How to Pass Your Checkride: A Checklist (Part 2)

In Part 1 of our How to Pass the Checkride series, we examined some of the various paperwork and qualification issues that can prevent your checkride from starting. Now let’s look at some of the common causes for a disapproval during the ground portion of the test.

1. Topics

Your private and commercial pilot test will cover many of the same topics: pilot qualifications, airplane systems, airworthiness, airspace, weather, performance and limitations, and cross-country planning. Instrument rating applicants will focus more on the Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) environment. If you are testing for your initial flight instructor certificate, prepare for every topic you have covered before plus the fundamentals of instructing.

For each task in the ACS/PTS, there are common errors that could result in a disapproval. However, some topics more commonly trip folks up than other topics.

For private and commercial applicants, airworthiness, airplane systems, and performance and limitations, and airspace are the most common culprits. Most of these topics concern the airplane you brought for the practical test. You must thoroughly understand the airplane you are flying. Not all Cessna 172s are created equally: The Cessna 172N and Cessna 172S have different engines, fuel systems, flap settings, V speeds, and performance. Even the seat belts are different! Avionics can also vary greatly among airplanes. If you begin describing how the fuel injection works and your airplane is carbureted, you are about to have a short day.

2. Weight and Balance

Weight and balance and performance charts are also a problem for many applicants. Do you know how to calculate pressure altitude? How about interpolation? Did you plan your cruise performance and cruising pressure altitude but not field elevation? Did you use the most current weight and balance data for your plane? I promise you that your DPE will catch this.

3. Airworthiness

I cringe when I see an applicant open the maintenance logs for what appears to be the very first time! You will be required to prove the airplane you are flying is airworthy (current inspections, documents, etc.). Even though the DPE qualified the airplane before the test started, it is your responsibility during the test to demonstrate you can locate all required inspections and documents.

Understanding the difference between a 100 hour and annual inspection and when the 100 hour is required is probably the most missed question on all tests I conduct. The 100 hour is required when conducting passenger-carrying or flight instruction for hire. Receiving instruction in your personal Piper Archer? No 100 hour required. Are you a private pilot strictly renting an airplane (no instructor)? No 100 hour required. Are you a commercial pilot hired to fly a company plane carrying executives to meetings? No 100 hour required. An FAA legal interpretation dated October 2014 explains several scenarios involving inspections.

4. Airspace

Alphabet soup anyone? The National Airspace System (NAS) consists of six classes A-G (no F) and several additional special use airspaces. You must understand entry requirements, weather minimums, and charting symbology to fly safely in the NAS. Explaining class E and G airspace is difficult for many people, but those are the two airspaces in which you are most likely to fly. Where class G ends and class E begins is easily found on the legend of your sectional chart. If you are using an EFB, you should know how to access the legend. The DPE will not help.

On Jan. 1, 2020, ADS-B Out became a requirement when operating anywhere mode C is required. More than a year later, applicants still struggle to understand this requirement. How about the little magenta diamond on the sectional chart that may have “stadium” or “speedway” printed beside it? While it may make a great visual reference (the most common answer I receive), this is not the answer the DPE wants to hear. Check that legend!

5. IFR Topics

Instrument applicants should study the IFR enroute chart and Terminal Instrument Procedures (TERPS), commonly called approach plates. Can you explain alternate minimums? How about takeoff minimums/obstacle departure procedures? Do you know where to find them in your EFB? If you are flying your approach at 90 knots with a 10-knot headwind and the glideslope is 3.2 degrees, what vertical speed is required to maintain the glideslope? If your head is spinning after that one, it should not be. Look at this required skill element from the Instrument ACS:

IR.VI.B.S11-Establish a predetermined rate of descent at the point where vertical guidance begins, which approximates that required for the airplane to follow the vertical guidance.

If you have never done this, ask your CFI how.

6. CFI Topics

Are you preparing for your CFI initial test? Daunted by the sheer volume of material that is eligible for testing? Fear not! Do not view the initial CFI test as a test in rote memorization. DPEs want (crave!) for you to be a good instructor. A good instructor does not walk into the classroom to teach without a lesson plan. The most successful CFI applicants arrive well-prepared with lesson plans developed for each task. They also take control, acting as a real CFI for the day.

