WildcatPilot
Well-Known Member
As promised, here's a quick summary of my comm checkride.
Started off looking at a cross country I had planned. Discussed a couple of MOAs my flight path overflew, VFR cloud clearances in the airspaces, a TRSA in the area, and requirements to enter the airspaces. The DE took a look at my nav log and performance calculations and seemed pleased. Next, we went over systems. I did better than I thought I would. The only question that stumpedy was "Why wouldn't the prop automatically feather itself in the event of an engine failure. It never occurred to me that a prop could do that. Of course, it turns out that it's because a feathered prop is difficult, if not impossible to restart. We discussed required mx, MELs, CELs, and 91.205. We went over hypoxia, hyperventilation, and supplemental oxygen. SCUBA regs were the last topic. I'm sure there were other topics in the oral that I'm forgetting now.
The flight started in the 172. We did a soft field takeoff and proceeded on course to the destination I planned for. After hitting a couple checkpoints, we broke off to do maneuvers. One thing drilled into my head before the checkride was "clearning turns, clearing turns, clearing turns!!!". I did them religiously and the DE seemed pleased. I did a chandelle, lazy 8s, slow flight, power off turning stall, and 8s on pylons. I felt great about everything except the 8s on pylons. I was waaay overcompensating for what little wind there was, but it was passable. An engine fire was simulated after we climbed a bit and I performed the appropriate procedures. We then took the airplane back for a soft field landing and tied it down. The Bonanza was next. Short field takeoff and climb to the practice area. We did a few steep turns and brought it back in for a short field landing. Checkride complete!
Started off looking at a cross country I had planned. Discussed a couple of MOAs my flight path overflew, VFR cloud clearances in the airspaces, a TRSA in the area, and requirements to enter the airspaces. The DE took a look at my nav log and performance calculations and seemed pleased. Next, we went over systems. I did better than I thought I would. The only question that stumpedy was "Why wouldn't the prop automatically feather itself in the event of an engine failure. It never occurred to me that a prop could do that. Of course, it turns out that it's because a feathered prop is difficult, if not impossible to restart. We discussed required mx, MELs, CELs, and 91.205. We went over hypoxia, hyperventilation, and supplemental oxygen. SCUBA regs were the last topic. I'm sure there were other topics in the oral that I'm forgetting now.
The flight started in the 172. We did a soft field takeoff and proceeded on course to the destination I planned for. After hitting a couple checkpoints, we broke off to do maneuvers. One thing drilled into my head before the checkride was "clearning turns, clearing turns, clearing turns!!!". I did them religiously and the DE seemed pleased. I did a chandelle, lazy 8s, slow flight, power off turning stall, and 8s on pylons. I felt great about everything except the 8s on pylons. I was waaay overcompensating for what little wind there was, but it was passable. An engine fire was simulated after we climbed a bit and I performed the appropriate procedures. We then took the airplane back for a soft field landing and tied it down. The Bonanza was next. Short field takeoff and climb to the practice area. We did a few steep turns and brought it back in for a short field landing. Checkride complete!
