Almost got My Ticket Yesterday

On Apr 2, 11:22 pm, "CareBear" wrote:
First of all I have not posted/asked any questions of RAP and RAS since last
November. With all of the bickering, baiting, and other issues, I decided
not to participate. Please don't misinterpret what I am saying. I am not
pointing fingers or complaining about anyone in particular since several
members of this group have been involved in degrading the groups. These are
just my opinions. So much for that.....

I had my checkride yesterday and it went rather well. I was not successful
in getting my ticket since I busted the forward slip to a landing and soft
field landing. Everything else was ok. I plan to practice and complete the
requirements for the slip and soft field landing this week, thereby
acquiring my ticket. My main problem with the slip was not maintaining the
centerline during the actual slip. I will not make any excuses (the wind,
nervousness, etc.). When it's all said and done, it was on me to be
successful.

Although I did not get the ticket, I still feel good about the overall
outcome. It's interesting in that I felt my weakest area would be the oral
but this went well. I did have a couple of slips (no pun intended) during
the oral but quickly regrouped and gave the correct response. The oral
lasted about 2.5 hours. After reviewing my flight plan, weight and balance,
etc. we (the DPE and myself) took to the air. I had to do quite a number of
things such as slow flight, steep turns, power on and power off stalls.
Finally it was time for the dreaded diversion! I was actually pleased with
myself with the outcome. The diversion was somewhat better than I had
anticipated, especially since I did not land but did a go around. Once we
returned to airport, we discussed the overall checkride. Of course, this
also included the "well you didn't do too good on the slip and the soft
field landing" conversation. But still, I was pleased with what I had
accomplished. Now I am really looking forward to finishing this week,
weather and DPE availability permitting.!!!!

BTW, the xc flight plan was from 3A1 (Cullman AL) to 7A0 (Greensboro AL) and
finally KMGM (Montgomery Dannelly Field).

Now, I will resume lurking.

--
CareBear

You've got the right attitude about the your checkride!! Alot of
people (including me!) come away from a failed checkride depressed and
dejected. After all those hours, I felt like %#$@ that I couldn't
make it thru. But after I picked myself up by my belt loops and got
back in the plane, it was a piece of cake the next time. And it will
be for you also.

As others have noted, slips are one of the toughest manuevers to
master. You're on final and your eyes are moving up and down at warp
speed between the gauges to make sure you've got the right airspeed,
and the outside to watch the centerline. Putting the plane in that
"unnatural" configuration and keeping it there only makes it worse.
And if the wind is shifting or gusting, you then have to adjust the
amount of slip to compensate. All together, its a pretty tough flying
environment.

A few more landings with your instructor, and you'll have that little
piece of paper in your hand! And then it will get to the point that
you actually WISH for a windy/gusty day to get out there and practice
those crosswind landings in challenging conditions! Good luck!

--Jeff