Instrument Checkride on May 17th

"Wizard of Draws" wrote in message
news:BCC0447A.E18F%jeffbREMOVE@REMOVEwizardofdraws .com...
On 5/5/04 10:11 PM, in article z9hmc.12056$k24.7196@fed1read01, "BTIZ"
wrote:

well... lets see... you must take your oral's differently than we do,
FAR/AIM, POH, Aircraft Logs, Weather charts, and weather reference
material.

More than one DE has always asked the stumper question... just to see if
you
know how to look something up.

BT


Probably a good deal of it is that my flight school has a very good idea
of
what the DE wants to see and what info he's likely to ask. 90% of my
private
oral seemed to come from the ASA prep book and the rest were questions
that
my instructor and I had prepped for.

So your flight school just schedules with someone they know will pass just
about anyone they send his/her way. That is nice to know. I'll make sure
to stay away from your airspace.


I fail to see the reasoning behind demonstrating my FAR/AIM research
skills,
as it pertains to my ability to fly safely. I see that it is recommended
to
bring the book to the ride, but since I've had no need to crack open the
thing in my last 4 years of flying, I don't see the point. I think a DE
should test the real world, not abstract FAA mumbo jumbo.

Um, that is a scary attitude. So how do you learn? You just let other
people tell you the regulations? You never look them up yourself? This is
quite enlightening.

--
Jeff 'The Wizard of Draws' Bucchino
Cartoons with a Touch of Magic�
www.wizardofdraws.com
www.cartoonclipart.com

it's the abstract that sometimes will get you into trouble... when you are
cited for a violation.. even though your practical flying was perfect..

BT

"Wizard of Draws" wrote in message
news:BCC0447A.E18F%jeffbREMOVE@REMOVEwizardofdraws .com...
On 5/5/04 10:11 PM, in article z9hmc.12056$k24.7196@fed1read01, "BTIZ"
wrote:

well... lets see... you must take your oral's differently than we do,
FAR/AIM, POH, Aircraft Logs, Weather charts, and weather reference
material.

More than one DE has always asked the stumper question... just to see if
you
know how to look something up.

BT


Probably a good deal of it is that my flight school has a very good idea
of
what the DE wants to see and what info he's likely to ask. 90% of my
private
oral seemed to come from the ASA prep book and the rest were questions
that
my instructor and I had prepped for.

I fail to see the reasoning behind demonstrating my FAR/AIM research
skills,
as it pertains to my ability to fly safely. I see that it is recommended
to
bring the book to the ride, but since I've had no need to crack open the
thing in my last 4 years of flying, I don't see the point. I think a DE
should test the real world, not abstract FAA mumbo jumbo.
--
Jeff 'The Wizard of Draws' Bucchino
Cartoons with a Touch of Magic�
www.wizardofdraws.com
www.cartoonclipart.com

I'll only be taking the essentials and what's been planted
in my brain up to that time. No FAR/AIM or anything of that sort. It wasn't
needed during my private oral and I don't see the sense in the DE digging to
the point that you have to feel like you need to drag along an encyclopedia.

Make sure that you review the Practical Test Standards, in particular the
Applicant's Practical Test Checklist. In the Instrument Rating PTS
(http://av-info.faa.gov/data/practica...-s-8081-4d.pdf) this
includes:

ACCEPTABLE AIRCRAFT
View-limiting device
Aircraft Documents: Airworthiness Certificate
Registration Certificate
Rating Limitations
Aircraft Maintenance Records: Airworthiness Inspections

PERSONAL EQUIPMENT
Current Aeronautical Charts
Computer and Plotter
Flight Plan Form
Flight Logs
**** Current AIM ****

PERSONAL RECORDS
Identification - Photo/Signature ID
Pilot Certificate
Medical Certificate
Completed FAA Form 8710-1, Application for an Airman Certificate and/or Rating
Airman Knowledge Test Report
Logbook with Instructor's Endorsement
Notice of Disapproval (if applicable)
Approved School Graduation Certificate (if applicable)
Examiner's Fee (if applicable)

"Wizard of Draws" wrote in message
news:BCBF15CA.E112%jeffbREMOVE@REMOVEwizardofdraws .com...
On 5/5/04 9:13 PM, in article gjgmc.12049$k24.2313@fed1read01, "BTIZ"
wrote:

a 100 on the written???

well.. the examiner knows no body is perfect.. so he's going try to find
out
what you don't know.. don't worry.. they always find something.. and it
should be no big deal... just don't dig a hole and try to bluff your way
out
of something..

study up, take your reference library with you.. and you'll do fine..

BT


I don't understand taking a reference library with you to a checkride.
I'll
be scheduling my IFR ride this month if I wasn't so busy. But when it does
happen (in June), I'll only be taking the essentials and what's been
planted
in my brain up to that time. No FAR/AIM or anything of that sort. It
wasn't
needed during my private oral and I don't see the sense in the DE digging
to
the point that you have to feel like you need to drag along an
encyclopedia.

You didn't take the AIM or FARs with you? Yikes - The DEs I know would not
have let that go. So when you don't know something you just shrug your
shoulders and have no way of saying "I can look it up?"


If you scored 100, there should be no question that you studied and are
able
to pass the oral easily. A few questions on each topic should be
sufficient
without the DE trying to find something, for God's sake, anything! just to
show you that you don't know it all.

That is horse doodie. Getting a 100 on the knowledge tests is not that hard
and you can do it and still know very little about instrument flying.