One thing I ask of applicants is not to read to me. I know how to read. Showing me your text-heavy PowerPoint presentation on flight controls and simply reading from the Airplane Flying Handbook is not demonstrating instructional knowledge. You should be able to explain all the task elements in a manner that the average student can understand. Practice teaching your lessons to a willing test subject before meeting the DPE (and buy your test subject dinner in exchange for their time). Try explaining moment (from weight and balance) to a 10-year-old.

You should encounter no surprises during the ground portion of your practical test if you have carefully reviewed the ACS/PTS for the test you are taking. This does not mean you will know the DPE’s questions beforehand. DPEs tailor each exam to the applicant based upon their knowledge test results and change our scenarios to ensure we continue to have valid tests. One of the best compliments I ever received as a DPE was from a large school stating their graduates and instructors were unable to create a gouge because each of my tests was different.

You should look at your practical test as a way to ensure you are truly safe, proficient, and prepared to begin flying your friends and family. Memorizing answers to get through a checkride is not doing anyone any favors.

Next week we will wrap up our series by looking at common errors found during the flight portion of the practical test.  

As a child, Chris Whittle knew he would fly someday. After he completed his first solo at age 16, Chris' flying career has quite literally taken off. In his nearly 20 years of training countless students, he is among the most respected flight instructors in North Carolina. The Alamance County native and East Carolina University graduate has amassed more than 12,000 hours of flight time and has been identified by the FAA as a Designated Pilot Examiner. He has administered more than 1,500 checkrides since becoming a DPE. Learn more about Chris and the rest of the Elon Aviation staff at www.elonaviation.com.

How to Pass Your Checkride: A Checklist (Part 1)

You have been studying your systems, airspace, regulations, and weather both with your flight instructor and on your own for weeks. Every good weather day, you have been at the airport practicing steep turns, slow flight, stalls, and landings in your favorite Piper Archer. You could probably do it all blindfolded (though not recommended). You picked a perfect day to take off work to meet your Designated Pilot Examiner (DPE) for the much-anticipated practical test, known in the industry as a checkride.

After a restless night and a shot of Pepto, you meet the DPE the morning of the test. Ten minutes later, you are in your car driving home because you were not qualified for the test.

What happened?

The number of applicants who arrive for the checkride unqualified would surprise you. How does this happen? Despite your instructor's best efforts and intentions, there are several “gotchas” when verifying applicant eligibility. These pitfalls can appear in the applicant’s logbook, on IACRA (the electronic web-based application for a pilot certificate or rating), or in the applicant’s personal/airplane documents. Let’s begin by looking at a private pilot applicant’s logbook.

1. Cross-Country Requirements

Forty total hours? Check. Ten hours solo? Check. Three hours cross-country training? Hold on. You and your flight instructor flew from Burlington, N.C., (BUY) to Raleigh, N.C., (RDU) to Greensboro, N.C., (GSO), and back to BUY. BUY to RDU is 35 nautical miles (NM). RDU to GSO is 58 NM. GSO to BUY is 23 NM. The total trip distance was 116 NM. The DPE says, “I’m sorry, but you are not qualified for the test.” An angry and confused flight instructor says, “But there was a 50 NM leg on that trip!”

If we examine the regulations a little closer, we see why this trip is insufficient. Open your trusty FAR/AIM to 14 CFR 61.1 for a definition of cross-country time:

 Cross-country time means—

 …

 (ii) For the purpose of meeting the aeronautical experience requirements …, for a private pilot certificate … a commercial pilot certificate, or an instrument rating, …

 (B) That includes a point of landing that was at least a straight-line distance of more than 50 nautical miles from the original point of departure; ….

You never flew more than 50 NM from BUY; thus, this trip was not a cross-country. Expensive mistake, isn’t it?

2. Instrument Training Requirements

Other common “gotchas” for private pilot applicants appear in the required instrument training and ground training. Your flight school has a fantastic Advanced Aviation Training Device (AATD), commonly called a simulator. You did your last hour of instrument training on the simulator because your flight instructor said, “If you can fly the sim, you can fly the plane.”

But if we look at 14 CFR 61.109, it states that a private pilot applicant needs [three] hours of flight training in a single-engine airplane on the control and maneuvering of an airplane solely by reference to instruments. Notice that it states in a single-engine airplane. Not in a single-engine airplane or simulator. In fact, this regulation does not even reference a simulator.

