Jhernandez04
Line Up and Wait
Be warned that this write-up may offend you as it will explain that I'm not a perfect pilot and my DPE was refreshingly human. With that said, this is long and purposefully drawn out. I cannot be held liable for it not making sense. Please enjoy.
Checkride 3/18/2014 ORAL PORTION
The checkride was scheduled at Grandbury Airport (GDJ) at 0900 Hours.
I arrived at my hanger at 0730 to do a really good job on the preflight and to calm my nerves. I took off from GKY with the winds 190@15G25 so I knew i'd have to really be sharp with the flying portion but I hoped the wind would calm down as the day progressed. The short flight over to GDJ was smooth but I had trouble finding the airport as I was using the river/lake as reference to where the strip was, I found it but the water was so low it made me think it was more southern then it actually was. Anyways, I landed and everything was going well.
I was greeted by the airport staff member by the name of Steve. The plane was tied down and as I entered the small FBO I was greeted by a group of older men eating donuts and drinking coffee and there was my DPE. Also an older fellow, short with a calm demeanor and a certain swag that he carried made him seem like Captain of sorts. We did our greetings and he told me to grab a donut and coffee, I wasn't hungry or thirsty but I did not want to seem as if I was out of place or nervous so I accepted. I glanced at the computer in the office with the weather, the winds at GDJ were 220@18G29.......
So, I lay out all my stuff. Log book, Written Test, Drivers license, Medical....etc etc. He begins to kind of lay it out for me what he's planning for the day and I made the mistake of handing him the cash before he was ready for it and he quickly said that he was not that far yet and to keep it. (Calm down hulk, go with the flow....wooosaw) He asked for my IACRA, which I had proudly filled out the day before. He asked me how I had 38.2PIC time but only 35.3 SOLO. I quickly interjected that I was not sure but in my logbook there were marks from the CFI that had PIC time that I apparently added twice, my mistake. He then asked me if my CFI signed the IACRA and I was confused as I had no idea what he meant. We discussed this issue and I called my CFI to get him to sign it, but we had to first correct my log book as I messed the time up. This took about 3 hours of painstaking time to correct the logbooks that were overlooked by my prior 3 freelance CFI's and current CFI that I held in such high regard. Its clear at this point that I had slipped by the cracks with my CFI's, this was the first sign of how bad my Checkride was. Honestly, I was so embarrassed by this negligence I was just waiting for him to tell me to get my **** and go. But he was so patient with me it was very reassuring. He did however, have some very choice words for my CFI, as he explained that even though it was my logbook and IACRA it was his (my CFI) responsibility to check and prepare me for this Checkride. The type of person I am hated for this type of thing to happen because I try and take full responsibility for my actions, and I felt like this was my fault.
For those who are wondering, my total time at this point was 75.4hours which IIRC is just slightly above the national average of 70 hours. I started my training on July 14th 2012, 2 kids and a 9 month break later I am here for the final exam. We begin the Oral portion and I am nailing it, then he asked me about oxygen requirements passed 14,000ft and I keep trying to give answers but they are all wrong so I explain to him that I can look in the FAR, he tells me "okay, please find it" so if I'm being honest this is probably my 4th time to actually open the FAR. Big mistake, if I have advice for those about to take the Oral its to make sure and know your Regs and more importantly KNOW HOW TO FIND THEM. I fumbled around for a good 2 or 3 minutes all the while knowing I have his eyes beaming down on my lost fingers looking for the page. FINALLY found it and read the regs to him. Okay, disaster averted. Then he asked about Airspace, NAILED it, until he asked me about Class G special VFR requirements and what happens if I flew glass G from 699AGL to Class Echo. I was nervous at this point but I reverted to the FAR again and found the answer. He was visibly disappointed by this but accepted my attempt and the fact that even though I stumbled through the 2 hour oral I never gave up or felt like I couldn't do it. I just kept plugging away like a mad man. Honestly, I felt like at any moment he was going to tell me it was over. I was never in control of the discussion and felt helpless. It didn't help me when he told me he has been flying for 51 years, EX Air-force pilot, EX Airliner Pilot, DPE for 30 years and had over 25,000hours of experience. I felt like an ant to this guy's experience level which is an odd feeling because I'm 6'3 285lbs and a professional fighter. Humbled, yes... that's the word for it. But I'm not so proud that I didn't acknowledge the fact that I was in the presence of an expert. I was honored to be talking with this man but still very nervous because he was the person who was examining skills, which it was becoming apparent that I still have a lot to learn. Fortunately after that oral was done he explained that I was not as bad as I thought. Passed, holy ****.Winds 220@17G31 he asked me if I thought I could fly, I explained that it was too windy for my liking and reluctantly explained that I could come back in a few days. We rescheduled for 3/20/2014 @1400hrs.
