Prior to the checkride: I may reach out 3-7 days before to confirm the appointment. Ensure you are prepared and the aircraft has no maintenance issues. You WILL be nervous - this is normal, but not a reason to cancel. If you were not prepared, your instructor would not have scheduled you.
Hopefully Helpful Hints/Questions:
Do your best to relax. Stressing about the test and/or the flight is counterproductive and is the biggest cause of poor performance
Organize a checkride binder to ensure you have all of your required documents.
What time should I arrive? Because of the validation process, I arrive 30-45 minutes prior to our time. If you are present, we can begin.
IMPORTANT NOTE: We need to "start" the oral portion within one hour of our scheduled time. If we cannot, we will need to reschedule. If our start time is 8am:
8 am: meet/greet, begin validation process (30 minutes, if all is correct and in order!)
8:30 Preflight brief, review Privacy Act and Pilot's Bill of Rights, Sign documents/waivers, Sign IACRA. (20-30 minutes)
If we cannot complete the validation process within 30 minutes of our proposed time, I will not have time to complete required paperwork needed before the oral exam begins.
This will result in a reschedule.
PLEASE Review the Validation Page, send me as much of this information as possible, fix and resend accordingly, and arrive at least 30 minutes ahead of time.
What should I study? Know the expectations as stated in the ACS and read the Appendices in the back as that information can be very helpful.
What items will be covered on the test? Examiners are required to test
ALL Risk Management elements
ALL Skill elements, and
at least one Knowledge element
Breaks during the test: You may take breaks during the oral, and before the flight. Please keep them to a minimum. The oral should only be 2 hours, so just enough time to use the restroom or gather your thoughts. Between the oral and the flight, the break should be no more than 15 minutes.