CFI checkride preparation help

[ctimrun]

My cfi and I have been preparing for my cfi checkride and have covered a lot of material. In my own preparation at home I have tried to cover just about everything I can think of. I/we have gone over the PTS over and over. I am hoping I am prepared and not missing anything. The checkride is scheduled with Dan Benton out of Van Nuys. Anyone have any tips on specific topics to concentrate on to be even more prepared for Benton?

Edited December 24, 2010 by ctimrun

[rick1128]

My cfi and I have been preparing for my cfi checkride and have covered a lot of material. In my own preparation at home I have tried to cover just about everything I can think of. I/we have gone over the PTS over and over. I am hoping I am prepared and not missing anything. The checkride is scheduled with Dan Benton out of Van Nuys. Anyone have any tips on specific topics to concentrate on to be even more prepared for Benton?

 

I have never dealt with the man, but I will give you some general advice.

 

First, if you don't know the answer, don't BS him. Tell him you don't know. However, you should have a good idea where to find the information.

 

Next, when you talk about endorsements, I would have a copy of the current AC with you. Most DPEs like to see it. Also don't be afraid to discuss putting additional restrictions on your endorsements. After all the student you endorse is partially flying on your certificate. They mess up, the FAA can have an interesting discussion with you. And it could be uncomfortable. There is nothing that restricts you from putting additional restrictions on a student. I usually add wind, x-wind and other weather restrictions. As the student advances, I remove more and more of the restrictions. Based on experience, I have add a 'no night' and 'no passengers' entry in the endorsement. This is to cover my butt when the student gets caught doing those things. If it is in the endorsement, they have a hard time saying you didn't tell them. For students that have their own aircraft, I add a note that they need to call me prior to their flying. When they do, I primarily discuss the weather and what their plans are. Remember they are student pilots, they will make dumb mistakes. That is why they are student pilots.

 

Other than that, just relax and have fun. The more relaxed you are the better you will perform. Don't let one mess up throw you off. I have seen too many applicants fail themselves. They let one shaky maneuver mess them up and they mess up the rest of the check ride. If you mess up a maneuver, abort and tell him what you did wrong and do it again.

[Goldy]

The checkride is scheduled with Dan Benton out of Van Nuys. Anyone have any tips on specific topics to concentrate on to be even more prepared for Benton?

 

Be prepared to discuss the most recent changes to FAR's concerning required flight times for training....and that those times stand alone and cannot be combined (ie, commercial and instrument and counting time towards both). Be organized.

 

Dan is a very fair guy.

[rick1128]

One thing I forgot to mention. At a FAASTeam seminar last week it was mentioned that Washington is starting to hit a little harder on AeroMedical items. Seems like a lot of people are having problems with hypoxia and the like. This seems especially true in the helicopter world. A lot of the pilots seem to think that hypoxia is not a problem because they fly low. I keep pointing out that helicopters like the Lama are certified to 41,000 feet and that the Lama has a factory installed O2 system.

[helikriewall]

I took my commercial and CFI checkrides with Dan. He’s definitely a very fair DPE. I've seen Dan fail two CFI's on there checkrides. Some words of advice as to why they failed.

1) Always make clearing turns, especially while demonstrating settling with power.

2) Make sure you have a head wind during your off airport landing. As easy as it sounds just double check on final to make sure.

3) RPM control during the auto, quickly correcting for low and high RRPM situations as the instructor.

4) During the auto know what the wind is doing and adjust accordingly to make your spot.

 

I’ve taken two checkrides with Dan and send all of my students to him as well, so I know exactly what he's looking for.

Feel free to PM me if you have any other questions. By the way when is your checkride?

[ctimrun]

Thanks to everyone who responded, I appreciate the help and advice. Was reading the replies over the last five days, just couldn't respond since I have been at work. Got the checkride done and it went well. Glad to be done with it so I can relax and enjoy the holidays now. It was a pleasure meeting, being evaluated, and learning from Dan as well.

 

Will start working on my instrument and CFII in the first part of next year, looking forward to it!

[dc3freightdog]

My cfi and I have been preparing for my cfi checkride and have covered a lot of material. In my own preparation at home I have tried to cover just about everything I can think of. I/we have gone over the PTS over and over. I am hoping I am prepared and not missing anything. The checkride is scheduled with Dan Benton out of Van Nuys. Anyone have any tips on specific topics to concentrate on to be even more prepared for Benton?

 

In August 2010 I took my helicopter CFII check ride and in addition to the normal PTS material my examiner was very interested in safety and ADM. I used the Civil Air Patrol risk matrix for the checkride preparation and it was very well received.

fly safe

BC

[Goldy]

Will start working on my instrument and CFII in the first part of next year, looking forward to it!

 

Hey congratulations! Where are you flying at?

[ctimrun]

Hey congratulations! Where are you flying at?

 

Goldy,

 

PM sent!

Edited December 25, 2010 by ctimrun

[helikriewall]

Hey congrats as well! If you dont mind send me a PM as well, I fly out of Van Nuys so maybe I've seen you around?

[ctimrun]

Hey congrats as well! If you dont mind send me a PM as well, I fly out of Van Nuys so maybe I've seen you around?

 

PM sent!

[ctimrun]

I took my two CFI knowledge tests in January of 2009 so I had about a month before they expired. Some issues at work had prevented me from pursuing the rating since I took the knowledge tests. I did not want to retake those tests so I made sure to get it done in time.

 

Guillaume Maillet at LA Helicopters prepared me for the CFI ride. I am sure many will recognize Guillaume's name as he is one of the instructors for the Robinson Safety Course. He is a great instructor, I was way over prepared, which is obviously what a good instructor should do for a student.

 

If anyone is looking for a good flight school in the Long Beach area, I highly recommend them. Very professional and VERY thorough, definitely a top notch school. I will be continuing on with my instrument/II training with them in the near future.

Edited December 25, 2010 by ctimrun

[OneCoqui]

Congratulations!!!!