Passed my CFI checkride
- Thread starter 6280LDO
- Start date
WMostellar
Well-Known Member
Congratulations!
6280LDO
Well-Known Member
Yeah. Good point. Here goes.
I did my training and checkride out of Tucson, largely due to the weather at Double Eagle Aviation. First and foremost, Double Eagle was amazing. 1 on 1 training for ground and flight with the chief instructor for 10 days. Quality organization here. Sam the chief instructor is great and makes sure you are ready. I cannot recommend them enough!
For scheduling, Scottsdale FSDO deffered the checkride to a DPE.
Day of the check ride, met with examiner at 0800. Since IACRA was completed a few days prior, the review went pretty quick as the examiner had already performed a cursory review. Next came standard check of logbook, endorsements, etc, and off we went.
She then had me show her the plane was safe and legal to fly and the weight and balance was acceptable based on her providing info prior to the check ride.
Examiner stated that I could use whatever references I wanted to answer questions, but would be looking for situational knowledge and not just rote.
First question was over endorsements and she asked what endorsements a perspective CFI candidate needs. We then jumped into FOI. Focused on Human Behavior and the Learning Process, but all the questions were scenario based and they touched on other FOI topics such as communications. We also discussed Instructor professionalism (required) and Risk management. Most questions were from the perspective of instruction of a student or commercial pilot.
We then moved back to endorsements and minimum requirements for private and commercial ratings. Often, I would refer back to FOI when discussing topics and the examiner seemed to like that.
Next was charts and airspace along with cross country planning as if I was teaching a student prior to first XC solo.....
For lesson plans, she had me teach forces of flight, weather, and 8's on pylons. Since I already had lesson plans, she gave me 10-15 minutes to organize my notes and present the lesson.
We then discussed stalls and spins..... Pretty straight forward there.
For most of the oral, she played the role of a student and would ask questions to see how I handled various situations and responses. All in all, oral was approx 4.5 hours.
She then provided me a list of maneuvers she would expect and told me to arrange them in the order I wanted. We also went over positive exchange of controls and the usual I am the PIC and she is there to help in an emergency...... She also stated that since runway incursion is a required topic, we would cover that while in the plane and taxiing.
For the maneuvers, she wanted:
1. Soft field T/O
2. Short field T/O
3. X-wind T/O
4. Steep turns
5. Lazy 8's
6. Elevator trim stall
7. Power on stall
8. Straight and level flight
9. Basic attitude instrument
10. S-turns
11. Soft field Landing
12. Short field Landing
13. X-wind landing
14. Engine out emergency landing
15. Engine starting procedure (to include hand prop and APU)
16. Leaning for T/O
Weather was not cooperative. Winds were 12-15 and ceilings were 7000 AGL. I elected to go anyway as I wanted to get this over with! (Probably not the best ADM, but examiner had no issue) She had me perform pre-flight myself and then came out and spent about 20 minutes asking technical questions about the plane (PA-28R-200).
We took off from Tucson and I have to say, for busy class C airspace, the controllers are extremely accommodating and professional, especially considering on the parallel runway there are big jets and F-15's taking off and landing.
Takeoff went well. I did a soft field, but based on winds, she counted this as both soft and x-wind. Once on course and altitude i gave a lesson on straight and level flight and she then went under the hood as I instructed as to primary/supporting instrument for altitude, heading, etc.
Steep turns were first and I must say, they were sloppy at best. I was getting thrown all over the place. I discussed the common errors associated and why I was sloppy and received no comments so I proceeded to Lazy 8's. Went off pretty well and of course, I was talking and teaching the whole time. Did power on stalls and then elevator trim stalls. She did not like my elevator trim stalls as she wanted a significant aft trim condition and severe pitch up. Did not fail, but we discussed it on the ground. Next was engine out and emergency landing. She asked questions from the student perspective and again, said little else. We then went to 8's on pylons and I was pretty nervous.... With the wind, I was afraid I would have a repeat of steep turns. Luckily, I nailed them. probably my best 8's on pylons ever! We then did S-turns and started heading back for landing.
On the way, she asked some aeromedical questions as well as emergency descent procedure and concept. For the landings, I performed a soft which she again counted as a x-wind as well. The tower let me do a 180 on the runway back to the starting point and I did a short field T/O followed by a short field landing. Total flight time was 2.5 on the hobbs. Longer than most since I had to clear Class C and then get back in......
If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask. I may have left a few points out here, as the last 10 hours are a blur.
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aviatorx43
Well-Known Member
Seriously?!? :-0. I guess that's "bad weather" in AZ. Jeesh!
But congratulations!! There is nothing like that feeling of relief. Go out and celebrate!
JDean3204
Well-Known Member
Congrats and thank you for the great write up. I wish the wx you described was the current weather here in portland. This time of year it is either low clouds and a ton of precip, or on clear days the wind out the gorge makes it hard to get out of TTD as they are usually over 25kts and gusty. it has been a long winter trying to crawl through the 141 Commercial syllabus.
6280LDO
Well-Known Member
I know, I live in Seattle. That why I went to AZ.
JDean3204
Well-Known Member
I have thought about making the move a few times myself but when it is feasible to fly in the weather it builds great experience. I may migrate somewhere warmer to build time next year as a Cfi.
6280LDO
Well-Known Member
Yeah. I did my private and instrument in WA, my multi single in Florida, my commercial single and multi in Arkansas, and CFI in AZ. Enjoyed AZ the best. Definitely going back to AZ for CFII and MEI although summer may be challenging with temp and density altitude.
what dpe did you use at double eagle? I had chuck perry for my commercial and Sam said he was one of the tougher dpe's, for scheduling reasons he was the only one avail. I felt chuck was a by the books guy and very fair. I am hoping to get back to double eagle for my cfi initial next month.
6280LDO
Well-Known Member
Deanna Strand. Very fair and practical.