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Captain Levy’s Checkride Advice

2/11/2012

6 Comments

 
1. Relax and enjoy it. Nationwide, about 90% of applicants pass on the first try, so look around and see if you think you’re as good as 9 out of 10 other students. Also, your instructor must maintain a pass rate of at least 80% to get his ticket renewed, so he’s not going to send you up unless he’s pretty darn sure you’ll pass – otherwise, he has to find four other people to pass to make up for you, and that’s not always easy.

2. Go over with your instructor the logbooks of the aircraft you're going to use the day BEFORE the checkride to make sure it's all in order (annual, transponder checks, ELT ops and battery, 100-hour if rented, etc.). If the airplane's paper busts, so do you. Run a sample W&B, too – get the examiner’s weight when you make the appointment. If you weigh 200, and so does the examiner, don’t show up with a C-152 with full tanks and a 350 lb available cabin load – examiners can’t waive max gross weight limits.

3. Relax.

4. Rest up and get a good night's sleep the night before. Don't stay up "cramming."

5. Relax.

6. Read carefully the ENTIRE PTS including all the introductory material. Use the checklist in the front to make sure you take all the stuff you need -- papers and equipment. And the examiner’s fee UP FRONT (too much chance a disgruntled applicant will refuse to pay afterward) in the form demanded by the examiner is a “required document” from a practical, if not FAA, standpoint.

7. Relax.

8. You’re going to make a big mistake somewhere. The examiner knows this will happen, and it doesn’t have to end the ride. What’s important is not whether you make a mistake, but how you deal with it – whether you recover and move on without letting it destroy your flying. Figure out where you are now, how to get to where you want to be, and then do what it takes to get there. That will save your checkride today and your butt later on.

9. Relax.

10. You're going to make some minor mistakes. Correct them yourself in a timely manner "so the outcome of the maneuver is never seriously in doubt" and you'll be OK. If you start to go high on your first steep turn and start a correction as you approach 100 feet high but top out at 110 high while making a smooth correction back to the requested altitude, don't sweat -- nail the next one and you'll pass with "flying colors" (a naval term, actually). If you see the maneuver will exceed parameters and not be smoothly recoverable, tell the examiner and knock it off before you go outside those parameters, and then re-initiate. That shows great sense, if not great skill, and judgement is the most critical item on the checkride.

11. Relax.

12. During the oral, you don’t have to answer from memory anything you’d have time to look up in reality. You never need to memorize and know everything. Categorize material as:

a. Things you must memorize (i.e. emergency procedures, radio calls, airspace, etc).
b. Things you must know or have reasonable understanding of (i.e. interpreting weather codes, non-critical regs).
c. Things you know about but can look up and will have time to look up on the ground.

(Thanks to Mark Bourdeaux for this categorization.) So if the examiner asks you about currency, it’s OK to open the FAR book to 61.56 and 61.57 and explain them to him. But make sure you know where the answer is without reading the whole FAR/AIM cover-to-cover. On the other hand, for stuff you’d have to know RIGHT NOW (e.g., best glide speed for engine failure, etc.), you’d best not stumble or stutter – know that stuff cold. Also, remember that the examiner will use the areas your knowledge test report says you missed as focus points in the oral, so study them extra thoroughly.

13. Relax.

14. Avoid this conversation:
Examiner - Q: Do you have a pencil?
Applicant - A: I have a #2, a mechanical, a red one...
Examiner - Q: Do you have a pencil?
Applicant - A: I also have an assortment of pens, and some highlighters...
Examiner - Q: Do you have a pencil?
Applicant - A: Yes.
Examiner - Thank you.
One of the hardest things to do when you’re nervous and pumped up is to shut up and answer the question. I've watched people talk themselves into a corner by incorrectly answering a question that was never asked, or by adding an incorrect appendix to the correct answer to the question that was. If the examiner wants more, he'll tell you.

15. Relax

16. Some questions are meant simply to test your knowledge, not your skill, even if they sound otherwise. If the examiner asks how far below the cloud deck you are, he is checking to see if you know the answer is “at least 500 feet,” not how good your depth perception is. He can’t tell any better than you can, and the only way to be sure is to climb up and see when you hit the bases, which for sure he won’t let you do.

17. Relax

18. Remember the first rule of Italian driving: "What's behind me is not important." Don't worry about how you did the last maneuver or question. If you didn't do it well enough, the examiner must notify you and terminate the checkride. If you are on the next one, forget the last one because it was good enough to pass. Focus on doing that next maneuver or answering the next question the best you can, because while it can still determine whether you pass or fail, the last one can’t anymore. If you get back to the office and he hasn't said you failed, smile to your friends as you walk in because you just passed.

19. Relax and enjoy your new license.

6 Comments
Cal Hughes
3/31/2012 04:20:20 am

What if the DPE and applicant are having communication problems and the applicant terminates the test? Is this a fail or is something different supposed to happen?

Reply
Chris Anderson
3/31/2012 07:25:46 am

Hi Cal,

The answer depends on what you mean by "communication problems". If english is not the applicants primary language and that is the reason for the communication problems, the DPE should stop the test and notify the FSDO. That's the FAA policy. It's kind of up to the DPE on how he stops the test. If the applicant is not meeting the requirements of the PTS a Notice of Disapproval should be issued. I think a Letter of Discontinuance could be used, but it would depend on the situation.

I have had foreign applicants try to pull the "I do not understand your question" stuff. I'll restate the question a different way. If this happens too many times, I'll remind them of the English Profficiency requirement and that usually stops that game.

I've heard other "communication problems" with DPEs and applicants where the two of them aren't getting along. This is a personal conflict and the test should be stopped. If the applicant doesn't feel like he/she isn't getting treated fairly, I would recommend the applicant stop the test (which the applicant can do at anytime) and request a Letter of Discontinuance. I would also recommend the applicant notify the local FSDO.

Hope that helps!

Chris

Reply
Cal
4/1/2012 10:40:06 am

Chris,

Great answers.  Unfortunately, my situation was the last option you wrote about. 

I terminated the oral exam portion and added for a letter of discontiniouance.  The DPE disappeared to use a PC. He returned and presented me with a letter denying my acceptance, basically stating that I had failed the oral. When I asked him about the letter he said to call the FAA. 

 Could you please point me toward the appropriate references?  I want to know my rights before calling the FSDO. 

Reply
Chris Anderson
4/1/2012 11:44:24 pm

The reference you are looking for is the FAA order 8900.2. You can find it at www.faa.gov. Or Google it. Good Luck!

Reply
Berte Edwards link
6/22/2012 11:23:49 pm

Is there a way to search blogs on Weebly?

Reply
Chris
6/23/2012 08:45:11 am

Not that I'm aware of.

Reply



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