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First of all I want to say thank you to all who have offered their support. The "good lucks" are duely noted...

Well I did the final flight (VFR) today and .. well.. took full advantage of the "three strike rule".. here's how it went..

Soft field take off, good, got a 4; which in DCA tems is the best you can get

Slow flight, all went well, what was commented on was I needed to be a bit slower as.. the stall horn was going off.. but I could have been slower

Power on/off stalls were fine, no probs there

Cross Controlled Stall (strike one), there is no procedure in the standz manual for this one in the 72.. so I gave it a shot.. trying to recall what I was taught in CFI; kicked in some rudder, turned and cross controled the ailerons. What struck me out was I did not put in 30 degrees of bank which is the procedure for that maneuver which, well, I know now.. so I re-did after it was demonstrated to me and that went fine

Secondary/elevator trim stalls were fine

Accelerated Stall.. I did it exactly as the standz manual stated to do, was within PTS, passed it, then he demo'd it for me to show me how it "should be done".. ??

Steep Turns (strike two). I briefed 95 knots, but somewhere in the midst of setting the airplane up I started the maneuver at 90 kts. It was fine, but the strike was a result of "if I had briefed 90, okay.. but I briefed 95" so I had to redo them, starting the maneuver at 95 instead of 90.

Emergency approach to landing, big mis-communication here.. almost busted me.. here is how it went: pulled my engine.. found an airport I could make it to out near Lake Apopka..Bob White i think was the one, E/W paved runway.. on final I asked "do you want me to continue on down," We were about 800 Indicated (I have been told that some examiners will have you land at an airport out of an emergency descent to see if you could actually make it). His response was.. "continue, to see if you make it, go around if you need to." I took that as.. keep going down.. if it looks like you won't make it go around. Procedurally, we are required to go around at 500 AGL but I passed it and continued on. He abruptly said "my flight controls" and "what altitude do we go around at?" I said 500 AGL, he said why didn't you go around? I repeated what was said above and the mis-communication that had occured and that I was under the impression that I was to continue and go around if I don't make it. SO I had to do it again, and of course, I went around this time no question. He gave that one to me due to the lack of communication, which I thought was fair.

Soft-field landing.. a bit firm, I did keep the nose wheel off the ground, got carb heat off, he said that he would accept that.

Short-Field landing.. (strike three) "since your last landing was a bit firm and you have two strikes, this next landing has to be right on the money." So I came around, got my aiming point, kept my speed up a bit, (insted of 61 I used 65 due to the strong wind and small gusts).. FLOAT.. touch down. I asked "how long was I?" He said it was right on the edge and that he was going to recommend another flight which would consist of a short-field landing. He said although it was within the 100 feet, due to the cumulative items, I suppose the firm soft field didn't help, that I would need to do a remedial flight consisting of short field landings with a stage instructor and go back up for one more landing with a standz instructor. Something about that word "remedial" makes ones stomach sink, ya know, you kindof feel like you should be a window licker on the short school bus.

My opinion, I feel like it was fair. The only complaint I have is the lack of procedures in the Standz manual for a cross controlled stall. That may have saved me a strike. Yes, I should have looked in the 52 or Arrow standz manual but I wasn't sure if the procedure was the same.. in "airline terms".. the procedure for a 727 is probably not the same as that of an MD-80. I did ask before the flight and he stated "I will demonstrate them for you." I took that as because we have not published a procedure for you, I will show you the procedure. When when we got out to the practice area he stated I, the candadate, would demonstrate one first, then he would demo one. So I winged it and got a strike. I made the airplne stall, but I did not get the full 30 degrees bank that is required for the maneuver. If that would have been the striking point that broke me I would probably have a lot more to say about it, but it was not, the examiner was fair as I did boch up my landings and the soft field was not very soft.. so.. I will try again.

This flight re-enforced:

1. The degree of difficulty in this course. From the test material to who is going to Houston. I mean, yes, I know the final test could cover anything from the entire aim, ops manual, verbatum checklists, to the handouts/lectures we were given in class, but a tad more communication and feedback between the Admin and the candadates would be helpful.

2. Communication in the cockpit is key.

3. Communication on the ground (pre-flight) is key.

4. It re-enforces my short field landings and I certainly don't see any problem with that.