Everyone,

I haven't posted much here, but when I have, the responses have always
been educational. Hopefully my checkride account might prove useful to
someone else. Thanks for all the help.

Cheers,

TW

Instrument Checkride 4/6/08 Concord, CA

Met the DE at his office at 10.30, spent a while fixing some IACRA
application glitches, then straight into the Oral.

Started with airplane logs, which I had summarized in my own concise
document (dates of last checks etc), he said that was sufficient and
didn't ask to see the actual logs.

The examiner then left me with five questions written on the
whiteboard:

1) Present data from planned X-Country to KFAT- time, distance, fuel.
2) Draw pitot static and vacuum systems for the aircraft (PA-151).
3) List equipment required for IFR flight (GRABCARD)
4) List when reports must be made to ATC when IFR
5) Could we comply with the South Lake Tahoe Richy Five departure in
the aircraft we are flying today? (No)

After returning and checking the answers he asked about several
topics:

-Weather - microbursts, decoding of METARS and PIREPS (but no charts),
convective sigmets
-Static port failure, carb ice; ice blocking the engine air intake.
-FDC NOTAMS - what are they?
-Thunderstorms- maintain altitude or attitude. why?
-Components of an ILS, where is the FAF? When can we land?
-How the Mode C transponder interfaces with the pitot static system
-How many GPS satellites are there in orbit? RAIM - what is it?
-Explain what happens when we have GPS RAIM failure before and after
the FAWP. Can we proceed if the GPS mode does not transition from TERM
to APP near the FAWP?
-GRABCARD- Does the clock have to be mounted in the panel? - Yes.
-Cross-country planning - the examiner checked my ETE to KFAT, his
electronic calculator computed 89 minutes, I calculated 92. He also
compared estimated fuel consumption and the numbers were close. He
seemed satisfied and didn't ask to see the flight planning.
-Where are VOR checkpoints listed? (AFD) What kind of VOR checkpoint
does Concord have (airborne).

Checkride

By 1.30pm we were ready to fly; the clouds had cleared a little but
not as much as we'd hoped, also there was an increasing wind from the
SW. The examiner said we might encounter some IMC and it would
definitely be bumpy, but flyable. He then gave me a clearance:

Cleared to KSAC via the KANAN TWO departure SAC transition, c/m 2000,
sq 1200, contact Travis app

0) Departed KCCR Rwy 19L, made a left turn and followed the DP.
1) ~8nm from SIDMY I was given a GPS hold- Hold SW of SIDMY
intersection on the 230 bearing.
2) Following a direct entry into the hold the DE covered the AI and
gave me 2 unusual attitudes, nose up and nose down.
3) Next came KSAC ILS Rwy 2, followed by the published missed back to
SAC. The DE apologized for forgetting to uncover the AI during the
ILS, he then covered the DG in preparation for the next approach,
which came right away.
4) Rio Vista VOR-A partial panel, circle to land Rwy 25, with a nice
cross wind. Performed touch & go.
5) Direct to CCR on the 040 radial
6) DME arc on the CCR 10 DME from R-040 to R-080
7) Intercepted the initial approach segment for KCCR GPS Rwy 19R
between REJOY & FEVTA.

Flying time: 1.6 hobbs; total exam time 6 hours (including formalities
etc).

Comments

-The oral was relatively short, I fluffed a couple of easy questions,
but got the rest right.
-The weather was bumpy and I had trouble maintaining assigned
altitude. I was over-controlling with power instead of trimming and
re-trimming.
-I also had trouble finding the correct wind correction at the start
of the ILS, but managed to get the needles crossed and keep them
crossed 5nm from the outer marker.
-Circling at Rio Vista- I was planning to make a left cross wind
entry, but the DE (correctly) told me it was a right pattern for 25
(easier).
-I hadn't practiced GPS holds, however, the examiner did not want me
to use VOR's to identify the intersection. He gave me a quick
in-flight lesson on how to set up an OBS radial for the next waypoint
in the GPS flight plan.