Final stages of training and Check ride question

Personally, I would break them up and treat them equally with respect. Best of luck!

Mark

 

I did my oral and practical skills test (the flying) on the same day.

The oral test was about 2 hours long. It is "open book" but that doesn't help much because you'd have to know where in the books to look up the answer quickly.

Make sure you get familiar with your plane's maintenance logs. Put post-it tabs on the pages where the most recent required checks were done, e.g. the last time the altimeter was inspected and tested. My examiner wanted me to show him how I knew this airplane was legally in compliance with all of its required inspections.

The better you answer the questions in each topic area, the fewer questions the examiner will ask. So, it pays to be well prepared. It felt great when the examiner finally said "okay, enough questions, let's go fly".

The flying test took another couple of hours. He had me execute pretty much every maneuver and type of landing or take-off. There was almost no time in between each request. We went from demonstrating steep turns, to slow flight, to stalls, to emergency descent, to turns around a point, etc., all one right after another.

Try to enjoy it. Typically your instructor won't let you schedule the test unless they believe you're ready. Good luck!
.

 

Same day. Almost unheard of not to do it that way and I can assure you the examiner will want to do it that way..

Mostly orals are about 45 minutes if you show a firm grasp of the material.

They last longer if you stumble a lot. Don't expound on an answer. Treat it like a deposition.

Good luck!

 

First off, Relax. Don't get worked up thinking too much about what he may ask just know your stuff so you're as ready as you can be. Know your weight and balance, know your V speeds and distances for takeoffs and landings, know where to find them and for pete's sake use the checklist. Know the adiabatic lapse rate and all that stuff, sectionals, navigation.

For the flying part just think things out the day before and make everything procedural which you should be anyway. Make good habits and procedures and fly like a textbook for the most part but learn to "feel" what the plane is doing in any given situation so you respond accordingly and smoothly.

You can fly the numbers on approach for instance but you gotta be able to feel speed changes and pick up on attitude changes quickly so you can adjust seamlessly. Anticipate in your daily flying these things and practice them even after you get your license rather than just going somewhere boring holes in the sky. Every flight should teach you something or be a lesson to yourself.

There's always something you can think up to practice enroute that will make you a better pilot. Don't forget to relax, tension and nerves cause mistakes. Read back tower instructions rather than just saying "Wilco", they like that attention to detail and don't forget to fly the plane. Good luck.

 

Very good advice! The relax part is most important. It's not the end of the world. Think about what you have to do and put it together. If you have to go again, it isn't a catastrophe. Looking back on my ride I was hyped and tense but after we got things going I just did what I was taught. It was easy compared to what you have to do but then you are better trained and probably a lot smarter.

 

take both at the same time ( day )...

the oral should be straight forward stuff that you call upon when flying, it's about common sense flying, what if's, understandingof proper procedures... should you encounter a situation or issue, there shouldn't be any obscure questions... it's about having a good grasp of flying and being safe... as has been said, it's about showing that you are safe to fly and not a nut job... you should enjoy the check ride ( if you are confident in your abilities )

 

Firstly, good luck! I'm sure you'll do just fine.

Question; My understanding is the US license doesn't require you to put it into and thence recover from a spin. The UK version does?

[Dunno if true, but I was once told it was because too many folk quit when they experienced a spin, so "they" dropped the requirement.]

Cheers,
Ian

 

The folks who won't receive spin training (or don't want to) will have a lot of fun when they get into an inadvertent stall and enter a spin and don't know how to get out of it. We are training drivers not pilots.

 

Indeed. Roger that.

So, for a US PPL spin recovery is not a part of the test?

In the UK (Europe?) it is?

Cheers,
Ian

 

Don't know why, but yes, spin recovery is no longer part of the check ride. I remember the requirement was dropped while I was taking lessons. Regardless of requirements, my instructor was a hard ass, we did plenty of spins....for good reason.


As to the OP, do them both on the same day. I don't think I was given an option to do them separately. But, as others have said, calm down and relax. It's not that bad. You either know your stuff or you don't. If you do, you'll be fine.


