough. And than there is the story of my "favorite" rental C172 going out of service for weeks, just a few days prior to the checkride! But that's a different story and I wrote too much already.
So my fears and conerns faded as the test progressed and was kind of caught off-guard when DPE asked me to make a full-stop landing saying "if you don't make a mistake while taxing, you have just passed your checkride".
Corny as it sounds, for me that was a dream come true
Edit: there are a lot of people who helped me with this - CFIs, DPE and forums like POA and AOPA. All good stuff and am very thankful for all the help - I know I needed it and still do. Thank you!
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