Mike H
Well-Known Member
Yesterday, I took my CFI initial checkride with Inspector Chris Lang of the Denver FSDO. Originally, this was supposed to take place 2 weeks earlier, but a problem with the landing gear on the airplane meant a re-schedule. The original scheduling was for only a week after I first called the FSDO, though.
There was a slight delay getting started due to Chris having to handle a matter for another Inspector who was out sick. We finally got started on the Oral portion at around 9:30. We started out with the usual- checking my ID, Pilot Certificate, Medical, Knowledge test results & Logbook, three possible outcomes, etc. Following the PTS, we progressed to FOI stuff. I was an Educationmajor and got my degree in Education, so I was familiar with all of that area. As a sorf of off-hand comment, Chris said we'd get into a Guided Discussion and that's what the rest of the oral was- a masterfully guided discussion where we had a conversation about teaching, flying, and teaching flying. We hit on every requirement in the PTS for the oral exam- some of it briefly, some of it more in depth, but we hit on everything and it wasn't until it was over that it occured to me what went on. I'd never observed or took part in a guided discussion that smooth in college or anywhere else. This guy was good.
When we scheduled the checkride, he told me to pick a maneuver, any maneuver, to teach a ground lesson and a flight lesson about. I looked through the PTS and saw that 8's on Pylons was one of the required maneuvers anyway, so I decided to work up a lesson plan on that. I asked him if he wanted me to use the format from the Flight Instructors Handbook and he said I could use whatever format I felt comfortable with. I presented the ground lesson and he was pleased with it, so he said, "OK, let's go over what we're going to do on the flight" The oral was over and it wasn't quite noon- call it 2-1/2 hours total time.
Since the originlal plan was to be done with the flight by 2:00 pm, we went flying without a lunch break. One of Chris's big areas of emphasis is see & avoid- clear for traffic constantly. Eyes outside the cockpit as much as possible. A few weeks ago, there was a mid-air just outside of Boulder between a Cirrus and a glider tow plane. Chris was the first Inspector on scene. He keeps a glider of his own at the Boulder airport. Clearing for traffic has always been a big priority of mine too- ever since my first solo to the practice area when I had a near miss with another Cessna.
The Flight:
Chris had me go over the pre-flight inspection as though I were doing it for a private pilot looking to step up to a complex aircraft. As we went through it, I learned a few things about the PA28 that I never even heard about before- like the stabilator limit screws (just beneath the rudder, thee are 4 bolts, 2 above and 2 beneath on either side of the rudder) that, if they aren't properly tightened can back themselves out and totally prevent the stabilator from moving at all and giving the pilot no pitch control whatsoever. With the preflight done, start-up, taxi & run up were all done as normally. Winds at KBJC, as at most airports, are rarely straight down the runway, so even a normal takeoff gets you credit for a crosswind take off.
Right out of the box, the first thing we did after clearing the BJC Class Delta airspace was aim for an uncongested area, determine the wind direction and pick some pylons for the 8's on Pylons lesson, I went over all of the elements again, cleared for traffic, and flew the maneuver. Then I had him fly the maneuver (positive exchange of flight controls). Very nice. Next up was a climb to higher altitude to go do chandells & lazy 8's, so I did a chandelle each way to gain some altitude, then did a lazy-8. Next was a steep turn at cruise power (18" & 2300 rpm for approx 100 kts) Then he had me go to full power and do a climbing steep turn to gain some additional altitude for the stall series. We got to 8500ft (about 3500 agl) and configured for the power off, approach to landing stall, then a power on stall in a 20 degree bank. "OK, let's head back to the airport and do our landings. When we get over a suitable open area, let's do a steep-spiral descent to get down to pattern altitude and then fly the rest of the way to the airport by Pilotage" Cool. I tell Chris I don't think we're high enough to get in 3 full turns in the descent, but he says two will be adequate. Then he says "When would you use this maneuver?" Well, if you have an emergency and need to stay over an airport or suitable landing area while you get down, or if those VFR conditions at your destination close down and you have to stay VFR while you descend through a hole in the clouds- Perfect- the answer he was looking for.
We get back to the airport just about the time the wind shifted to a quartering tailwind, which totally messed up my approach for a short field landing. We weren't going to make the 1000 ft markers, so I got to do a go-around with no penalty. Back around the pattern for another try. Just as the airplane ahead of us landed long and went around, tower announced that they were changing runways from 29 to 11 (wind was then 050 at 10). Eventually, they got us established in the pattern for 11, and my short field landing was adequate. Once we were on the down wind again, Chris asked "ow would you critique yourself on that landing?" My airspeed on final was varying a few knots either side of the 70 I was aiming for, and I let the crosswind drift us a little to the right of centerline. The next landing was a soft-field, which went somewhat better than the short field one, and I was asked to self-critique that one too. The final landing was the power off 180 accuracy landing- only in this case, Chris said "Instead of the way you've done it before, I want you to treat this as though it was an actual engine-out emergency. Once I tell you you've lost your engine, I want you to immediately turn to the runway. Only lower the landing gear when you're assured of making the runway, but what I want you to do is get the airplane on the runway and land safely. OK, you've just lost your engine..." I pitched for best glide of 78 knots and turned base right about at the numbers. I still thought I had to make the 1000 ft markers which meant we were still too high. "We're not gonna make the markers" I said, thinking after all this I was about to blow it. " I don't care about the markers, I want you to get the plane safely on the ground. How are you going to get it down?" I did something I had never done in that airplane before. I slipped it to a landing. "Nice job" All I had to do now was get back to parking without hitting anything, which due to a fuel truck in the way was accomplished with inches to spare. Well, several feet to spare anyway.
