The Check Ride

The weather hasn't been good. While that's bad for all students it's particularly difficult for students nearing the end of their training. These students need to keep a particularly sharp edge and cancellations allow some rust to set in.  Last week we canceled once but did a Mock Check Ride stressing the Oral Exam. This week we canceled Tuesday, canceled Thursday and flew early Friday before the "reverse flow" thunderstorms hit. We practiced a few maneuvers and got a solid landing in. Saturday we finished the preflight and weather briefing and waited for the mist to dissipate delaying our 8:00 AM take off. We called the Designated Pilot Examiner (DPE) to let him know we would wait for VFR then be on our way.

It was less than an hour's flight up to Marion County. Low clouds along the way kept us at 1500' and we made a few course corrections to avoid the virga. There was some traffic in the pattern already as we listened on CTAF. Bruce made a normal pattern entry and a nice landing on RWY23. Troy was waiting at the FBO as we taxied up. Bruce secured the airplane and I shook his hand, wished him luck as he exited the airplane. The start of another adventure.

Troy toured us through the small building then gathered the necessary paperwork and talked with us as he pecked away at the computer. He explained the process then invited me to wait in the Pilot's Lounge as he closed the door behind me. The Oral Exam started at 9:00 AM.

As I waited alone in the lounge I thought about what we had done together. He had some prior time in a Cessna but we essentially started from scratch. An overview of my syllabus is:

1. Introduction/high work. Ground procedures. Basics of flight, slow flight and stalls, steep turns.
2. Low work. Ground reference maneuvers
3. Landing pattern. Circuits and emergencies. Ground school complete, Knowledge test taken
4. Solo
5. Cross Country. Planning, diversions, soft field, short field techniques. More emergencies
6. Night Flight. Even for Light Sport guys, this is an important awareness.
7. Final requirements. Mock Check Ride flight(s).
8. Check Ride

They came out of the room at 10:30 AM. Thumbs up. The clouds were rolling in. Bruce did a weather check, it was still VFR. Troy was willing to go. They went out to preflight Sally. For me waiting in the lounge, it took forever. The engine started at 10:50 AM.

The weather channel was on TV. The flight home could be interesting. Outside the broken clouds were building into monsters. It was hot. It was humid. I was sure that Bruce was roasting. Finally, I could see Sally in the pattern. I couldn't see the runway but they obviously did a go-around. Was that good or bad? I waited. A long wait and they taxied back in. Engine shut down at 12:10 PM.

The debrief was concise. Bruce had done well. I asked the new Aviator to check the weather and asked Troy for feedback. Bruce had no weakness with the oral. He mentioned two things that I could stress in my syllabus:

1. S-turns: Bruce was rusty but did well once he got set up. I should review all PTS information on the low work (my #2) before the check-ride.
2. Short Field Takeoff (my #5): He wanted to see the transition from ground effect to Vx to Vy more clearly.

I can do that.

We all agreed that we should be having fun doing this. It is hard work, expensive, and on days like this very stressful. But it should always be fun.

The flight home had us maneuver around some strong rain cells but was otherwise uneventful. I got in some SIC time.