Mark

 

spin training is good reason to train in a C-152... spin training in a 152 is... if all fails...
close the eyes and let go... it will take care of itself... recover, get some more altitude and repeat until spin recovery becomes second nature... :=)

 

And then Piper created the Tomahawk and a new syllabus ....close the eyes, let go...and pray

 

I did mine same day. Your going to be nervous, and the DE's know it. The good ones will try to make it as relaxing as possible. While there is lots of technical material to cover, don't forget about the big picture. They have about 3-4 hours to determine whether or not your going to exercise good judgment and be safe. We make mistakes every flight, it's inevitable. It's how we catch the errors, correct them, and move on that make us better. Last but not least, always have a plan B, C, D, etc...you won't be sorry when the s**t hits the fan. Good luck D- You'll be just fine.

 

That's what I was thinking. Never heard of a two day checkride.

 

lmao...

also my training bird. There is alot of praying that takes place in a Tomahawk.

"please don't let the wings fall off"

"please let my fuel calculations be correct" since the fuel gauges on the ones I flew are worthless

"please let the doors stay shut the entire flight"

"please let the yoke input do something this year"

Difficult to believe the thing is so light... it flies like a wet hippo. Learn to fly that and you will never be caught with your pants down in another aircraft.

Justin

 

The Piper Traumahawk...

Flexi Flyer wings.

 

Damian - Glad you're at the proverbial doorstep to finally getting your license! You're basically there. A lot of excellent advice herein which probably covers every aspect of what you will experience. Like others here I've never heard of splitting the oral and practical into separate days unless the weather were to dramatically change while you were doing the oral. I did mine in one day - about four to five hours total for everything.

There were really no surprises. I think one other person mentioned that things happen quickly. You'll have to know the maneuvers down pat since you'll be doing them one after the other. We basically spent 30 minutes in the same spot going through all the maneuvers and emergency procedures. "React to a flock of birds coming right at you now!" I loved that one ... ha ha.

It's a nerve wracking process but only because of the pressure you place on yourself. You've reached this point for a reason. You know (and have performed) everything you need to know and perform for the test. It's just a matter of doing them in front of a stranger. Once you pass (and you will) it will feel like the biggest weight has been lifted off your shoulders! I look forward to our lunch in Camarillo (or elsewhere) in the very near future!

Best of luck my friend!!

 

First off Damian ... the burger is on me! . Funny thing is my examiner never asked for a no flaps landing. Had to do a short field landing, a cross wind landing, and slip the plane sideways on descent to slow it down. But no request for a no flaps landing. Nevertheless .. best to be prepared! And yes ... the long runway would be better but certainly not necessary. In a way (unless the short runway is too short) I'd almost stick with the short runway that you're used to in terms of perspective. Sometimes things look a bit different when your on the long runways since they are usually considerably wider in addition to being longer. It's an added change of perspective you don't need when trying to nail your landing. Once again this is assuming that your short runway isn't TOO short! . Keep me posted! I enjoy your progress updates!

 

I would like to add some comments but my experience in this situation is old and much different than yours. I was thinking that flaps should have no requirement in making a landing on a short or long runway as long as you slow the airplane down and slip it to shorten your landing if you are faced with a really short space. I realize that my time was too long ago to be valid but I was mentally going through the drill. I know that you will do well! Good luck.

 

I think of a check ride as a play (not too dramatic or comedic ). You have rehearsed and now it's opening night. Try not to improvise, just follow the script.

When you make a mistake, and you will, put it behind you. Even if it was a "bust" in your mind, keep going. The examiner looks at the entire picture.

Most of all, have fun. You are flying an airplane and that's better than doing anything else.

Hint: If you find out through the grapevine some of the Examiner's pet questions and they are obscure or outside the general private pilot's knowledge, do not spout out the answer when asked. If you do the examiner will know you have been primed. He might up the difficulty of the questioning a bit. Let him or her teach you something.

Example: Examiner asks "What was Bernoulli's first name?" Don't say "Who?" and don't say "Daniel"

Good luck,

Dave