3. Ground Instruction Requirements

The last big logbook pitfall is missing ground instruction. 14 CFR 61.107 states:

General. A person who applies for a private pilot certificate must receive and log ground and flight training from an authorized instructor on the areas of operation of this section that apply to the aircraft category and class rating sought.

This regulation is not about the aeronautical knowledge elements found in 14 CFR 61.105. It is about having ground training on all the areas of operation that will also be covered for a private pilot. No logged ground training, no checkride.

4. Solo Time, View Limiting Devices, and Logbooks

Instrument, commercial, and flight instructor applicants encounter the same issues plus others. To meet certain specific experience requirements, a commercial applicant must have 10 hours solo or 10 hours performing the duties of Pilot-in-Command (PIC) with an authorized flight instructor on board. You may not mix and match solo and PIC duties. A commercial applicant’s instrument experience must also occur while using a view-limiting device and must come from a flight instructor with an instrument rating.

Flight instructor applicants are often missing required ground training and endorsements. Nothing is worse than arriving for a flight instructor test with an incorrect logbook. The day is almost assuredly doomed from the start.

5. IACRA

IACRA is the next place where we see checkrides come to halt before they even begin. Every single item on IACRA is a common deficiency. From having the wrong place of birth (such as Detroit, N.C., instead of Detroit, Mich.) to having incorrect/missing times, to applying for the wrong rating (airplane single-engine land, not sea), errors can stop the test from starting if your flight instructor is not immediately available to help correct the issues.

You can correct a few problems immediately without a flight instructor present, but that is not always the case. To stop these issues before they stop your test, the DPE needs your IACRA information and FAA Tracking Number (FTN) before the test. Having IACRA and your FTN also allows the DPE to review your knowledge test results and create a custom exam/scenario for you. Most DPEs will ask for this information at least 24 to 48 hours before the test. Failure to provide this information in advance can and should result in a canceled checkride.

6. Personal and Airplane Documents

Next are the pilot’s personal and airplane documents. Too often, an applicant will arrive with their driver’s license or passport, pilot certificate, or medical missing or expired. A picture of your passport on your cell phone does not qualify you for the test.

Imagine this: You flew to meet the DPE for checkride. After reviewing your documents and logbook, you head to the break room for coffee while the DPE reviews your plane’s maintenance logs. When you return the DPE has unwelcome news: Your plane is not airworthy. Often it is going to be due to missing airworthiness directives. Applicants have in fact arrived with airplanes missing annual inspections! Not only are you not taking your test today, but you must catch a ride home and arrange for a special flight permit to get your plane to maintenance.

As you can see, you can bring your checkride to a full stop before you even hear “the test has begun.” In part two of this blog, we will explore common errors during the ground and flight portions of the practical test with advice on how to impress your DPE.

As a child, Chris Whittle knew he would fly someday. After he completed his first solo at age 16, Chris' flying career has quite literally taken off. In his nearly 20 years of training countless students, he is among the most respected flight instructors in North Carolina. The Alamance County native and East Carolina University graduate has amassed more than 12,000 hours of flight time and has been identified by the FAA as a Designated Pilot Examiner. He has administered more than 1,500 checkrides since becoming a DPE. Learn more about Chris and the rest of the Elon Aviation staff at www.elonaviation.com.

Current or Proficient: Which Pilot Are You?

The weather has finally cleared. The hustle and bustle of the holidays and new year have passed. You are ready to get into a plane and back in the groove. As you pack your flight bag to head to the airport, you check your logbook to ensure you meet your flight school insurance currency requirements. Good news! You are current. You did three solo landings in the Cessna 172 58 days ago. Forty-five days before that, you took a CFI up with you to get current again.

You have six landings and an hour of flying in the previous six months. Is your pulse starting to rise? Feeling a little uneasy as you watch your family preparing to fly with you today? Are you current? Yes. Proficient? Probably not. But what exactly does it mean to be proficient?

What Makes a Pilot Current?

Currency is the legal requirement for you to go fly. A 70-hour private pilot who only does three landings every 90 days is not sufficiently proficient to make an overnight long cross-country with friends and family on board. The instrument pilot who flies every six months to do the same six approaches in the flight simulator has no business flying in actual IFR conditions.

