What should the last flight before your check ride be?

PBristolJr

PBristolJr

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PBristolJr
I'm trying to schedule my plane/instructor in the most efficient way possible before the check ride.
Should the flight the day before be with my CFI to go over everything one more time (confidence builder) or solo to go over everything one more time?

I'll definitely be reviewing all the documents, maintenance logs, and my logbook with my CFI a day or two before the ride.

Just wondering your opinion on the topic.
Thanks!
 
That's what I was going to say. I flew to the checkride, however my CFI wanted to go with me. I was working on wheel landings at the time, so we did a few before heading that way.

Having flown that very morning helped me to be calm and to have a little extra confidence.

Hope this helps.
 
I finished up my simulated instrument a day before the checkride, did few steep turns and that's it. Had a plane scheduled for a morning of the checkride, but CFI recommended to relax.
 
My last was a solo to polish up the basics, stalls, steep turns, slow flight...the whole bit, back home for a few T&Gs
 
dmccormack said:
I've found best practice to be to fly to the checkride.
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I believe the student should spend the last few sessions flying to higher standards required by the PTS for the rating being sought.
 
Do whatever you thought was the most challenging or intimidating. Slow flight under the hood? Power-on stalls? Also, read Captain Ron's checkride advice. You won't know how true it is until after the DPE shakes your hand and congratulates you.
 
I don't remember anything else we did but I do remember I was taught to spin and recover as my "graduation present". In retrospect that was little unconventional but I didn't think of it that way at the time.
 
Now that Wayne chimed in, come to think of it that is what most of my last few hours were, practicing precision. Wayne flew with me shortly before my checkride, and that is alot of what he was teaching me.

After I flew with him, I knew that I was just about ready. I had been having trouble with steep turns and a few other things, and he tuned me up well.
 
If you feel like your comfortable with the manuevers, fly your cross country out to at least 3 or 4 checkpoints just in case. I got to my 3rd checkpoint (pretty close together) when he had me divert.

Remember, you've already done everything they want to see. Otherwise, your CFI wouldn't have signed you off. This is just a flight to show those skills to the examiner.

And good luck!!
 
I purposely included more than one flight. Same answer applies, at that point it's all prep for the ride.

dmccormack said:
He said "Last flight before"

Sessions before -- different question, different answer.
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I did the mock check ride and had the worst flight I've ever had right before my check ride...(Stalled the plane while maintaining best glide speed to reach emergency landing site, guess I pulled back to much.) Anyway, for that reason I would suggest taking a nice relaxing flight working on your worst maneuver. That's what I did, worked on my slip to land in the pattern a few times and practiced emergency landing procedure just so I was completely confident. I'm glad my "mock" check ride was not literally the last flight before my check ride because my confidence was not so high. Just throwing this out there and I'm far from an expert on this. Good luck to the original poster when your check ride comes!
 
My check ride was scheduled for the afternoon. I met with my instructor at 0630 that morning for some final flight brushing up. What he did was cover every instrument except the engine instruments and the kerosene compass up on top of the panel.

I can't remember how many touch and goes we did, then I navigated to a different airport, we went through every flight maneuver, then a bunch more touch and goes. I flew all morning, with no instruments.. We got back an hour before my check ride.

When the examiner saw the covered panel he cracked up. We did not do ground first, other than documentation. He had me fly us to an unpaved sand runway called Kidwell (L-4) There is a Casino restaurant there where he gave me the ground portion of my test, then we finished up.

He later told me that I gave him one of the best check rides he'd had in years. I'm kinda proud of that.

-John
 
I like the practice check ride idea with the CFI onboard. Plus, for PPl it might help to have the extra weight onboard to make the plane fly like it will on the big day.
 
I liked the simulated check ride that my CFI put me through. It was very helpful, and allowed for the flight planning portion to be basically complete minus current weather.
 
John Baker said:
My check ride was scheduled for the afternoon. I met with my instructor at 0630 that morning for some final flight brushing up. What he did was cover every instrument except the engine instruments and the kerosene compass up on top of the panel.

I can't remember how many touch and goes we did, then I navigated to a different airport, we went through every flight maneuver, then a bunch more touch and goes. I flew all morning, with no instruments.. We got back an hour before my check ride.

When the examiner saw the covered panel he cracked up. We did not do ground first, other than documentation. He had me fly us to an unpaved sand runway called Kidwell (L-4) There is a Casino restaurant there where he gave me the ground portion of my test, then we finished up.

He later told me that I gave him one of the best check rides he'd had in years. I'm kinda proud of that.

-John
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I've been there a few times. Kinda hard to find from the air since the airport looks like a trailer park with a dirt access road.
 
John Baker said:
My check ride was scheduled for the afternoon. I met with my instructor at 0630 that morning for some final flight brushing up. What he did was cover every instrument except the engine instruments and the kerosene compass up on top of the panel.

I can't remember how many touch and goes we did, then I navigated to a different airport, we went through every flight maneuver, then a bunch more touch and goes. I flew all morning, with no instruments.. We got back an hour before my check ride.
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I wouldn't out one of my trainees through that much of a wringer an hour before their checkride. I'd rather have them fresh and alert. The described ride is what I would do the day before, not the day of.
 
GCA319 said:
I've been there a few times. Kinda hard to find from the air since the airport looks like a trailer park with a dirt access road.
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I got us to it, but I couldn't see it. I said out loud; "It should be right here, where the heck is it?" My examiner pointed it out to me and said it's right there "You gotta be kidding", I responded. It did look just like a bunch of trailers lined up along a sand road.

I made a perfect landing, kept the nose wheel up, kept it moving, but that wasn't too hard, in spots that sand was very soft, I knew to keep the power up. I asked him if he had assisted me on that landing, he was on my glass eye side. He said he didn't touch a thing.

-John
 
John Baker said:
I got us to it, but I couldn't see it. I said out loud; "It should be right here, where the heck is it?" My examiner pointed it out to me and said it's right there "You gotta be kidding", I responded. It did look just like a bunch of trailers lined up along a sand road.

I made a perfect landing, kept the nose wheel up, kept it moving, but that wasn't too hard, in spots that sand was very soft, I knew to keep the power up. I asked him if he had assisted me on that landing, he was on my glass eye side. He said he didn't touch a thing.

-John
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Same here. It just doesn't resemble an airport.
 
Ron Levy said:
I wouldn't out one of my trainees through that much of a wringer an hour before their checkride. I'd rather have them fresh and alert. The described ride is what I would do the day before, not the day of.
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Sounds to me like he probably went to Shebles for his training. That's typically how they do things there. Not how I choose to operate as an instructor, but their hit it hard and get it done approach to finishing people up seems to work for them.
 
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