Checkride for PPL

So, Phantom II – have you taken the checkride yet?

And, don’t forget the electrical failure transponder code…

Now that is just plain cruel :diablo: .

if you had an altinator failure how long will the battery last?

For having lived the situation: The battery will last until before you want to extend flaps 😉 And, don’t forget the electrical failure transponder code…

Oh, one more thing. I did fly on the day of the check ride at my home airport just to get the jitters out of the way and thudded each landing. I simply shrugged it off and greased each landing on the checkride holding centerline each time. I did not talk to anyone prior to the checkride for fear of folks giving conflicting views. I simply stuck to what I knew.

Man I’ve been studying this oral exam guide to help prepare me for my checkride, and I don’t think I’ll ever learn all this crap. I hate no knowing what the guy is going to ask me.

I don’t think I’ll ever get my PPL at this rate….

The DE’s first impression of you is your presentation. I had my log books tagged for ready reference. I had the aircraft’ logs tagged to show compliance etc as well. I had the money (cash) in an envelope clearly marked on the outside as “Examiner Fees”. Then I had my written test results next in my folder. The key was to convey that I was organized and prepared.

How did you do on your written. Any mistakes? That usually sets the tone for his line of questioning. Of course, I was nervous and whiffed on the very first question. But he simply shrugged it off to jitters, I nailed the rest and we were done in 10 mins. Then came the check ride. And I was sure to impress him, as others have stated so well before, that I was a safe pilot.

My DE was, and is, an unique guy. He is based about 50 miles from my home base and he told my CFI, if I could find my way there on time, I have passed the XC flying part. So, that’ what I had to do for that portion of the checkride. It was to a nontowered airport and he was listening to me on the unicom freq to get a feel for how I handled myself over the airwaves.

During the check ride, I did my left steep turn perfectly and rolled in to the right turn but did a poor job. So, I broke it off halfway and asked to reset myself and try again. He was fine with it. That was the only snafu on my part. But I was not flustered by it and that helped.

I like his style and so I then went back to him for my IFR rating too. I did not go to him for my AMEL because he expects you to fly his duchess (no counter rotating props).

Sorry to ramble on. I hope it helps in some small way. Email me for more details if you wish. I would be happy to talk to you. Where in the US are you located?

Don’t forget as well that the examiner is human, and he will take into account the fact that you’re nervous. He doesn’t want you to fail any more than you do.

Man I’ve been studying this oral exam guide to help prepare me for my checkride, and I don’t think I’ll ever learn all this crap. I hate no knowing what the guy is going to ask me.

I don’t think I’ll ever get my PPL at this rate….

You don’t have to know the oral exam guide word for word.. you do have to have a good understanding of the topics covered in it though. What you learned to pass the written test will obviously help. The main difference is that you can pass the written by memorizing the answers. The oral is designed to ensure that you actually do know and understand the information you need before being cut loose to fly as a private pilot. Also, bear in mind, that knowing all the ‘crap’ that you are studying may just save your life one day (and the lives of your passengers). Safe flying is all about knowledge, experience and attitude. As a freshly minted private pilot you won’t have much in the way of experience, so you must rely even more heavily on learned knowlege and a cautious attitude.

Keep plugging away at it. You will be supprised just how much you already know. A lot of the questions are just common sense. get someone to ask you questions from the book and see how you do. I think you will be pleasantly supprised.

Good luck.

All I can offer is my best wishes. The best of luck and I hope you pass. Keep us informed.
Mike

Phantom

Don’t stress mate, it really depends on how your examiner feels on the day, he may ask you 3 questions, he may ask you 10, I certainly didn’t answer all mine correctly, you will find that you wil be able to give constructive answers to most, as long as you don’t say anything pathetically miles out then you will be fine, make sure you read the POH of the plane your flying and know a few technical aspects, most questions I got asked were.

what’s the minimum amount of oil this plane should hold?
what should you do if you have no ampage output?
if you had an altinator failure how long will the battery last?
what type of engine has this plane got?
what type of elevator is on this plane?

All basic stuff really, just brush over your airplane technical books, and clue up on things in the POH and you will be fine, your instructor may not even ask questions like that, he may ask you a couple of MET questions, and again as long as you don’t say something like flying into CB’s is fine you will be fine.
Just relax, take your time to answer, don’t feel rushed into answering any questions.

