Checkride #1
Unbelievable as it sounds, I passed my PP SEL test! Gee only took me 116 hrs.
Actual, the main credit goes to my CFI, Gene Whitt, who put up with my complaining and whining. If you need to get you PP-SEL go see Gene. If he can get me through the Private, he can....After two weeks of prep (40 + hours of ground, flying and studying), the checkride was sort of anti-climactic. Last night I stayed up way too late and could not get to sleep. I had about 4 hours sleep before the test. To top it off, they had just worked on the plane yesterday and it had not yet been flown.
In my planning, I had a very detail flight plan from Concord to Pine Mt. Lake to Fresno. I had checkpoints very 15 miles or so, times to the seconds, step climbs, etc. I also had all the weight and balances for take off, at Pine Mt Lake, and at Fresno. Had the Standard DUATs weather brief ready to go with all winds factored into heading and times.
The examiner wanted to fly first and then to the oral. That was great with me since at 8 AM the wind would be less. We go to pre-flight and he watches me for a bit and then says he has to go to the bathroom. He comes back about 20 minutes later and we're off. While taxing I asking what type of landing to do and he says soft field and by the way we are diverting to Napa as soon as we are airborne. I take off with the best soft field I have ever done and climb within 2 knots of Vy.
As We turn on course, I compute and give him the ETA to Napa. Two minutes later there is a house on fire below us. We make a minor detour to fly over head and watch the fire crews work. We go to Napa I do emergency, short field, & slip landings and were off to go do ground ref. My landings were legal, but not pretty. He points me to a train track and tells me to do S turns. We do 3 and then he points to an intersection and tells me to turn around it. We has me put on the hood, tune CCR on the VOR, and climb to 3000. I climb to 2000 keeping speed right at Vy and VOR centered. At 2000 he says my plane and puts it into an unusual attitude. I straighten it out and we climb to 3000. He has me take the foggles off and we do a power on stall, a power off stall, and some steep turns. He says time to go home. I get the ATIS and we head back. He asks me to do an emergency descent to 1500. I do it a bit too quick and scare him. He tells me to do a soft field and we land. On the way back in he says my flying is OK, but my landings are "klutzy". He says I passed the hardest part.
After I tied up the plane he points to the board and tells me to do the Weight and Balance problems, take off calculations, fuel consumption, and diagram the fuel system. It takes me about 15 minutes. He pulls out the sectional and points to 4 or 5 things and has me tell him what they are. We do aero-medical,... questions. Radio out procedures..
After about an hour were done and he whips out his typewriter. All told the test took 4 hours. I really liked flying first. The flying was actually the least stressful part. My suggestions are to be prepared and try to get some sleep. The time will go by faster than you can imagine.
CHECKRIDE
I. Preliminaries:
I went down to the field 3x in 4 days to check the a/c and log. I didn't want to be surprised if "my plane" was pulled for annual or 100-hr, squawked, or anything. Ensured ARROW paperwork all in place.
The week/half prior to the checkride date, I made sure I scheduled myself for the same a/c. The FBO has a little over a dozen C-150/2s, each with their idiosyncrasies, equipment, and set up. I wanted to minimize any lapses in reaching for a control (adj or location) such as digital vs rotary comm, detent flaps vs the one with the one-one-thousand...flaps, inop HI, seat w/crank, the shoulder belt that chronically slips off the metal post, etc.
Went down to the FBO 2 hrs early. Went over charts, secured wx briefing, calc nav log, ensured all paperwork i order (8710 form, medical/student certif, photo ID, logbook, W&B calc for 235 lb DE, etc), grab hood from CFI's desk. Flipped through FAR/AIM and Gleim books. XC destination and waypoint info was given to me by DE 10 days prior. Ample time to plan and plot.
II. ORAL
DE asked for 8710 form and logbook. Spent about 10 minutes carefully scrutinizing required totals for flight time, XCs, night landings, dual, solo....
He then asked me to pull out the sectional chart and grilled me on the following, as well as vis a vis the planned XC:
Where are your checkpoints?
