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, except for times at 7am, 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 may need to reschedule. If our start time is 8am:
8 am: meet/greet, begin validation process (20-30 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
at least one Knowledge element
at least one Risk Management element
ALL Skill elements
Breaks during the test:
You will be permitted to take breaks as needed, but please keep them infrequent and short so our time can be efficient.
Overview of the oral: This will consist of your thought process, as the PIC, of the planning and execution of the cross country assigned. You will be given realistic scenarios where your ADM and RM skills will be assessed. Each checkride I provide is to ACS standards, and the scenarios are unique to each applicant. No two checkrides are exactly the same. The oral portion is generally around 2 hours in length.
Overview of the flight: We are, for all intensive purposes, going on a cross country flight. You are the PIC and everyone else, including myself, are your passengers. Flight deck management, decisions, and pacing are yours. Like the oral, you will be given scenarios that are realistic and will force you to make decisions. Again, these differ across candidates, so please take gauges with a grain of salt and just be proficient with the standards. At some point, we will pause to complete the maneuvers. As stated, the pacing is up to you. Flight times are generally around 2 hours in length.