FLYING PORTION OF THE CHECKRIDE 3/20/2014
Same thing as before, preflighted and headed over to GDJ. All is well. I landed at was again met by the staff of GDJ. The DPE was waiting for me outside. We went over the flight plan and he said that I could begin my preflight. I used the checklist like always and helped him onto my PA-28 235's wing. Got in and explained that I was going to do my SAFETY briefing (thanks SIXPAPPACHARLIE) and he seemed to like that. We got to the point where we needed to buckle up and the damn seat belt on his side was stuck, I started to sweat. Got it fixed and I begin to prep for the engine start, I yell CLEAR & then immediately start the engine. He explains to me in a very stern voice that if I'm going to yell clear I should give them time to actually clear the prop because I just start it right up after I said clear, I apologized and told him yes sir. I do my run up by the checklist and explain that Im going to switch tanks to the fullest. He then explains that if it were his airplane he would switch to the fullest take before the run-up to make sure it would get the proper fuel and be verified. DAMMIT!! I am screwing this up AGAIN! He wants a soft field takeoff so I make to keep the plane moving and get the nose wheel off asap. We takeoff and I feel okay at this point. He asked me what VX is and I tell him 100, and he says he doesn't believe it. I explained that I misspoke and that VX is 90 and VY is 100. He accepted that and I was headed to my first checkpoint, I made sure he saw me set my clock. Winds were 160@8 so it was not bad but It was windy at 2,500ft and I was getting blown around pretty good as the ground was warming up alot. Keeping a heading wasn't the easiest task but I managed. He then noted my heading and the fact that my checkpoint was directly on path, he said that its not good to pick a checkpoint to fly directly over because its hard to see once you get close. I said yes sir, it wont happen again. I had 3 checkpoints and even though I was off a little bit on heading, the times that I had down were right on. (Be calm, hulk.. be calm)
He then tells me that he isn't feeling well and we need to divert to FWS.(DAMMIT, I WAS SURE HE WAS GOING TO DIVERT TO CLEBURNE, I WAS CAUGHT OFFGAURD BY THIS, ****) I explain to him that I would like to use Flight Following and pretend to dial up 135.975 Approach. He acts as FF for me and I request vectors to Fort Worth Spinks. He gets me on course then explains that the traffic load is high and that VFR FF is cancelled. So I pull out the Airport directory and fumble around for it, he asked me why I'm not using my chart (dammit, I'm f'n up big time) and I play it off and tell him I can find the same info in the directory, he says yes but its much faster on the chart. I comply and reach for the chart. My plane ate the chart, holy smokes. I seriously cannot find my chart (at this point I think its a test by him) so I take out the directory again and dial up FWS and explain that this is 58Wiskey 10 miles south. Towers asks me my intentions I tell them I would like touch and go's. The DPE tells me that I should state WHO I AM, WHAT I AM, WHERE I AM & WHAT I WANT. I admitted that I should have told tower that but that I was under the impression that I should keep the channel clear like I do with FF. He said that's true for FF but the TOWER guys are just waiting for someone to talk to and they don't mind. I set up for the downwind 1700AGL. I was taught to setup for the descent once my wings hit the runway numbers, so I began the the descent and turn base for runway 17R ( I think he diverted me to FWS to see if i'd catch the whole dual runway thing at spinks, but i'd already been there so I was familiar) Anyways, he want a normal landing to test the winds he says, he also wants to check out my centerline landings I guessed. I was high and he mentioned it, I then went to land and kept it on centerline during the landing but got off centerline once I was on the runway and he didn't like how I did not flare enough. And asked me if I always land like that. I said yes and he didn't enjoy that. He told me we'd do one more normal and if I couldn't keep centerline we'd have to call it a day. I was very focused for the next one and came in on glide-scope and kept it straight but he still did not like my flare. But I proved I could keep centerline so then we setup for a short field and I managed that well enough but it wasn't perfect. Next up was soft field landing, I landed and did not keep the nose wheel off long enough and thought I screwed up the whole flight. He asked me if I would like to see how a soft field landing was done and I explained that I would enjoy that. He took the controls and I said "My controls" and I echo'd "Your controls". Anyways, he said he hadn't flown a Cherokee in 8 years but the guy proceeded to do the best/softest landing I've ever felt. And asked me if I could do that, he said "your controls" and I echo'd "my controls" I set up for the soft field again and and did my best replica of his landing which I failed at duplicating but it was a vast improvement from my first soft field. We stop and do a short field take off and it works. At this point I'm sweating bullets and wondering if his "my controls" talk was the termination of the checkride. But he then tells me we're heading for a south departure and I need to put my foggles on. He then directs me this way and that way, climb, descend etc etch.... he was VERY impressed with my foggle ability and this put my mind at ease somewhat. Clearing turns, Turns about point, Steep Turns all went EXCELLENT. But I couldn't shake the feeling with the soft field landing. It was like an ulcer in my stomach. He then tells me that he only needs to see me navigate by VOR and we'll head back. I nailed the VOR (thanks Tyler). I do one more soft-field landing for good measure and its just about the same as the 2nd one, and I do my best to keep the nose wheel off the ground.
