"Tom" wrote in message
...
Hi guys. I've been doing my training, took the written yesterday and
have my checkride in 2 weeks.

Couple of questions.

1) The tolerance for MDAs on the test is +100/-0. The natural response
to this is of course to target the altitude MDA+50ft, giving 50ft
buffer in either direction.

My question is this: how do you manage this on the checkride? If the
real MDA is 460, so your MDA+50 is 510, do you say "1000 for 460...900
for 460...800 for 460" etc? You can't really say 510 can you, as the D/
E might think you have the wrong MDA. But if I say 460 I tend to go
down to 460 - and then it's all too easy to accidentally go down to
459 and that's a bust.

Thoughts on how to manage this? For real life it's easy - just raise
the MDA 50ft and know you have a 50ft buffer but no more. But for the
checkride?

2) Any other checkride gotchas or tips people have for me would be
super-useful.

By the way I'm talking about a real checkride, not a simulated one.

I suggest you train and are able to consistently meet ATP standards which
are +50/-0. That way on your checkride you will have the confidence to sail
through the checkride, not just pass with minimum standards.

I'm not a big gadget guy, but sporty's sells various reminder bugs that
affix to the altimeter. The suction cup ones are cheap, but I've had them
fall off during flight and roll back under the seat. Another cheap method
is just to go to an office supply and get a pack of stick on signature
pointers which work great. You can easily take them off and reapply as
needed and they work equally when targetting an assigned altitude, which is
the most frequent deviation when flying IFR after your checkride.