Wow. I am whooped. It has been a long two days. I need to get this down while it is fresh though. If you don't want the gory details...I passed. There was one moment in the whole thing where I was literally seconds from disaster, I'll note that below.
The Day Before
Yesterday the weather was crud so the mock checkride was a no go. My instructor got me up long enough to do Slow Flight, Stalls, Steep Turns, and All landings. It all looked good.
Around 1830, I was just wrapping up my 8710 hours section before bed. My instructor and I had already checked the requirements were met so all I had to do......UT OH..NOOOooo.....Could it be? We missed that my night cross country of 3.1 was actually 2.8 dual and .3 solo, where my instructor got out at a controlled field for me to get 3 takeoffs and landings solo. The eve of the big day and I am .2 short on Night Instruction. I get a different instructor to meet me at the airport at 2130 and we do a few rounds in the patch. Home by 11. Asleep by midnight. Gotta be up at 5 to be back at the airport by 6 to get weather and finish up the flight planning. So much for a good nights' sleep.
Check Ride Day
0600, back at the field. Weather looks decent for the time being. OVC layers at 8-10k. However, the weather along my route to East Texas is supposed to crap out later. Local forecast at Waco called for afternoon rain and T-Storms. Not looking good. I finish my flight planning anyway. My instructor arrives and we decide 8-10k is still good and I should at least make the flight up. 3 of his other students have cancelled on this examiner now and he needs to have someone at least show.
1000 I have made the 28 mile trip North to PWG and meet the examiner right on time. I had heard from everyone that you could not ask for a nicer guy, and boy they were right. Just a really positive firendly person who managed to ease my nerves quickly while still staying with the business at hand.
Oral
We retired to a lounge and I produced all the neccesary paperwork. My personal paperwork was all neatly clipped into one folder. My Logbook had sticky notes with annotations of neccesary requirements and endorsements. The airplanes' info was all in a satchel. I had everything out the day prior and the schools mechanic gave me an hour tutorial on it all. Somehow today though, the most current airframe log was not in there. My blood pressur shot up as I fumbled around thinking it may be 28 miles away. The examiner took a look and found it in a small side zipper. Thank god.
Ok so everything looked good.
Next the examiner gave an overview of the day and broke into the oral. I am going to do a writeup of all the questions I can remember, but suffice to say it went pretty much how most have described previous orals. I had studied so hard that I was really nailing the questions.
He got to min equip list...
"No min equip list for the plane. There are 10 needed items for day VFR flight for this plane. If you need me to, I can recite them, but can I use the FAR to be sure for things like this?"
"Absolutely"
I whipped out my FAR, worn and covered with neatly placed page tabs for anything I might need. It is also highlighted in all shades of the rainbow. This impressed him and he said so.
The oral progressed and I was'nt missing a thing. In fact, there was really only one thing the whole hour and a half that got me....
"Tell me the emergency procedure if you see a discharge in the ammeter".
Dammit. I was mad at myself. I had studied Emergency procedures so I would not have to look them up. He must have sensed he got me because he immediately said,
"I am doing this for a reason. You can look this one up"
Chapter 3 of any flight manual I have ever known is Emergency Procedures. Turn to it and answered. He wanted to show how easy of a correction it usually is and that alot of new pilots miss that.
Finally, looked at the flight planning and maps. Of course, now comes all the Airspace, "What is this symbol", and lost procedures. I was on the ball.
And the final thing...
"Based on the weather, would you make this flight today"
"Nope"
"Good. I think we have the weather to get you through your checkride though"
The examiner said I did a fantastic job on the Oral. 10 minute break and meet out at the plane to start flying.
Confidence factor---High
The Flight
The examiner met me at the plane and I did a preflight, which I had forced 3 people to critique me on the day prior. He seemed largely disinterested and I even asked if I should talk out loud about what I was checking.
"Nope. Do your thing. I am not worried".
He was, however, a bit concerned over the weather. Beneath the 8-10k layer in the distance was a much lower layer of cumulus that had every intention of making its' presence known.
"This is not the ideal day for a checkride, but I think if we stay on track, we can get it done before it gets too bad".
I hopped in and fired the plane up. It was a long taxi through a cornfield to the runway. I had asked if he wanted me to keep the GPS off, mainly because I wanted to get it up to see the groundspeed; I like it better than the airspeed indicator for taxiing.
"You can bring up the nav screen, but i'll give you your choice: You can use it now or when I divert you."
I chose to use it at divert but got my speed indicator for the Taxi
We got to the runup. The old jalopy needed its' usual left mag blowout, and we were off on a Soft-Field takeoff, which I executed flawlessy; 10 feet off the ground in effect until flight speed.
I turned on course. The new cloud layer had set in around 4k so the examiner said amend cruise to 3500. 2 checkpoints in and he said divert.
We headed for a little 3000 footer with lots' of obstacles. I did a short field landing and takeoff. The cloud layer continued to drop. Flew off for S-Turns. In all sorts of bumpy, I pulled off the steep turns very well..perhaps the best of any maneuver. Then right into slow flight and into a power-off stall. Next he asked for a power-on stall.
