Published by Shelbi Tierney on Mon, Feb 16, 2015
Check Ride Time
Aaron Mohnke
Aviation Flight Science
The biggest part of your pilot training will always be using the knowledge you have learned to pass the practical test or check ride. You must complete a check ride for each rating that you receive. Each checkride consists of a ground/oral discussion and a flight portion. No matter what anyone tells you, you will be nervous. There is just no getting around it. The nerves are good; it means you are taking the test seriously. To help cope with your nerves, I want to give you some tips that seem to help relax me a bit before each check ride I take. Along with the tips I’ll share a few of my own stories and experiences with you.
The first tip is to get some good sleep. You will want to be up all night looking over the last minute parts of planning and questions but don't sweat it. Getting a good nights sleep is far more important so you can actually focus during the test. Before my first check ride, I stayed up until three in the morning trying to review last minute things. It definitely was not worth it in the end. I was very tired in the morning and it was harder to focus during the test. Eat breakfast before is tip number two. Going into the ride on an empty stomach will only make you feel worse. You might even get sick on the flight, which would not be good. When I did upset recovery and spin training, I was told to eat a banana before each flight. Bananas help prevent upset stomachs. So this would be a good thing to eat before a checkride just in case. Tip number 3 would be to create conversation with the examiner. They are just people too and are not out to get you. Getting to know the examiner will make them more comfortable around you. If they are more comfortable, it won’t seem like they are trying to just grill you with questions. They want to see you pass just as bad as you want to pass. The most recent checkride that I took was probably the easiest one I have had so far. It wasn’t easy because the information and maneuvers were easy; it was because I felt very comfortable with the examiner. It felt just like casual conversation during the oral exam and the flight felt as if I was flying around a friend. Only at the end of the test did I actually realize I was providing and demonstrating all my knowledge to him. And lastly, don't open doors that don't need to be opened. The examiner won't try to trick you so go with the answer that pops up first. The more you beat around answers, the bigger hole you can dig yourself into and will lead the examiner into asking tougher questions. I did this once a while ago. Instead of giving just the one sentence answer, I tried to sound smarter by making it wordy. By trying to sound smarter, I ended up rambling and saying something incorrect. The examiner caught it and then he dug deeper into that particular subject. Believe me, this is not something that you want to happen.
These are just a few things that I like to do and think about when I'm taking my check rides. Hopefully you can use these tips for your next practical test and can learn from some of my experiences and apply them to your test. After it is over, you will always think that it wasn't that bad. It won’t be that bad because you will have all the knowledge for it. And remember, your flight instructor won't send you on the checkride unless they know that you can pass it. So if you are about to take one, you are ready!