I just shut the engine off, and I know that I didnt do well at all. My lips are dry and my throat is parched, my voice crackled when he said "your not gonna making this easy on me are you kid?" I explain that I'm sorry sir, I was a bit nervous but that I haven't really had anyone (CFI's) tell me I didn't flair enough and that I would work on my short field landings. He switched tones and said "Listen, your airwork was VERY good, I was impressed and I know your nervous, but there is no place for mediocrity in flying and you can't be okay with marginal. You need to try to be perfect, and not be a passenger in your plane. Be more aggressive and control the plane" At this point I knew I failed. He then said that I didn't do horrible. For some reason when he stuck his hand out for a firm shake it all went slow motion and I heard the words "congratulations, your a pilot now kid".... I was shocked, speechless, I couldn't believe it. I was all ready to give up and just say screw it, maybe I didn't have what it took. Then he spoke those words and I just got renewed.
Filled the paperwork out and gave me my temporary Airmen Certificate. WOW.
BTW, the chart had fallen behind my seat. Bastard chart....
Checkride 3/18/2014 ORAL PORTION
The checkride was scheduled at Grandbury Airport (GDJ) at 0900 Hours.
I arrived at my hanger at 0730 to do a really good job on the preflight and to calm my nerves. I took off from GKY with the winds 190@15G25 so I knew i'd have to really be sharp with the flying portion but I hoped the wind would calm down as the day progressed. The short flight over to GDJ was smooth but I had trouble finding the airport as I was using the river/lake as reference to where the strip was, I found it but the water was so low it made me think it was more southern then it actually was. Anyways, I landed and everything was going well.
I was greeted by the airport staff member by the name of Steve. The plane was tied down and as I entered the small FBO I was greeted by a group of older men eating donuts and drinking coffee and there was my DPE. Also an older fellow, short with a calm demeanor and a certain swag that he carried made him seem like Captain of sorts. We did our greetings and he told me to grab a donut and coffee, I wasn't hungry or thirsty but I did not want to seem as if I was out of place or nervous so I accepted. I glanced at the computer in the office with the weather, the winds at GDJ were 220@18G29.......
So, I lay out all my stuff. Log book, Written Test, Drivers license, Medical....etc etc. He begins to kind of lay it out for me what he's planning for the day and I made the mistake of handing him the cash before he was ready for it and he quickly said that he was not that far yet and to keep it. (Calm down hulk, go with the flow....wooosaw) He asked for my IACRA, which I had proudly filled out the day before. He asked me how I had 38.2PIC time but only 35.3 SOLO. I quickly interjected that I was not sure but in my logbook there were marks from the CFI that had PIC time that I apparently added twice, my mistake. He then asked me if my CFI signed the IACRA and I was confused as I had no idea what he meant. We discussed this issue and I called my CFI to get him to sign it, but we had to first correct my log book as I messed the time up. This took about 3 hours of painstaking time to correct the logbooks that were overlooked by my prior 3 freelance CFI's and current CFI that I held in such high regard. Its clear at this point that I had slipped by the cracks with my CFI's, this was the first sign of how bad my Checkride was. Honestly, I was so embarrassed by this negligence I was just waiting for him to tell me to get my **** and go. But he was so patient with me it was very reassuring. He did however, have some very choice words for my CFI, as he explained that even though it was my logbook and IACRA it was his (my CFI) responsibility to check and prepare me for this Checkride. The type of person I am hated for this type of thing to happen because I try and take full responsibility for my actions, and I felt like this was my fault.
