Checkride - Passed, but the bubble did burst a bit

Well, I passed by instrument checkride recently and thought I would
share my experiences. Started off the day with a flight from Fort
Smith, AR (FSM) where I generally fly out of down to Hot Springs (HOT)
where the examiner was. Started out as you might expect, paperwork,
going over the logs, showing recent inspections, etc. Then a discussion
of the flight I had been asked to plan from HOT to Bartlesville, OK (a
MUCH shorter flight than the one I had to plan for my private, but I
digress). Answered some questions about alternate minimums, chart
symbology, etc. A few about emergency procedures and we were good to
go. With the DE playing atc, I received my clearance to Bartlesville
and we were off. Of course, Memphis Center reported radar outage just
to make things a little more difficult. A bit north of the airport, my
AI and DG magically failed. Had to be reminded that this was a
checkride, not just training, and declare emergency to my controller in
the next seat and requested return to HOT. I was cleared direct Hot
Springs VOR (on the field) then for the VOR ZAPLE RWY 5 approach.
Things went well at first, then started getting into the partial panel
approach. It got pretty ugly for a while, finally I just said "Memphis
Center, 669RA request direct to the VOR to try the approach again." I
was cleared as I requested, and the partial panel approach went fairly
well from there. We landed and I was sure I had blown it. After
exiting, I asked where to, and he said back for departure. Since he
didn't tell me I failed at that point, my understanding of the rules
said he had accepted my partial panel and the partial panel approach, so
I tried to forget it for the moment and go on. (He told me after the
ride was over that I was about to get my pink slip when I asked for a
return to the VOR to start over). I also got to wait for a bit for
another aircraft landing to collect my nerves. I could have easily
departed in front of him, but I wanted the time to calm down (HOT is
uncontrolled). We flew the ILS with no problem, other than an extended
downwind for another aircraft (there were several practicing approaches
this day). This was actually the part we were worried about. The glide
slope was NOTAMED out of service, and we expected to have to fly :45 to
Little Rock to shoot an ILS, but it was working on the previous VOR
approach. While we both agreed it would be a dumb idea (and illegal
one) to use the glide slope in actual conditions, it was severe clear
and the examiner had no problems using it for the checkride if he was
satisfied it allowed me to show I knew what I was doing. Missed
approach, a turn to the south (ILS was to rwy 5), and he said I could
fly any non-precision approach except the VOR ZAPLE approach that we had
already done. After he remembered I need to to dew steep turns, we flew
to the VOR then did the VOR 5 approach, circle to land (rwy 1 I think,
but don't recall for sure. Landed, exited the runway
Me: "Hot Springs Traffic, 669RA clear of the active, Hot Springs"
DE: "Congratulations, you're an instrument pilot."

Not too long after that I was filing an IFR flight plan for the first
time using my name instead of my instructors for pilots name as we had
done during my training. Preflight, called up Memphis center and
received my clearance to Fort Smith as filed. I was just as proud as I
could be when my bubble burst just a little bit for a second. After
clearance, engine start, avionics master on.

Unicom "Cessna 669RA, Unicom"
Me: "Go ahead"
Unicom "9RA your chocks are still in"

DOH!!!

On the way back, there were just a couple of little puffy clouds, as I
started to think, are they above me or below me, do I have the
clearance, I suddenly reminded myself - so what. Now time to keep
learning and keep proficient.

Matt,

From what I've seen and heard your odds are always better if you (a) confess
that you know you're digging the hole deeper and (b) prove you know what to
do to try digging yourself out.

Congrats on the rating- I got mine a month ago. Doesn't it feel great to put
that behind you?

Best,
-cwk.

Matt Young wrote
already done. After he remembered I need to to dew steep turns, we flew

Actually, steep turns are gone from the instrument PTS as of October
1. Sounds like your DE is a bit behind.

Congratulations.

Michael

"Matt Young" wrote in message

On the way back, there were just a couple of little puffy clouds, as I
started to think, are they above me or below me, do I have the clearance,
I suddenly reminded myself - so what. Now time to keep learning and keep
proficient.

Yes well done, Passed mine last Monday, it seems a lifetime ago. Its a great
feeling.

Chris

On 10/5/04 11:36 PM, in article
t, "Matt Young"
wrote:


Unicom "Cessna 669RA, Unicom"
Me: "Go ahead"
Unicom "9RA your chocks are still in"

DOH!!!


Congrats Matt! Add chocks to your checklist and fly safe.
--
Jeff 'The Wizard of Draws' Bucchino
Cartoons with a Touch of Magic�
http://www.wizardofdraws.com
http://www.cartoonclipart.com

Nope, took the checkride Sept. 25

Michael wrote:

Matt Young wrote

already done. After he remembered I need to to dew steep turns, we flew


Actually, steep turns are gone from the instrument PTS as of October
1. Sounds like your DE is a bit behind.

Congratulations.

Michael

Great job Matt....good story. I passed mine 32 years ago and I'm still
learning stuff. Keep in the books and in the clouds and you'll be fine.

Jim


"Matt Young" wrote in message
nk.net...
Well, I passed by instrument checkride recently snip

Nice job Matt...great story!!!
Greg PP-ASEL-IA

Matt Young wrote in message ink.net...
Well, I passed by instrument checkride recently and thought I would
share my experiences.

Wow. Seems like the IFR ride in the U.S. is a lot more complicated
than here in Canada. I just did mine about a month ago, in a
Seminole. It was a severe clear and perfectly calm day. We spent
about an hour on ground stuff, going over lost comms, the example
route he'd had me plan, and lots of other miscellaneous bits. I'd
already done the pre-flight on the plane, so his pre-flight
questioning consisted of "what are these two things on the wing?" -
referring to the stall warning vanes; and "how many prop blades are
there on this aircraft?" - um.. four?

The rest of the ride consisted of a departure with him acting as
simulated ATC, then a vector to join a radial. I made a dumb mistake
-- I was supposed to be intercepting the 215 radial but due to a total
and complete brain cramp has dialed in the 225 radial instead. About
a minute into this I hear the examiner say "Juliet Fox Fox, confirm
you're intercepting the 215 degree radial." Continuing clueless, I
say "roger, 215 radial". About a minute later, "Juliet Fox Fox,
confirm you're intercepting the 215 radial." Ok now the fog
s-l-o-w-l-y lifts and I look at the VOR. After tuning the correct
radial this time I see that I am almost exactly 10 degrees off. That
could have been a fail right there, 3 minutes into the flight. I
still can't believe he cut me two breaks on that.

After that, the ride was pretty uneventful. A hold, and ILS, and a
non-precision approach, in this case a VOR/DME, but with the added
excitement of a simulated engine fire and single engine approach.

So that's the entire ride: departure, hold, two approaches, one of
which is a precision approach. Three emergencies, one of which
includes an engine out approach if in a multi-engine aircraft. No
partial panel, no steep turns, nothing like that in Canada.

Kevin

So that's the entire ride: departure, hold, two approaches, one of
which is a precision approach. Three emergencies, one of which
includes an engine out approach if in a multi-engine aircraft. No
partial panel, no steep turns, nothing like that in Canada.

Did you already hold an instrument rating for a single?

Jose
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