Checkride Today

Hello all,
Well, after 7 months and exactly 51 hours of student air time, I passed
my SEL Checkride this morning. I spent nearly two hours last week doing
the oral portion, but opted out of the air portion due to excessively
high winds. But today dawned absolutely clear and cool with serenely
calm winds.
After four touch and goes (doing the usual short and soft field stuff)
we departed the controlled airport pattern to do a short leg of my
planned cross country. After 10 minutes or so the examiner called that
off and had me do the obligatory steep turns. Now, up to that time all
was going well and uneventful. After the second steep turn, he pulled
power whereupon I lucked out by seeing a perfectly rectangular farmers
field, the length of which was parallel to the very modest wind. Glide
speed nailed at 65 kts and descending for right pattern approach to that
field. Short final, perfectly lined up, then power back up and flaps
back up. No hitches. We then stayed at 1200 feet MSL to circle a nice
big farmer's silo, then some S-turns across one of the few straight
roads in this hilly region. Again, nailed them to the "T".
Next, hood on to do some course following and VOR tracking. Altitude
good, gentle turns good. Enough of that.
The examiner had me then head us back to the home airport. I check the
ATIS numbers, contacted approach, then tower cleared me to enter the
left downwind for 30. Mid field at perfect traffic altitude that
examiner asks if he could do the final full-stop landing.
Now I already had been primed by friends that this particular examiner
did this if he was going to pass you. So it came as a great relief to
sit back and enjoy that final descent back to terra firma.
And so, it sure does feel great at 55 years old to finally accomplish
something that I have dreamed of for many years.
Hopefully I meet a number of you in Philadelphia later this week. I am
only 90 miles from the center city convention center.

Arnold Sten, newly minted PSEL