For those who are wondering, my total time at this point was 75.4hours which IIRC is just slightly above the national average of 70 hours. I started my training on July 14th 2012, 2 kids and a 9 month break later I am here for the final exam. We begin the Oral portion and I am nailing it, then he asked me about oxygen requirements passed 14,000ft and I keep trying to give answers but they are all wrong so I explain to him that I can look in the FAR, he tells me "okay, please find it" so if I'm being honest this is probably my 4th time to actually open the FAR. Big mistake, if I have advice for those about to take the Oral its to make sure and know your Regs and more importantly KNOW HOW TO FIND THEM. I fumbled around for a good 2 or 3 minutes all the while knowing I have his eyes beaming down on my lost fingers looking for the page. FINALLY found it and read the regs to him. Okay, disaster averted. Then he asked about Airspace, NAILED it, until he asked me about Class G special VFR requirements and what happens if I flew glass G from 699AGL to Class Echo. I was nervous at this point but I reverted to the FAR again and found the answer. He was visibly disappointed by this but accepted my attempt and the fact that even though I stumbled through the 2 hour oral I never gave up or felt like I couldn't do it. I just kept plugging away like a mad man. Honestly, I felt like at any moment he was going to tell me it was over. I was never in control of the discussion and felt helpless. It didn't help me when he told me he has been flying for 51 years, EX Air-force pilot, EX Airliner Pilot, DPE for 30 years and had over 25,000hours of experience. I felt like an ant to this guy's experience level which is an odd feeling because I'm 6'3 285lbs and a professional fighter. Humbled, yes... that's the word for it. But I'm not so proud that I didn't acknowledge the fact that I was in the presence of an expert. I was honored to be talking with this man but still very nervous because he was the person who was examining skills, which it was becoming apparent that I still have a lot to learn. Fortunately after that oral was done he explained that I was not as bad as I thought. Passed, holy ****.Winds 220@17G31 he asked me if I thought I could fly, I explained that it was too windy for my liking and reluctantly explained that I could come back in a few days. We rescheduled for 3/20/2014 @1400hrs.
FLYING PORTION OF THE CHECKRIDE 3/20/2014
Same thing as before, preflighted and headed over to GDJ. All is well. I landed at was again met by the staff of GDJ. The DPE was waiting for me outside. We went over the flight plan and he said that I could begin my preflight. I used the checklist like always and helped him onto my PA-28 235's wing. Got in and explained that I was going to do my SAFETY briefing (thanks SIXPAPPACHARLIE) and he seemed to like that. We got to the point where we needed to buckle up and the damn seat belt on his side was stuck, I started to sweat. Got it fixed and I begin to prep for the engine start, I yell CLEAR & then immediately start the engine. He explains to me in a very stern voice that if I'm going to yell clear I should give them time to actually clear the prop because I just start it right up after I said clear, I apologized and told him yes sir. I do my run up by the checklist and explain that Im going to switch tanks to the fullest. He then explains that if it were his airplane he would switch to the fullest take before the run-up to make sure it would get the proper fuel and be verified. DAMMIT!! I am screwing this up AGAIN! He wants a soft field takeoff so I make to keep the plane moving and get the nose wheel off asap. We takeoff and I feel okay at this point. He asked me what VX is and I tell him 100, and he says he doesn't believe it. I explained that I misspoke and that VX is 90 and VY is 100. He accepted that and I was headed to my first checkpoint, I made sure he saw me set my clock. Winds were 160@8 so it was not bad but It was windy at 2,500ft and I was getting blown around pretty good as the ground was warming up alot. Keeping a heading wasn't the easiest task but I managed. He then noted my heading and the fact that my checkpoint was directly on path, he said that its not good to pick a checkpoint to fly directly over because its hard to see once you get close. I said yes sir, it wont happen again. I had 3 checkpoints and even though I was off a little bit on heading, the times that I had down were right on. (Be calm, hulk.. be calm)
