Passed the checkride today, and here's a brief run down:
First of all, it all started horribly. As I left the house (over an hour from the airport), I had the feeling I was forgetting something. Couldn't figure it out, double checked everything, and off I went. Once at the airport I discovered I was right. I left my kneeboard at home, which had all my certificates and my medical.
D'Oh!
I was freaked out and feeling like an idiot. My instructor called the examiner who was already enroute to the airport in his personal Cessna 206. He said don't worrry about it. We had copies of all of it at my flight school, and he could also look me up online.
I preflighted, and jammed out a W&B and performance data that was also left on my kneeboard at home and waited for him to arrive.
The DE's name is Ken, and he's a great guy. First off, he was the first DE I ever had who wasn't over 60 years old. He is an ex Eagle Captain, and is probably the best DE I've ever flown with.
Some weather was forcasted later in the afternoon and he didn't want to get stuck or postpone the ride, so we headed out with him saying the oral would be done in the plane. And that he did - he randomly fired off systems and aerodynamics questions throughout the flight, yet did it in a practical application sort of way.
Took off, did steep turns, slow flight, and stalls. Some interesting things I didn't know:
Steep turns: At the commercial level you are supposed to transition from one direction to the other without a pause, but at the private level you can pause between directions.
Stalls: At the private level you are supposed to take it to the full stall, but at the commercial level you are only supposed to take it to the first signs of the stall.
Then we did a VMC demo. It was here I learned my instructor taught me incorrectly. My instructor had me simulate zero thrust for the demo, but it turns out you aren't supposed to bring the prop back. And it makes sense too; for VMC certification, the prop is windmilling. Duh. Anyway, he understood my explanation and let me do it again and no problems.
Then he told me my left engine was rapidly losing oil pressure with a corresponding increase in temp, so I basically had to give myself the engine failure. Went through the steps, no problems, and he had me restart. Then he simulated the same failure with zero thrust and we did a SE GPS approach.
Once at the MDA and on short final I did my final before landing check, and discovered I didn't have three greens. I had dropped the gear at the FAF and didn't notice the lack of three greens because I was distracted with something else. Thankfully, I do MULTIPLE before landing checks on every approach and caught it.
Then did a short field and was done!
Have the MEI next Tuesday!
First of all, it all started horribly. As I left the house (over an hour from the airport), I had the feeling I was forgetting something. Couldn't figure it out, double checked everything, and off I went. Once at the airport I discovered I was right. I left my kneeboard at home, which had all my certificates and my medical.
D'Oh!
I was freaked out and feeling like an idiot. My instructor called the examiner who was already enroute to the airport in his personal Cessna 206. He said don't worrry about it. We had copies of all of it at my flight school, and he could also look me up online.
I preflighted, and jammed out a W&B and performance data that was also left on my kneeboard at home and waited for him to arrive.
The DE's name is Ken, and he's a great guy. First off, he was the first DE I ever had who wasn't over 60 years old. He is an ex Eagle Captain, and is probably the best DE I've ever flown with.
Some weather was forcasted later in the afternoon and he didn't want to get stuck or postpone the ride, so we headed out with him saying the oral would be done in the plane. And that he did - he randomly fired off systems and aerodynamics questions throughout the flight, yet did it in a practical application sort of way.
Took off, did steep turns, slow flight, and stalls. Some interesting things I didn't know:
Steep turns: At the commercial level you are supposed to transition from one direction to the other without a pause, but at the private level you can pause between directions.
Stalls: At the private level you are supposed to take it to the full stall, but at the commercial level you are only supposed to take it to the first signs of the stall.
Then we did a VMC demo. It was here I learned my instructor taught me incorrectly. My instructor had me simulate zero thrust for the demo, but it turns out you aren't supposed to bring the prop back. And it makes sense too; for VMC certification, the prop is windmilling. Duh. Anyway, he understood my explanation and let me do it again and no problems.
Then he told me my left engine was rapidly losing oil pressure with a corresponding increase in temp, so I basically had to give myself the engine failure. Went through the steps, no problems, and he had me restart. Then he simulated the same failure with zero thrust and we did a SE GPS approach.
Once at the MDA and on short final I did my final before landing check, and discovered I didn't have three greens. I had dropped the gear at the FAF and didn't notice the lack of three greens because I was distracted with something else. Thankfully, I do MULTIPLE before landing checks on every approach and caught it.
Then did a short field and was done!
Have the MEI next Tuesday!