Doing a checkride with the FSDO is nothing to be afraid of. I had a great time.
There was a slight delay getting started due to Chris having to handle a matter for another Inspector who was out sick. We finally got started on the Oral portion at around 9:30. We started out with the usual- checking my ID, Pilot Certificate, Medical, Knowledge test results & Logbook, three possible outcomes, etc. Following the PTS, we progressed to FOI stuff. I was an Educationmajor and got my degree in Education, so I was familiar with all of that area. As a sorf of off-hand comment, Chris said we'd get into a Guided Discussion and that's what the rest of the oral was- a masterfully guided discussion where we had a conversation about teaching, flying, and teaching flying. We hit on every requirement in the PTS for the oral exam- some of it briefly, some of it more in depth, but we hit on everything and it wasn't until it was over that it occured to me what went on. I'd never observed or took part in a guided discussion that smooth in college or anywhere else. This guy was good.
When we scheduled the checkride, he told me to pick a maneuver, any maneuver, to teach a ground lesson and a flight lesson about. I looked through the PTS and saw that 8's on Pylons was one of the required maneuvers anyway, so I decided to work up a lesson plan on that. I asked him if he wanted me to use the format from the Flight Instructors Handbook and he said I could use whatever format I felt comfortable with. I presented the ground lesson and he was pleased with it, so he said, "OK, let's go over what we're going to do on the flight" The oral was over and it wasn't quite noon- call it 2-1/2 hours total time.
Since the originlal plan was to be done with the flight by 2:00 pm, we went flying without a lunch break. One of Chris's big areas of emphasis is see & avoid- clear for traffic constantly. Eyes outside the cockpit as much as possible. A few weeks ago, there was a mid-air just outside of Boulder between a Cirrus and a glider tow plane. Chris was the first Inspector on scene. He keeps a glider of his own at the Boulder airport. Clearing for traffic has always been a big priority of mine too- ever since my first solo to the practice area when I had a near miss with another Cessna.
The Flight:
Chris had me go over the pre-flight inspection as though I were doing it for a private pilot looking to step up to a complex aircraft. As we went through it, I learned a few things about the PA28 that I never even heard about before- like the stabilator limit screws (just beneath the rudder, thee are 4 bolts, 2 above and 2 beneath on either side of the rudder) that, if they aren't properly tightened can back themselves out and totally prevent the stabilator from moving at all and giving the pilot no pitch control whatsoever. With the preflight done, start-up, taxi & run up were all done as normally. Winds at KBJC, as at most airports, are rarely straight down the runway, so even a normal takeoff gets you credit for a crosswind take off.
Right out of the box, the first thing we did after clearing the BJC Class Delta airspace was aim for an uncongested area, determine the wind direction and pick some pylons for the 8's on Pylons lesson, I went over all of the elements again, cleared for traffic, and flew the maneuver. Then I had him fly the maneuver (positive exchange of flight controls). Very nice. Next up was a climb to higher altitude to go do chandells & lazy 8's, so I did a chandelle each way to gain some altitude, then did a lazy-8. Next was a steep turn at cruise power (18" & 2300 rpm for approx 100 kts) Then he had me go to full power and do a climbing steep turn to gain some additional altitude for the stall series. We got to 8500ft (about 3500 agl) and configured for the power off, approach to landing stall, then a power on stall in a 20 degree bank. "OK, let's head back to the airport and do our landings. When we get over a suitable open area, let's do a steep-spiral descent to get down to pattern altitude and then fly the rest of the way to the airport by Pilotage" Cool. I tell Chris I don't think we're high enough to get in 3 full turns in the descent, but he says two will be adequate. Then he says "When would you use this maneuver?" Well, if you have an emergency and need to stay over an airport or suitable landing area while you get down, or if those VFR conditions at your destination close down and you have to stay VFR while you descend through a hole in the clouds- Perfect- the answer he was looking for.
We get back to the airport just about the time the wind shifted to a quartering tailwind, which totally messed up my approach for a short field landing. We weren't going to make the 1000 ft markers, so I got to do a go-around with no penalty. Back around the pattern for another try. Just as the airplane ahead of us landed long and went around, tower announced that they were changing runways from 29 to 11 (wind was then 050 at 10). Eventually, they got us established in the pattern for 11, and my short field landing was adequate. Once we were on the down wind again, Chris asked "ow would you critique yourself on that landing?" My airspeed on final was varying a few knots either side of the 70 I was aiming for, and I let the crosswind drift us a little to the right of centerline. The next landing was a soft-field, which went somewhat better than the short field one, and I was asked to self-critique that one too. The final landing was the power off 180 accuracy landing- only in this case, Chris said "Instead of the way you've done it before, I want you to treat this as though it was an actual engine-out emergency. Once I tell you you've lost your engine, I want you to immediately turn to the runway. Only lower the landing gear when you're assured of making the runway, but what I want you to do is get the airplane on the runway and land safely. OK, you've just lost your engine..." I pitched for best glide of 78 knots and turned base right about at the numbers. I still thought I had to make the 1000 ft markers which meant we were still too high. "We're not gonna make the markers" I said, thinking after all this I was about to blow it. " I don't care about the markers, I want you to get the plane safely on the ground. How are you going to get it down?" I did something I had never done in that airplane before. I slipped it to a landing. "Nice job" All I had to do now was get back to parking without hitting anything, which due to a fuel truck in the way was accomplished with inches to spare. Well, several feet to spare anyway.
Doing a checkride with the FSDO is nothing to be afraid of. I had a great time.
