PART 1:
I scheduled my checkride about a week in advanced. The DPE told me to plan a flight from KCRQ to KSBA. This route goes through LAX class B airspace and I would have to use both sides of the sectional to plan my route. No big deal though. I also got the DPE's weight so I could do the weight and balance before hand.
I scheduled my checkride about a week in advanced. The DPE told me to plan a flight from KCRQ to KSBA. This route goes through LAX class B airspace and I would have to use both sides of the sectional to plan my route. No big deal though. I also got the DPE's weight so I could do the weight and balance before hand.
On the morning of the checkride I reviewed some materials I wasn't totally confident on and went over the FARs one last
time while I ate breakfast. The DPE asked me to print all the weather charts listed on
the PTS and bring them in. Oh great! I have never looked at these charts in a
practical purpose, in fact the only time I had ever looked at them was when I was preparing for the written
test.
I printed out all the graphic charts and tried to interpret them. I didn't have
a lot of time to spare since I still needed to get a weather briefing and finish
my flight plan, so as soon as I thought I had the gist of the charts I moved
on. Next I finished my flight plan, being sure to use my E6B just in case he
made me demonstrate I can use one in front of him...usually I just use an E6B app
on my phone. Gotta love technology. I finished my flight plan and headed to the
airport, arriving a half hour before the examiner was
scheduled to arrive.
Once I arrived at the flight school, I got the class room
set up with all my stuff. I pulled out charts, flight logs, aircraft logs, and
the planes certificates. I spent the remaining time reviewing some flash cards,
but mostly I starred out the window, waiting for a car to pull up. The DPE, Jay
Brentzel, arrived right on time. I greeted him at the door and we got down to
business. First we went through my paperwork, and log book to make sure I met
all the requirements. We then went over to the computer to fill out some stuff
on the IACRA website. This process took about 25 minutes, which was fine with
me…less time to talk about other stuff.
With the paper work out of the way, it was grilling time.
The first subject was weather, which is the subject I was least prepared on. We
went over the graphic charts I had printed out, and I managed to stumble my way through
them…it wasn't pretty. Five minutes into the test and I could feel my armpits sweating. Next we went over the weather briefing I had printed
out. I had DUATs translate the weather to plain English for me, which is its default setting. The examiner didn't like this and made me print it out in its
raw format…great! It never crossed my mind that I couldn't use the translated
text from a legal website, especially when it’s the default option. I printed
out the raw weather briefing and decoded the METARS, TAFS, FA and NOTAMS for
him…I did stumble on the second like of text on the METARS though, and he didn't seem happy with my weather knowledge. For a second I thought he was going to
discontinue the checkride, but we moved on. We spent what felt like an hour on
weather, and every second was torture.
Finally we moved on. Next we reviewed my flight plan. He asked
me to calculate fuel burn on my E6B…luckily I had brushed up on that earlier
in the morning, or I probably would have totally forgot how to use it. After that we pulled
out the sectional. He pointed out different symbols and asked me to identify
them, things such as class B, C, D and E airspace and the weather minimums
associated, restricted areas and MOAs, and he asked me to translate the airport
information on the chart. He then asked me about takeoff and landing distances,
and how to calculate them. I pulled out the POH, showed him on the performance chart and we moved on.
Then I was asked to describe the engine on the airplane, the electrical system,
how the flaps worked, and what would happen if my pitot tube got clogged. The
last subject we talked about was aeromedical factors...hypoxia, spatial
disorientation, and carbon monoxide poison to be specific.
The oral was finally over, but the practical portion would
have to be postponed to another day due to weather. I realize that because I struggled
on the weather, that’s where we spent most of the time…every other subject
after that I was very knowledgeable on, and thus spent very little time on. Still, my DPE was not what I had imagined in my head. I had read a lot of posts online about others
peoples checkrides, and they all seemed to say that their DPE made them feel
comfortable, like they were just having a conversation on flying. I didn't feel
this way at all, I felt more like I was in the famous checkride YouTube video…every
student pilots worst nightmare. Oh well, half way there now…and getting my
ticket will be that much sweeter having had to sweat it out with Jay.
PART 2:
The flying portion of the checkride was scheduled over a week out. I spent the week freaking out, but there was not much I could do at this point. The day before the checkride my CFI went up and reviewed all the airwork Everything was going fine until we got to short field landings...suddenly my body forgot how to land the airplane, it was ugly and really strange I was doing things that I had never done before. I bounced the airplane so hard off the runway that I decided a go around was the safest option. I also dragged my tail on my soft field takeoffs...what was I doing? My head was not in the game. I was shaken up, and my CFI and I decided it would be best if I postponed the checkride. I called the DPE and he was fine with me pushing the checkride a week out. During that time I was able to take the airplane out twice solo, working on my landings, and the day before the checkride my CFI and I went up again to review the airwork ..this time everything went fine.
