CareBear wrote:
First of all I have not posted/asked any questions of RAP and RAS since last
November. With all of the bickering, baiting, and other issues, I decided
not to participate. Please don't misinterpret what I am saying. I am not
pointing fingers or complaining about anyone in particular since several
members of this group have been involved in degrading the groups. These are
just my opinions. So much for that.....

I had my checkride yesterday and it went rather well. I was not successful
in getting my ticket since I busted the forward slip to a landing and soft
field landing. Everything else was ok. I plan to practice and complete the
requirements for the slip and soft field landing this week, thereby
acquiring my ticket. My main problem with the slip was not maintaining the
centerline during the actual slip. I will not make any excuses (the wind,
nervousness, etc.). When it's all said and done, it was on me to be
successful.

Although I did not get the ticket, I still feel good about the overall
outcome. It's interesting in that I felt my weakest area would be the oral
but this went well. I did have a couple of slips (no pun intended) during
the oral but quickly regrouped and gave the correct response. The oral
lasted about 2.5 hours. After reviewing my flight plan, weight and balance,
etc. we (the DPE and myself) took to the air. I had to do quite a number of
things such as slow flight, steep turns, power on and power off stalls.
Finally it was time for the dreaded diversion! I was actually pleased with
myself with the outcome. The diversion was somewhat better than I had
anticipated, especially since I did not land but did a go around. Once we
returned to airport, we discussed the overall checkride. Of course, this
also included the "well you didn't do too good on the slip and the soft
field landing" conversation. But still, I was pleased with what I had
accomplished. Now I am really looking forward to finishing this week,
weather and DPE availability permitting.!!!!

BTW, the xc flight plan was from 3A1 (Cullman AL) to 7A0 (Greensboro AL) and
finally KMGM (Montgomery Dannelly Field).

Now, I will resume lurking.


95% congratulations!! :-)

The slip is tough to master, it is a confidence thing. Putting the plane
into that flying profile can be daunting and a bit scary. I remember it
took me awhile but I finally got the hang of it when I had my instructor
teach a whole lesson of flying in a slip. We flew up and down route 2
in massachusetts (using the road as a centerline) for 2 hours doing
slips, climbing, slipping etc.

The big thing for me was learning to use the rudder, really use the
rudder. I still still screw it up on x-wind landings. It is almost like
you can't use enough rudder. You think you have enough, add more.

Good job on the other parts of the exam. Like most things, the anxiety
of the imagined scenario are worse than the reality of the scenario.
You'll get it for sure! Good luck.

KC