Private Pilot Checkride tommorrow

[Helipilot PTK]

Finally! It has been a little over a year sense I started my pay as you go flight training and it has been an amazing experience. I have my checkride scheduled for Thursday December 1 at 12:00pm. I will be flying today, and tomorrow before the checkride to make sure I am hitting everything just right. Any advice greatly appreciated.

 

-Josh

[Helipilot PTK]

Well I got back from flying today and we are postponing the check-ride for another week. I was having trouble with hovering autos, a little frustrated but eager to get them right.

 

-Josh

[Goldy]

Well I got back from flying today and we are postponing the check-ride for another week. I was having trouble with hovering autos, a little frustrated but eager to get them right.

 

-Josh

 

Don't sweat it, if your flying the R22, once that engine fails its just lots of right pedal and pull collective. Originally, I remember thinking I had to drop collective and then pull.....like you would in an auto. That doesnt work too well in the 22! Just important that you get that pedal input in,so that you are not drifting sideways when the skids touch. Like anything, it becomes automatic with more practice. Good luck on the Ck ride.

[kodoz]

I was having trouble with hovering autos, a little frustrated but eager to get them right.

 

-Josh

 

Slow them down...no need to be snapping the throttle off. You can also give yourself a little forward movement to help stabilize the helicopter as you settle.

[Helipilot PTK]

The checkride is rescheduled for Wednesday. I will be flying Monday Tuesday and Wednesday before the checkride. Thanks for the advice on them everyone. kodoz that was my problem, when I just smoothly rolled off the throttle instead of chopping it I started doing them alot better. I will let you guys know how it goes.

[rodrop]

Hang in there and good luck!

[Spirit of '69]

i just passed my pvt checkride in october- what a feeling of pride mixed w/ relief. i hope it goes well!

[navair]

well, how'd it go

[Helipilot PTK]

The checkride is on Wednesday. I flew today and my hovering autos were good, I am feeling a lot more confident now. I will let you know if I pass Wednesday after the checkride. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

 

Josh

[Goldy]

Probably just two words...relax...breathe.

[Maggie]

I had a problem keeping my hover autos within the 10 degrees. I ended up coming up with my own flow. Instead of "throttle, pedal, settle, pull", I did "pedal, throttle (pretty much at the same time, but changing the way I said it made me faster on the pedal) settle, pull." I don't know if I'd change it a week before you checkride (probably not advisable), but something to think about, and for others that have a hard time with them. I've got my instrument checkride next Wednesday (been working on it since March).

 

Good luck on your checkride!

[gary-mike]

Probably just two words...relax...breathe.

 

Bet that is easier said than done Goldy, can't imagine how stressful my checkride will be, I stress like a mofo when I'm being evaluated. I think I may be alright though, I have had some nit pickers evaluate me for engine run certs. I made it through it with a hew strategies. first make sure you have a good understanding of the mechanics of your ship. Try to memorize the steps for emergency procedures. Know the limitations of your ship.

 

Now, I'm sure you have done the things I listed above... All you have to do is be aware and react instinctively. You are probably going to surprise yourself, having an evaluator on board will really highten your awareness. Difference with my situation is, you are going to be actually flying. Don't forget that fact, stay focused on your ADM ans situational awareness.

 

Short and sweet,try to be yourself and trust your instincts... and watch the instruments.

 

Most of all, listen to the experienced guys. My experience is in a simulator runs for fighter jets and conducting actual ground runs. The course was pretty intense though, and from experience, I was held to a higher standard than the pilots were. It was 100% or you fail for emergency proceedures (hot start, stall, stagnation, blow out, JFS fire, Engine fire, burn through, auto accell, generator fail, ect. ect.)

 

What I got from all of that was, If you know your aircraft and understand the systems, everything will come to you like second nature and all the stress and fuss will be all mental, and leave you wondering what you were so worried about.

 

Hope this is the case for you too,

 

Looking forward to hearing from the newest "Pilot " after the check ride.

[Adam S]

So did everyone cut the throttle on their own checkride? I always learned them with my instructor cutting it and during the checkride the examiner did it too. I don't even imagine there being a little surprise if you do it yourself.

[Helipilot PTK]

I Passed! Just got back from the checkride. It feel awesome, a mix between relief and excitement. Thanks for all the advice as it helped greatly. Now off to celebrate.

[gary-mike]

Congrats! Was it as stressful as you thought it was going to be?

[Helipilot PTK]

Thank you. And no, it was a lot less stressful than I thought it would be, I had a laid back flight examiner which made me feel a lot less stressed.

[Spirit of '69]

this is how I learned the way to make a smooth hover auto for a checkride: hover low (2' hover), ease off throttle slowly, all the way to detent, while compensating for loss of torque w/ pedal, and pull collective, slight forward right cyclic to maintain hover attitude. Its not a realistic representation of a real engine failure, but gives your automatic responses a smoothness which will help in the event of a real engine failure.