PART 3:
After postponing the checkride twice I was pretty confident something would happen to force me to cancel yet again, so I spent all day staring out the window at the weather, and online checking TAFs. I was expecting a call from my flight school telling me the plane was down and would be in maintenance but that never happened. It looked like this thing was on. I left work and headed to the airport. I checked a few things on the airplane to make sure nothing major would stop us from flying, and got an abbreviated weather briefing to make sure no nothing popped up that I wasn't expecting. With everything looking good I took a deep breath and waited for Jay to arrive.
Jay arrived right on time and we headed out to pre-flight the airplane. He mostly watched me and asked a few questions as to what I was looking for, and why. After I inspected the airplane we climbed inside. I made sure to take my time reading the checklist to make sure I didn't miss anything. I started the airplane, we tested the brakes and taxied for the runway. One thing Jay insisted on was that I taxied with a taxi diagram out...its actually in the PTS that you have to do this. I completed the runup and we took off on my cross country route. When we made it to my first checkpoint Jay confirmed that my expected time matched the actual time en route. Along the way to the second checkpoint he asked me to identify some landmarks and point them out on the map. Next was the diversion. Jay had me do a 180 and told me to get a heading, ETA and fuel burn to San Diego International Airport, he offered to take the controls while I figured this out...a pleasant surprise. With Jay on the controls I was able to take my time, and make sure my numbers were correct.
With the diversion complete it was time to get under the hood. I did some turns, some climbs and some descents. Next up was slow flight in a turn, a climb, and a descent. Steep turns to the left and right followed that. We then did an emergency descent which is new to the PTS. For this maneuver I pulled the throttle to idle, put in full flaps, and descended in a 30 degree back while keeping airspeed at the top of the white arc. When we got down to an altitude suitable for ground reference maneuvers I leveled out. Jay let me choose if I wanted to do turns around a pointor S-turns...I chose turns around a point, and they went okay. With that done we headed towards Ramona airport. It was then that Jay realized we didn't do unusual attitude recovery and had me put on the hood. These were pretty mild compared to what my CFI had put in through. Jay then had me do some more climbs and descents under the hood...bonus hood work I guess? Lucky me! I took off my hood finally and Jay asked me to find out where I was. I found what I thought was our location quite quickly, but it didn't seem right. After staring at my chart for a few minutes Jay asked me which way Ramona airport was and told me to turn to that direction... thankfully I got it right.
We entered the traffic pattern at Ramona and did a short field landing followed by a short field take off. Next was a soft field landing and takeoff. The third time around the traffic pattern Jay pulled my throttle to idle as I was abeam the numbers and told me my engine was out. I headed for final and slipped the airplane down, Jay told me to put in full flaps as I was about 200' above the runway, and then immediately told me to go around. He wanted to know why I wasn't using flaps, and I guess my thinking was that he wanted me to perform a slip...I didn't even think about the go around. He didn't mind and said that was one less thing I would have to do now. He told me we were done and to head back home.
I had a couple moments of terror on the way back to Carlsbad when I couldn't be positive I was headed in the right direction. The sun was setting and the sky a bit hazy. I thought I was heading in the right direction, but nerves had me second guessing myself. Eventually I could make out the airport and called the tower for landing clearance. The airport was quiet and approved me for a straight in approach. I made a normal landing and taxied back to the flight school. I passed the checkride. Jay headed inside while I secured the airplane. I couldn't believe I was done! I wanted to be so happy but it just didn't seem real yet. I met Jay inside and he debriefed me. He told me I had the best steep turns that he had seen on the private pilot checkride, but that my collision avoidance was bad. It turns out we had a misunderstanding in the airplane. Before maneuvers Jay would say "clear left" or "clear right", and I mistook this as him clearing the area for me, when in fact he was reminding me to clear the area. Besides that he said I did okay.
My DPE Jay was very thorough, but fair. If you ever take a checkride with him be prepared. You will have to do almost everything in the PTS, but you don't have to be perfect. I know I messed up here and there and I still passed. So be prepared, but don't be scared...you will be okay.
Almost a year after starting flying lessons and $10,000 later I am now a pilot.