He then tells me that he isn't feeling well and we need to divert to FWS.(DAMMIT, I WAS SURE HE WAS GOING TO DIVERT TO CLEBURNE, I WAS CAUGHT OFFGAURD BY THIS, ****) I explain to him that I would like to use Flight Following and pretend to dial up 135.975 Approach. He acts as FF for me and I request vectors to Fort Worth Spinks. He gets me on course then explains that the traffic load is high and that VFR FF is cancelled. So I pull out the Airport directory and fumble around for it, he asked me why I'm not using my chart (dammit, I'm f'n up big time) and I play it off and tell him I can find the same info in the directory, he says yes but its much faster on the chart. I comply and reach for the chart. My plane ate the chart, holy smokes. I seriously cannot find my chart (at this point I think its a test by him) so I take out the directory again and dial up FWS and explain that this is 58Wiskey 10 miles south. Towers asks me my intentions I tell them I would like touch and go's. The DPE tells me that I should state WHO I AM, WHAT I AM, WHERE I AM & WHAT I WANT. I admitted that I should have told tower that but that I was under the impression that I should keep the channel clear like I do with FF. He said that's true for FF but the TOWER guys are just waiting for someone to talk to and they don't mind. I set up for the downwind 1700AGL. I was taught to setup for the descent once my wings hit the runway numbers, so I began the the descent and turn base for runway 17R ( I think he diverted me to FWS to see if i'd catch the whole dual runway thing at spinks, but i'd already been there so I was familiar) Anyways, he want a normal landing to test the winds he says, he also wants to check out my centerline landings I guessed. I was high and he mentioned it, I then went to land and kept it on centerline during the landing but got off centerline once I was on the runway and he didn't like how I did not flare enough. And asked me if I always land like that. I said yes and he didn't enjoy that. He told me we'd do one more normal and if I couldn't keep centerline we'd have to call it a day. I was very focused for the next one and came in on glide-scope and kept it straight but he still did not like my flare. But I proved I could keep centerline so then we setup for a short field and I managed that well enough but it wasn't perfect. Next up was soft field landing, I landed and did not keep the nose wheel off long enough and thought I screwed up the whole flight. He asked me if I would like to see how a soft field landing was done and I explained that I would enjoy that. He took the controls and I said "My controls" and I echo'd "Your controls". Anyways, he said he hadn't flown a Cherokee in 8 years but the guy proceeded to do the best/softest landing I've ever felt. And asked me if I could do that, he said "your controls" and I echo'd "my controls" I set up for the soft field again and and did my best replica of his landing which I failed at duplicating but it was a vast improvement from my first soft field. We stop and do a short field take off and it works. At this point I'm sweating bullets and wondering if his "my controls" talk was the termination of the checkride. But he then tells me we're heading for a south departure and I need to put my foggles on. He then directs me this way and that way, climb, descend etc etch.... he was VERY impressed with my foggle ability and this put my mind at ease somewhat. Clearing turns, Turns about point, Steep Turns all went EXCELLENT. But I couldn't shake the feeling with the soft field landing. It was like an ulcer in my stomach. He then tells me that he only needs to see me navigate by VOR and we'll head back. I nailed the VOR (thanks Tyler). I do one more soft-field landing for good measure and its just about the same as the 2nd one, and I do my best to keep the nose wheel off the ground.
I just shut the engine off, and I know that I didnt do well at all. My lips are dry and my throat is parched, my voice crackled when he said "your not gonna making this easy on me are you kid?" I explain that I'm sorry sir, I was a bit nervous but that I haven't really had anyone (CFI's) tell me I didn't flair enough and that I would work on my short field landings. He switched tones and said "Listen, your airwork was VERY good, I was impressed and I know your nervous, but there is no place for mediocrity in flying and you can't be okay with marginal. You need to try to be perfect, and not be a passenger in your plane. Be more aggressive and control the plane" At this point I knew I failed. He then said that I didn't do horrible. For some reason when he stuck his hand out for a firm shake it all went slow motion and I heard the words "congratulations, your a pilot now kid".... I was shocked, speechless, I couldn't believe it. I was all ready to give up and just say screw it, maybe I didn't have what it took. Then he spoke those words and I just got renewed.
Filled the paperwork out and gave me my temporary Airmen Certificate. WOW.
BTW, the chart had fallen behind my seat. Bastard chart....