I bet you do it 😉

Good luck mate

Dean

Man I’ve been studying this oral exam guide to help prepare me for my checkride, and I don’t think I’ll ever learn all this crap. I hate no knowing what the guy is going to ask me.

I don’t think I’ll ever get my PPL at this rate….

I must say, having learnt in the US, I think Paul Rix is spot on. Beautifully put.

Suggest that a zoom climb immediately after takeoff is not attempted….

Seriously though, have a ‘brain storm’ with some of your pilot buddies, and try to question each other on the various theory lessons. Best not to discuss the actual practical flying techniques though, as you will get too many variations in personal BS styles. That kind of info is best passed on from your instructor, and then practised with him/her inflight.

And don’t forget your lookout. I mean, REALLY look with your peepers during your pretend head movements. Your examiner will be most impressed if you spot potential conflicting traffic, and you do something about it.

Best of luck !!

Make sure you have checked the NOTAM’s before you go (& the examiner knows you have) and make sure your map is current. One guy at my local airfield had to redo his entire flight plan because the examiner saw his map was out of date.

Good luck!! 🙂

Most of this has been covered above, but here goes……..

Do your homework. The Oral test is very important. You are making your first impression with the examiner. It will be obvious to him/her if you know your stuff or not. If you don’t know the answer to a question then say so, but make an educated guess. Have all your flight planning ready before you get tothe airport (and that could mean that you had to get up very early to do your planning with the current weather). Do a manual flight log, and then back it up by using an online flight planner such as the one available with DUAT or the AOPA Real Time Flight Planner. Your manual plan should match the figures on the computer generated flight log pretty closely. When I did my Commercial checkride I did the manual flight log and backed it up with two different computer generated logs. The examiner will most probably teach you a thing or two. Look at it as a learning exercise. If you do well in the Oral then you have set the stage for a sucessful checkride.

Although Janie has a good point about flying just before the checkride, I would suggest the day before. That gives you all the time you need on the day to get your flight planning thoroughly prepared (which can be very time consuming if you cover all the bases).

Don’t be supprised if your flying goes to worms on the flight before the checkride.. that is not unusual (and happened to me). Just try to remember that your CFI would not have signed you off for the checkride if he/she did not think you were ready for it.

When you actually get to the flying part of the test, relax and take everything at a relaxed pace. Follow the checklist and don’t feel rushed. You will be supprised at how quickly the flight will go.

If you have a good instructor, you will more than likely be trained to a higher standard than the PTS requires.

Good luck!

Ask your instructor if he/she thinks you are ready. They will be wanting you to pass as well as it is a reflection on them.

If they are happy, then you have absolutely nothing to worry about. You do not need to question yourself. Hold your head high and go.

If they hesitate on answering the question, practice some more and some more and some more before you take the test.

I would make sure that I went flying just before the test or, at least have a small a gap as possible since the last time I flew. It will give you a chance to iron out any rough spots.

Good luck. Let us know how you get on.

I’ll echo what Melv said. 🙂

Be yourself, and don’t panic.

Above all, your examiner wants to see that you are safe. Mine told me after my skills test that he approaches each test with one question in his mind – “Would I be happy to let my family go flying with this pilot?”.

If you make mistakes, don’t worry. Just correct them, put them behind you, and carry on. I missed a turn point on my navigation section after letting a drift go unchecked, so instead of getting flustered, I orbitted, fixed my position, and set course on a new heading. I thought I’d failed, but my examiner told me afterwards that he was pleased to see how I dealt with the problem, and that I did it calmly and effectively.

My checkride to get my Private Pilot’s License is drawing near. I’m not sure of the exact date, but it will likely be within the next two weeks. Anyone have any advice on how to do best on it? I’m nervous. I don’t want to get all the way to that point, and then mess it up. Anyone who has gotten his/her PPL here in the States would be preferred, but anyone who has a license period I’d like to hear from.

OK.

If you can fly and you are worthy of the PPL there will be no problem.

If you have done the work then you will have no problem

No examiner gets paid more if they fail you

The best bit of advice I have heard in recent years came from Dan Griffiths, RAF and est pilot, and was said to him by one of his instructors.

Only ever try to impress yourself.

Good luck and fly well.