Why did you pick the checkpoints?
How will you ID the checkpoints using pilotage, dead reckoning, and radio nav?
ID obstructions on chart.
ID apts and differences between hard/other surface.
ID apts w/service.
ID apts restricted/private.
ID rwy lengths.
ID airspace at various apts.
What does Class E airspace mean? (IFR traffic, VFR minimums, and SVFR expected to be explained).
If ceiling is 500' at Class E, can you t/off or land?
What are SVFR minimums?
Who specifically would you call for SVFR?
What is significance of 30nm radius (points to Bravo 30nm veil)?
Is every a/c required to have Xpdr w/n 30nm veil?
What is planned ETE for XC?
How much fuel will you use?
How much fuel does your a/c hold?
What are VFR fuel minimums?
Where do you plan to refuel?
Reviewed W&B calculations.
How are center-of-gravity limits determined?
XC route takes you through MOA. Explain caveats.
Can students fly into Class C?
Can students fly into Class B? Explain fully.
Explain airspace indicated by fuzzy magenta and fuzzy blue.
What does flag on chart denote?
What does [27] indicate on chart next to Delta a/space?
Is this measured in AGL or MSL?
Recite terminal forecasts for XC destinations.
Any Airmets or Sigmets today? If so, what are they?
Highlight all significant NOTAMS along XC flight.
Would you (or not) fly XC today? (I said no, due to my personal limits, some IFR, fog, and low vis along route.)
What is hypoxia? What are indications of...?
Recite minimum equipment for VFR day/nite.
When is maintenance required for a/c....Xpdr, ELT, 100-hr, annual..?
If annual has been done, will this suffice for 100-hr?
If 100-hr not done, what are limits of a/c use?
What is definition of high-performance a/c?
As new PP, can you fly a C-172?
Who is responsible for ensuring that Annual is performed?
Who is responsible for determining if a/c is airworthy?
Where are a/c maintenance logs kept?
What is significance of temp 65, dew point 60?
What is Va of a/c?
What is reading of ASI if a/c is in a spin?
What is significance of density altitude? Recite causes and effects.
Low pressure winds revolve which way?
If you're flying with high density altitude, how does this affect your ASI?
Recite light gun signals.
What are differences in airspaces: restricted, warning, prohibited, MOA, Alpha, above refuges...
If DE wanted me to fly him to (x), can I be reimbursed?
If I'm flying to (x), can the cost of trip be split?
Would you fly PTS today? (yes)
III. PRACTICAL
Preflight of a/c...yacking at each step to explain not only what I was doing but why.
Queried on diff color/octane of fuel. What does our a/c take?
Review of AROW paperwork.
Review of maintenance sheet for a/c.
Preflight talk to DE who is now taking "...his first flight in airplane." To this, I included briefing on wx, what I was looking for during pre-flight, chair adj, harness un/latch and adj, door/window op, primary controls (my operation), their eyes needed for traffic, headset (PIC/ pax vs PIC/ATC communication), if airsick...
Normal takeoff. Start stopwatch. Sim FSS/open flight plan.
Queried on various traffic patterns used at BFI (Boeing Field).
Asked me to explain radio nav, eyeball of, and time clocked to first checkpoint. Within acceptable time tolerance?
Diverted me from XC leg and asked to track (x) VOR radial.
When would a pilot purposely track *away* from the VOR needle?
What is difference between PILOTAGE and DEAD RECKONING?
Using pilotage, now head towards (y) airport. How long before you will arrive over this field?
If lost what would you do?
What is Xpdr code for "lost?"
HOOD WORK -
While under hood, hold 2000' @ 200 degs.
Demonstrate straight and level flight.
Slow to 70 kias, 200 deg, and 2,500 MSL.
What primary instruments are used when performing this maneuver?
Hold 70 kias, descent to 2000, hold heading 200.
Return to normal cruise.
Maintain 2000', turn to 270.
Close eyes (as he rock n rolls). Open eyes and recover from
unusual attitude. (it was a spiral - approaching yellow arc).
Hood off.
Continue To Next Page