"Make sure to do clearing turns for this".
"Crap! I forgot to do clearing turns for slow flight"
He didn't say anything. I did the clearing turns.
My mind started to think.....Ut oh..You didn't do clearing turns the first time.
This is the pre-emption for what became the closest to failing I would come...and it was damn close. In fact, it gets its' own heading
Power On Stalls are SIMPLE
So we are much lower than I have been in the past for a stall, but the cloud layer keeps dropping. The examiner asks for a power on stall and asks how I usually perform them.
"Power down and pitch for Vr, then full power to stall"
"Do this one at 2000 RPM"
Hah! I am getting off scott-free! I have practiced Power on stalls, full power, in turns, like crazy. I have no fear of them and have had no issues with any power-on stall...Until now.
I am determined to show a FULL stall. The plane stalls, nose starts to drop....NOPE not letting off the back pressure. The nose drops more and now to the right. I am coordinated but the wind helps drop me hard to the right. Stupid me cross controls the ailerons to the left instead of the rudder and WHAM! the plane is nose straight down and REALLY wanting to flip over to the left. Its' times like this that you leave reality and move into a sort of "slow motion on the TV" type world. Fractions of a second went by, but I clearly remember thinking several things....
"Boy that ground is close"
"I am going to spin this thing and fail my checkride"
"Hey this is kinda fun"
"Full opposite rudder, neutral aileron, brisk forward pressure."
So it was not the first thing I thought, but at least it was instinctual.
I recovered quickly. Stunned with greasy underwear, I looked over at my examiner: His arms were still crossed and he was smiling.
"That never happened before, but I bet you heard that."
"Yep. Were you in a spin?"
"Sorta, we did not actually make a full inverted rotation so it was a spin entry, or incipient"
The instructor went on to say he was extremely impressed that I recovered at that stage.
"Can I try that one more time?"
"Yes"
I repeated the procedure. As soon as the nose dropped, I recovered and completed a perfect performance of a power-on stall, as I had every time before that, except a few short sweaty minutes prior.
I was sure I bounced the ride after that fiasco.
Nerves still rattled, the foggles went on. We did some turns and then into unusual attitudes. I know you won't believe this, but I never practiced these. Down to the left...easy recovery. Up to the right and stall buzzer..Easy recovery!
Now I am feeling like I might be OK, but I could tell the stress of the whole thing was wearing me away from my "A" game.
"Take me 270 and keep 2000".
Now the weather has dropped more. I can see it out the corner of my eyes with the foggles on. It is bumpy as hell and I am focused on
270 2000
270 2000
270 2000
"Go ahead and take me to the Waco VOR".
Darn I need my map for that because it is not a VOR I know. Turning radio dials, tuning a VOR. HEY! He is trying to distract me! I'll be damned if he is!
270 2000
270 2000
270 2000
"Uh yeah. Go ahead and take me to the Waco VOR"
Huh? I got the VOR tune in. The needle is slowly moving right. Hey get back to staying focused!
270 2000
270 2000
"Ok you did the first part right"
CRAP! You gotta turn to the course you tuned in you knothead! I was so dang focused on that course I started to obliviate.
OK with that little faux paux out of the way and turned to the VOR, I am reliquished from intrument world.
Wow...it is looking crappy out.
"Lets' get back to PWG" He says.
I know the area so I turn right to it. Got about a 5 minute flight to the pattern.
I relax a little in what will be my only actual cruise phase and notice out of the corner of my eye he is checking off lots' of things. Nothing but checks. Is this good?
Finally on Final
Into PWG, ceilings dropping, light precip, a dark horizon coming our way, bumpy....
I did a soft-field landing quite well.
Slip to a landing. Apparently my instruction was a bit off: You DO NOT fly at pattern altitude to short final and slip down. Slips are for normal approach no flap landings NOT because you were not paying attention and got high. I wondered why he was looking at me funny as I flew through base to final at 1000AGL. I slipped down anway and landed, noting that I was confident I could make a normal landing or I would go around.
Final Landing - Do a NORMAL no flap landing, slip if you need to. He told me he had just watched me execute a flawless Slip, but wanted to see it in the right context.
Alrighty then....power back at the numbers, pitch for 70, 500 AGL on final. Slip to get down from there and keep approach speed. Nailed it.
And that was it. Thank god too because I was mentally drained and my shirt was soaking wet from the hot humid weather....I think it was the weather anyway
We taxied in........
And I got the handshake!
And now for the podium speech:
I'd like to thank everyone here at Jetcareers for the advice they have given or experiences they have shared that helped me prepare for this.
I'd also like to thank that really annoying guy by the last name of King, for scaring the study into me by watching his 2-DVD PPL Checkride course, and for the tabs in the FAR idea.
Finally, thanks for reading the novel if you got this far. Truly, I hope it helps someone down the road.
OK.....So 30 hours of logged "vacation" flying: Some XC trips with family and friends. Then, it is right into "Load's IFR Progress".
