Solo nightmare/private test

Boltonpilot

New Member
Hello all, it's been a long time since I have posted anything on this website. Quite simply, I've kinda forgotten about it. Anyway, I'm still a student pilot and I'm doing solo cross-country work. Recently, I have not had much luck with finding fair weather for flying because what can I say?--Ohio can suck concerning that aspect!

I've been doing pretty well with flying, however I had one solo flight that was a disaster. I had an endorsment to fly with nothing more than a 10 kt wind and a 6kt cross wind component, (I think,) After I had departed my home airport, (Bolton, TZR) I went to the practice area, as well as a non-towered airport in Fayette County. When I took off, my wind's were within my acceptable range so I departed. 1.5 hrs later, on my arival to TZR, I had to deal with an 18kt wind gusting to 22kts. Yeah, here I am trying to handle a strong cross wind along with the traffic at my airport which was extremely heavy at the time. Bolton is considered Class D, but it seemed more like Class C.

Another factor which did not benefit my landing was the fact that every so often, I tend to fly Cessna's with the thoughts of an airline pilot flying a B757; I flare a LITTLE TO SOON. So basically I hit the runway AWFULLY hard and I bounce back up. (At least my bounce recovery was a lot better.)

I had one question for people who have a PPL. I REALLY hate having to read FAR Part 43 all together. I my book, which is publised by ASA, they have a suggested study list to refer to when you are persuing certain liscences and ratings. One of their suggestions is to basically know everything in Part 43. I was wondering exactly if anyone could tell me just how much is truly necessary for me to know in order to pass the test.

Another thing, I don't have any idea on what will be asked of me on my oral. I was wondering if anyone could give me some example questions which the FAA has asked in the past.

--Thanks
 
Why did you not divert to another airport with lighter winds? They seem awfully strong for a student.
 
This was one of my first endorsed x-country flights, so that was my only option.
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Couple of things:

!) You should have had an alternate no matter what. Just for this reason.

2) Your instructor should be giving you all the info to prepare you for the checkride. If not, find a new instructor or a new school. Though there are many types of study guides and books, King Schools was pretty good. It pretty much clears up alot of grey area. They even have a CD on just the oral part of the checkride. They are on the web. Also look at the Gleim books. They are the RED books. They have every question for the written test and their practical info is spot on for preparing you for the Checkride.

Using both King and Gleim, I got a 97 on the written and passed the Checkride on the first shot without a hitch.....

3) Practice the crosswinds with your instructor over and over. Pretty soon something clicks and they are no big deal (ok, maybe 22 is a big deal) but you get the drift. Good luck.

PS......remember to breathe......
 
well, without bringing out my far, I believe that part 43 is maintenence. I would only be familiar with stuff that was preventative. PM me on any specific question you have, more than happy to help. Take care....
 
It is safer to land at another airport with calmer winds, then go to an airport you know where the winds are above your ability.
 
Yeah, when I look back on it, I was not too happy about the fact that I did not have many alternatives. Furthermore, my instructor did not even mention various weather forecasts from DUAT, a FSS, understanding METAR's, etc, which would have helped me further in making a go/no-go decision. I thought it was a bad approach in a teaching order.
 
[ QUOTE ]
I thought it was a bad approach in a teaching order.

[/ QUOTE ]

While you may be right, it's YOUR life; YOU are the guy up there in the plane.

That means asking questions when you are not sure of something and always knowing what to do if Plan A falls through.
 
Regarding Part 43, know that YOU cannot do any kind of preventative maintenance on an airplane unless you are the owner. I got burned on this question on my commercial checkride (luckily not enough to bust though).
 
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I thought it was a bad approach in a teaching order.

[/ QUOTE ]

While you may be right, it's YOUR life; YOU are the guy up there in the plane.

That means asking questions when you are not sure of something and always knowing what to do if Plan A falls through.

[/ QUOTE ]

--Good point.
tongue.gif
 
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