Instrument Checkride

Parabellum

New Member
Whats up fellas...

I'm getting ready to take my instrument checkride here pretty soon. I haven't yet officially scheduled it, but its only a talk with my CFII away. This seems like it'll be harder than the private checkride in some respects. I'm not too worried about the flying part, but I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions on how to do well with compass turns (I like to use timed turns in addition to them, it really seems to help get on the target compass heading). I'm more worried about the oral part than anything else. Any tips there?

What seems to really be aggrevating the whole thing though is that I haven't flown in about 3 weeks due to school getting busy with the semester wrapping up, and I also started a new job at K-Mart (gotta pay for flying somehow). This has basically reduced time for the to study for the oral portion of the checkride.

Thanks for any advice!
 
Hey,
I can't help you with compass turns myself. It's been 4 months since I got my instrument and since then I've been in the VFR
world working on my commercial and CFI. I'll be brushing up on compass turns while working on my CFII.
As for getting ready for the instrument oral I would suggest (if you haven't done so yet) getting the ASA oral guide. It's a
little red book and is designed to help you for the oral. I'd get that and just go over it cover to cover. If you feel comfortable
with that little red book, you should be ready for the oral.
 
For the compass turns (more than 30 degrees) I use a roll out heading (UNOS - undershoot north overshoot south), look how far off I am, then use a timed turn to the intended heading. It usually never comes out to more than a 3 second timed turn as the roll out headings are pretty accurate. This way I can start the initial turn right away and I don't have to worry about getting the mental math right, especially if it's something like 'turn right from 280 to 030'; on my test he never asked for timed or compass turns, but of course I had to use them on the partial panel approach. I bet that's what most DEs do because they are allowed to combine items.

For the oral, the ASA book was okay but you might want to try picking up the little instrument review book. It's really small, probably only 4" high, but it is awesome. The only parts it lacks are weather definitions (i.e. TAFs, FAs, PIREPS, SIGMETS, AIRMETS, how often they come out, and how long they're valid for) and runway lighting definitions (SSALS ODALS HIRL MALSR, etc.), but you can write those in the back. Otherwise it has just about everything you could possibly be asked.

You can practice the approaches you think you'll do on FS.

Good luck on the ride; I hate tests but the result is totally worth it! Instrument flying is SOOOO fun!
 
Yea, I would definately recommend MicroSoft Flight Simulator. FS2002 was probably the best $50 I've spent. Just yesterday
I fired it up to practice some approaches and holds. If you have an idea of what approaches the examiner will ask you can
practice those approaches on FS2002 and will be more than ready for the flight portion of the checkride. Just remember,
don't go a foot below your decision altitude.

During my checkride I didn't have to worry about timed compass turns because I just used the GPS for heading during
partial panel approach. Again, pick up a copy of ASA instrument oral guide or the little instrument review book, fly the approaches
on FS2002 and you'll be ready for the checkride.
Good luck...
 
I had trouble with timed compass turns on my instrument ride last december. My DE made two helpful comments:

1) use some equipment to help with the math. For example, if you are heading 300 and he asks you to turn to 085, turn an unused VOR or ADF to 300 and then you can more easily visualize on the dial the number of degrees needed to make the turn.

2) If you get asked to turn to a heading that is mostly east or west, yo udont need to time the turn, because there isnt any "UNOS"-type error at that point.
 
Thanks for your input guys. I'm using King Checkride tapes to study for my oral part of the flight. My checkride is scheduled for next Monday. So provided the weather is good, we'll see how it goes!
 
One thing that I always did with my students was to give them situational questions. Anybody can sit there and tell you when you need an alternate or list off the required components of an ILS. The examiner is going to want to see if you can apply your knowledge to real world situations. He'll go through a flight that you'll plan out and ask you questions about things that you're likely to face when flying IFR. Weather is almost always a big thing on instrument checkrides because it is what gets pilots into trouble most often when they are in IMC. You might also get some pretty obscure questions. One examiner I know of asks his applicants if a C-172 can fly an ILS upside down, ignoring the fact that the engine would eventually quit. But it showed him that you understood the instruments and how they worked.

One thing that some examiners will ask is if it's okay to go below DA. The answer is yes you can go below DA, but not MDA. DA is the point at which the pilot must begin to go around. If your coming down at 450 fpm and you start to go around when you reach DA, you're likely to sink a little below the DA, and that is fine, the approach is designed for this. In the Saab 340, we shoot approaches at 140 kts, so we're coming down at 800-900 fpm. If we don't have the runway in sight at DA and start to go missed, we might sink enough to break out of the clouds and see the runway, but we still have to go missed because we didn't see it at the DA. If you weren't allowed to sink below the DA, then 747s would have to start going around a few hundred feet about DA.

Keep in mind that flying instruments is about 90% mental and 10% physical. You always want to be thinking ahead of the airplane. In Rod Machado's Instrument Flying Handbook, an excellent book by the way that I would reccomend if you don't have it already, he says that the two most important things in instrument flying are the next two things. If you keep that mindset you'll do fine.
 
[ QUOTE ]


One thing that some examiners will ask is if it's okay to go below DA. The answer is yes you can go below DA, but not MDA.

[/ QUOTE ]

Just a minor point to SAABFO's post...you can go below the MDA if you've met a few criteria (91.175c). Without going into all the detail, these include being continuously in a position to land, flight vis not being less than that on the plate being used, and a few more.
 
Hey Paul,
I'm scheduled to do my Instrument ride on Wednesday. Hopefully the wx is good. I still say Partial Panel NDB's should be against the law!
grin.gif
 
Harry,

Good luck on the instrument ride. I am practicing up for my CFI-I ride soon. I feel like I am learning this IFR stuff all over again. Tell yourself NDB partials are fun and you'll be fine.

Clicked on your website. on your solo XC, you were cuttin it close on the daylight, eh???
smile.gif
:):)

DeanR
 
[ QUOTE ]
I still say Partial Panel NDB's should be against the law!

[/ QUOTE ]

No sh*t. I don't think I've had to do very many of those, but I usually handle NDB stuff pretty well despite how cumbersome it is. I kind of wonder how much longer NDBs will even be around, since its easily one of the oldest navigation technologies that exists. Some new airplanes that are being sold these days (A few Pipers to be exact) don't even have NDB recievers on them.
 
[ QUOTE ]
For the oral, the ASA book was okay but you might want to try picking up the little instrument review book. It's really small, probably only 4" high, but it is awesome. The only parts it lacks are weather definitions (i.e. TAFs, FAs, PIREPS, SIGMETS, AIRMETS, how often they come out, and how long they're valid for) and runway lighting definitions (SSALS ODALS HIRL MALSR, etc.), but you can write those in the back. Otherwise it has just about everything you could possibly be asked.

[/ QUOTE ]
Does this little instrument review book have a name/author/publisher/ISBN#? "little instrument review book" turns up nothing on Amazon....
tongue.gif
 
Much! Thx!

And kinda funny too--I used to work for FlightTime.com (no hyphen), an online air charter brokerage (think Travelocity for the Part 135 world) that is now defunct.
 
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