Check Ride Tips

Posted by Matthew Bila on

Check Ride Tips

By: Joey Mosca - Aviation Flight Science

Taking check rides might be the most stressful part about learning how to fly.  Waking up in the morning not knowing what to eat, dressing nicely for the big day and arriving at your airport very early to make sure that you have all pieces in the right places.  Here are some useful tips coming from a student at the end of their flight training at WMU’s College of Aviation.

1.  Make sure you are prepared for the check-ride.  Meaning, make sure that you have looked through the Airman Certification Standards (ACS) and you know what is going to be expected of you.  Study the way that works best for you.  Contact your instructor or any other resources you may have with any questions while you are studying leading up to your check ride.  One thing I like to do to study is to construct my own study guide with everything that I think could be asked of me on the check ride.

2.  One of the most useful tips is knowing a lot of fellow students and instructors that are going through or have been through the same things that you have.  Communicating with friends and other students opens your mind up to ideas and thoughts that you might not have thought of before.  Studying as a group and quizzing each other makes a world of difference.  You get to learn how to answer questions differently and learn about other questions that could come up on your check ride that you might not have thought of before.  Use all the resources that you have at your disposal.  There are many faculty and staff here at the College of Aviation that would not mind helping students if there are any questions that need to be answered. 

3.  As you have heard when you have a big test before, get a good night’s rest and make sure that you have some food in your system.  Due to how stressed you are for your big flight, you might not feel very hungry, but you should put some food in your system.  I always like to dress for success and wear something nice on the day of my check ride.  Taking care of your body makes a big difference on how you will perform mentally on the day of your check ride.

4.  During the oral exam phase of the check ride, the phrase “digging yourself a hole” is often brought up by your instructor.  This still to this date might be one of the most useful pieces of information that people will give you when preparing for your check ride.  While doing the first part of the check ride, when the examiner asks you a question, only answer his/her question.  Do not expand on your answer because as soon as you say something wrong the examiner will dig at that topic to make sure you understand it.  Don’t give the examiner this opportunity.

Joey sitting in the captain's seat of a CRJ aircraft.

These are just a few helpful pieces of information to succeed on the day of your check ride.  They will always be stressful and nerve-racking but nothing will beat the feeling of getting that certificate in your hands after all the hard work.