--
Jeff 'The Wizard of Draws' Bucchino
Cartoons with a Touch of Magic�
www.wizardofdraws.com
www.cartoonclipart.com

Thanks for the feedback guys, but after a crappy day of flying today I
think I'm going to postpone. We went up yesterday to do steep turns
and partial panel unusual attitudes, which weren't bad. Today the
plan was to fly to Sussex (FWN) and Lincoln Park (N07) for GPS
approaches. But for some reason on the final approach course into
Sussex, I couldn't hold the CDI on the GPS because I never found a
good reference heading and I just watched it go side to side,
something which is unusual for me. I also botched all of my calls
over the CTAF. My instructor asked what the problem was and whether I
was scanning the CDI, at which point I said let's go back. I took off
the foogles and flew back visually, landed, and packed it in. On the
ground he asked what was wrong and I told him I was going to cancel
the checkride. He couldn't understand what went wrong as my flying
has been very consistent and good lately. Maybe it was the idea of
taking the checkride and possibly failing that has me distracted.
Maybe it's the idea of getting out there with the rating and flying by
myself. Oh well, I would probably stop altogether if I didn't care
about spending all the money with nothing to show.

Dave

(David B. Cole) wrote in message om...
On Saturday my instructor and I flew to Stewart International in
Newburg, NY for a few approaches. The plan was to fly out and do the
VOR -27 partial panel a couple of times, followed by an ILS. After
that we planned to fly to 4N1, Greenwood Lake, before returning to
CDW. Partial panel holding had been my one sticking point. We flew the
entire trip from CDW to the Kingston VOR, about 40 miles, partial
panel. After reaching Kingston I entered the procedure turn and flew
the approach. After reaching the MAP and flying the missed, my
instructor informed the controller that we would be flying to 4N1
instead of shooting any additional approaches.

His comment to me was that I couldn't have done a better job and
although I was exhausted, I was pleased. We flew to Greenwood Lake for
a VOR approach there before heading back to CDW for a LOC approach to
Rwy 22. Once we were back on the ground my instructor informed me that
he wanted me to call the examiner and schedule the checkride, which I
scheduled for May 17. Now I have to prepare for the oral, which I'm
not really worried about since I think I have a good grasp on this
stuff. Hopefully the 100 on the written will help. Now I just have to
make sure I don't make too many mistakes on the practical so that I
don't have to do it twice. Thanks everyone for all the support.

Cecil: I'll be thinking about you as I prepare.

Dave

In article ,
(David B. Cole) wrote:

Thanks for the feedback guys, but after a crappy day of flying today I
think I'm going to postpone. We went up yesterday to do steep turns
and partial panel unusual attitudes, which weren't bad. Today the
plan was to fly to Sussex (FWN) and Lincoln Park (N07) for GPS
approaches. But for some reason on the final approach course into
Sussex, I couldn't hold the CDI on the GPS because I never found a
good reference heading and I just watched it go side to side,
something which is unusual for me. I also botched all of my calls
over the CTAF. My instructor asked what the problem was and whether I
was scanning the CDI, at which point I said let's go back. I took off
the foogles and flew back visually, landed, and packed it in. On the
ground he asked what was wrong and I told him I was going to cancel
the checkride. He couldn't understand what went wrong as my flying
has been very consistent and good lately. Maybe it was the idea of
taking the checkride and possibly failing that has me distracted.
Maybe it's the idea of getting out there with the rating and flying by
myself. Oh well, I would probably stop altogether if I didn't care
about spending all the money with nothing to show.

David,

Don't get too worked up over this. Sometimes you just have a crappy
day. It happens to everyone. Maybe all you need to do now is take a
few days off (just enough to give your brain a rest but not so long that
your skills start to erode), then get back in the saddle.

In article ,
David B. Cole wrote:
Thanks for the feedback guys, but after a crappy day of flying today I
think I'm going to postpone.

Heh, after the first post about a great day of flying I was going to say
how that happened to me and then because of the time left before the
checkride we flew again and I flew horribly. Real confidence builder. ;-)

--
Ben Jackson

http://www.ben.com/

David B. Cole wrote:

Thanks for the feedback guys, but after a crappy day of flying today I
think I'm going to postpone.

Give yourself another chance before you postpone.

Some people in these newsgroups might claim that their flying is perfect and
always has been, but many of the rest of us have gone through exactly the
same thing that you just went through: it happened to me the day before my
first solo, again during my first flubbed pre-PPL practice flight test, and
again during my first flubbed pre-IFR practice flight test, in every case
because of nerves and shaken confidence.

You're probably about to make a similar breakthrough -- in one or two
flights your confidence will come back, everything will seem easier than it
ever was before, and you'll be happy that you didn't postpone or give up.
I'm sure that your instructor has seen this pattern before.


All the best,


David

David B. Cole wrote:

Today the
plan was to fly to Sussex (FWN) and Lincoln Park (N07) for GPS
approaches.

I don't think you realize just how difficult this is. There's something
less than zero setup time between Caldwell and those airports. After my
rating, I used them to exercize the speed with which I could go from zero
to completely briefed and set up approach.

The first time I did it, I think I was finally set up as I was taxiing back
to depart Sussex.

Besides, one bad day and you'll ditch the test? The test itself isn't so
strict.

- Andrew

Andrew,

Well, we went up today and performed the GPS Rwy 3 into Sussex, GPS 19
into Lincoln Park, and NBD-GPS Rwy 22 back into Caldwell and
everything went well. I was determined to redeem myself after my
performance last week. It's amazing how much influence your mindset
has on flying, how it changes day to day, and how small things that
aren't even at the top of your mind can impact you. But today I was
determined to fly the way I knew I could and walk away with a sense of
accomplishment. I think Stanley only made two or three minor comments
once we were back on the ground. See you at MAPA tomorrow. And to
everyone else, thanks for the encouragement

Dave