If you have an instrument rating, and even if you do not, using a flight simulator appropriately can help you maintain proficiency. A pilot who is simply maintaining FAA and insurance-mandated requirements either in an airplane or simulator is current, but they are not proficient.

What Makes a Pilot Proficient?

Conversely, a proficient pilot is prepared, confident, able, and of course, current. When you’re prepared, you have appropriate and current aeronautical charts — you did update Foreflight, didn’t you? You have examined and you understand the weather after a thorough pre-flight briefing. Calling the ASOS 10 minutes before leaving the house does not qualify as a thorough pre-flight briefing. You have also considered risk mitigation; remember, the unexpected can and does happen.

A Proficient Pilot Knows Their “Stuff”

Whether you use old school paper charts or an Electronic Flight Bag (EFB), such as Foreflight, FltPlanGo, or Garmin Pilot, your charts must be current and appropriate for your mission. If you use an EFB, knowing how to use your app of choice is critical to flight safety.

When the EFB revolution began several years ago, I decided to make my first paperless flight. I planned a flight in a Piper Archer from Burlington, N.C., to Mount Washington, N.H., with a fuel stop in Allentown, Pa. The weather was forecast as marginal VFR, so I thought, No problem! Let’s launch. About an hour and a half into the flight, I started calculating, figuring, and worrying. The weather was worse than expected; I was in hard IFR down below minimums with winds 20 knots higher than forecast.

Aha! I thought. My new EFB will save me! I’ll divert to Lancaster, Pa., to refuel and recheck the weather. Then the panic set in. I thought I had downloaded all the charts and approaches for the entire route into my device, but I had only downloaded my landing points’ approaches. Fortunately, Air Traffic Control (ATC) was extremely helpful in providing the information I needed to land safely. I learned a valuable lesson that day: You must be an expert with your EFB and first practice using it in VFR conditions with an instructor or competent safety pilot.

I considered the risks of having to divert during preflight planning, but I failed to consider the risks of using a new-to-me EFB in actual IFR for the first time. Had I brought along my trusty paper charts, practiced more with my EFB in VFR, or read the EFB user manual more thoroughly, I could have better mitigated those risks.

A Proficient Pilot Knows the Weather

While my weather situation on that trip was a bit extreme, imagine how often you have rescheduled a few days before a flight lesson. The local weather anchor predicted foreboding conditions, yet you’re on the ground staring at beautiful clear skies on lesson day. Even worse, another student grabbed your desired plane and instructor.

Part of learning the art of aviation is learning to be your own meteorologist. That does not mean throw caution to the wind and ignore the weather data. You need to learn how to interpret the weather and make informed go/no-go decisions. Fortunately, your flight instructor is always willing to help you understand what the forecasts are, and they will help you establish or evaluate your personal minimums.

A Proficient Pilot is Sufficiently Confident

Let’s be honest: Confidence is not something most pilots lack. Are you familiar with the five hazardous attitudes of machismo, invulnerable, impulsive, resignation, and anti-authority? Four of the five hazardous attitudes stem from over-confidence. However, you need to be confident in your abilities to plan, execute, and complete your flights safely. If you have an uneasy feeling about departing because you are in a plane you have not flown recently, you have different avionics, or the mission is stretching your abilities, perhaps it is time to pump the brakes and call in a CFI for some refresher training.

How Do I Become and Remain Proficient?

Of course, flying more often will help you maintain proficiency. Another way to become a proficient pilot is to participate in the FAA Wings Program, the FAA’s Pilot Proficiency Program. You can select the tasks and subjects you want and need to review, and you can get valuable flight instructor critiques following your flights. As a bonus, completing a phase of Wings counts as your flight review.

The next time you plan to fly, ask yourself, “I may be current, but am I proficient?” Talk to your flight instructor today about how to develop personal minimums and a personal proficiency plan.

As a child, Chris Whittle knew he would fly someday. After he completed his first solo at age 16, Chris' flying career has quite literally taken off. In his nearly 20 years of training countless students, he is among the most respected flight instructors in North Carolina. The Alamance County native and East Carolina University graduate has amassed more than 12,000 hours of flight time and has been identified by the FAA as a Designated Pilot Examiner. He has administered more than 1,500 checkrides since becoming a DPE. Learn more about Chris and the rest of the Elon Aviation staff at www.elonaviation.com.