PART 2:
The flying portion of the checkride was scheduled over a week out. I spent the week freaking out, but there was not much I could do at this point. The day before the checkride my CFI went up and reviewed all the airwork Everything was going fine until we got to short field landings...suddenly my body forgot how to land the airplane, it was ugly and really strange I was doing things that I had never done before. I bounced the airplane so hard off the runway that I decided a go around was the safest option. I also dragged my tail on my soft field takeoffs...what was I doing? My head was not in the game. I was shaken up, and my CFI and I decided it would be best if I postponed the checkride. I called the DPE and he was fine with me pushing the checkride a week out. During that time I was able to take the airplane out twice solo, working on my landings, and the day before the checkride my CFI and I went up again to review the airwork ..this time everything went fine.
PART 3:
After postponing the checkride twice I was pretty confident something would happen to force me to cancel yet again, so I spent all day staring out the window at the weather, and online checking TAFs. I was expecting a call from my flight school telling me the plane was down and would be in maintenance but that never happened. It looked like this thing was on. I left work and headed to the airport. I checked a few things on the airplane to make sure nothing major would stop us from flying, and got an abbreviated weather briefing to make sure no nothing popped up that I wasn't expecting. With everything looking good I took a deep breath and waited for Jay to arrive.
Jay arrived right on time and we headed out to pre-flight the airplane. He mostly watched me and asked a few questions as to what I was looking for, and why. After I inspected the airplane we climbed inside. I made sure to take my time reading the checklist to make sure I didn't miss anything. I started the airplane, we tested the brakes and taxied for the runway. One thing Jay insisted on was that I taxied with a taxi diagram out...its actually in the PTS that you have to do this. I completed the runup and we took off on my cross country route. When we made it to my first checkpoint Jay confirmed that my expected time matched the actual time en route. Along the way to the second checkpoint he asked me to identify some landmarks and point them out on the map. Next was the diversion. Jay had me do a 180 and told me to get a heading, ETA and fuel burn to San Diego International Airport, he offered to take the controls while I figured this out...a pleasant surprise. With Jay on the controls I was able to take my time, and make sure my numbers were correct.
With the diversion complete it was time to get under the hood. I did some turns, some climbs and some descents. Next up was slow flight in a turn, a climb, and a descent. Steep turns to the left and right followed that. We then did an emergency descent which is new to the PTS. For this maneuver I pulled the throttle to idle, put in full flaps, and descended in a 30 degree back while keeping airspeed at the top of the white arc. When we got down to an altitude suitable for ground reference maneuvers I leveled out. Jay let me choose if I wanted to do turns around a pointor S-turns...I chose turns around a point, and they went okay. With that done we headed towards Ramona airport. It was then that Jay realized we didn't do unusual attitude recovery and had me put on the hood. These were pretty mild compared to what my CFI had put in through. Jay then had me do some more climbs and descents under the hood...bonus hood work I guess? Lucky me! I took off my hood finally and Jay asked me to find out where I was. I found what I thought was our location quite quickly, but it didn't seem right. After staring at my chart for a few minutes Jay asked me which way Ramona airport was and told me to turn to that direction... thankfully I got it right.
We entered the traffic pattern at Ramona and did a short field landing followed by a short field take off. Next was a soft field landing and takeoff. The third time around the traffic pattern Jay pulled my throttle to idle as I was abeam the numbers and told me my engine was out. I headed for final and slipped the airplane down, Jay told me to put in full flaps as I was about 200' above the runway, and then immediately told me to go around. He wanted to know why I wasn't using flaps, and I guess my thinking was that he wanted me to perform a slip...I didn't even think about the go around. He didn't mind and said that was one less thing I would have to do now. He told me we were done and to head back home.
I had a couple moments of terror on the way back to Carlsbad when I couldn't be positive I was headed in the right direction. The sun was setting and the sky a bit hazy. I thought I was heading in the right direction, but nerves had me second guessing myself. Eventually I could make out the airport and called the tower for landing clearance. The airport was quiet and approved me for a straight in approach. I made a normal landing and taxied back to the flight school. I passed the checkride. Jay headed inside while I secured the airplane. I couldn't believe I was done! I wanted to be so happy but it just didn't seem real yet. I met Jay inside and he debriefed me. He told me I had the best steep turns that he had seen on the private pilot checkride, but that my collision avoidance was bad. It turns out we had a misunderstanding in the airplane. Before maneuvers Jay would say "clear left" or "clear right", and I mistook this as him clearing the area for me, when in fact he was reminding me to clear the area. Besides that he said I did okay.
My DPE Jay was very thorough, but fair. If you ever take a checkride with him be prepared. You will have to do almost everything in the PTS, but you don't have to be perfect. I know I messed up here and there and I still passed. So be prepared, but don't be scared...you will be okay.
Almost a year after starting flying lessons and $10,000 later I am now a pilot.
