Earlier today, I finally passed my first stage check. For the past two weeks, I had struggled with the practical. I failed horribly the first time, and during the second time, the ceiling came down to just over 2,000 feet and the visibility was less than 6 statute miles. Because of these past two attempts, I had experience of the mistakes I made. The mistakes left me feeling confident and comfortable this tie around.
The winds were definitely not optimal for a check ride. During the preflight paperwork, the winds were coming 30 degrees off the active runway at 11 knots. By the time I was practicing my touch and goes, 2 hours later the winds were still 30 degrees off the centerline but at 14 knots and gusting to 25. While you might think the winds made it harder, they somewhat helped. My check airman judged my landings more leniently than if the winds were weaker or variable.
Just like the last two attempts, I was judged on both the power off and power on stalls, as well as slow flight. However, this time, I was instructed to a ground reference maneuver. Unfortunately the winds were gusting so my circle around a point wasn’t the best I had ever done. (After the flight, the check airman actually admitted that he was expecting a horrible circle around the point. So I won’t say I impressed him, but he was a little surprised). As for the rest of the maneuvers, they went well. The stalls were satisfactory, as well were my two engine failure procedures. Like I said before, the landings were a little bit dicey. I had to do 2 go-arounds; one because the plane in front of me was going way too slow and I caught up to him, and the other because the tower told me to do so. Other than that, my flight was a success.
Next lesson I can finally do my first solo. The first solo for our school is three taxi-backs. (Which means I’ll land, taxi off the runway, and go back to the active runway to take off again). The only thing I need to watch is the crosswinds. My instructors won’t let me solo unless the crosswinds are less than 5 knots. As for stage 2, I’ll be learning how to plan cross-country flights, as well as flying at night.
Don’t worry if you fail a check ride which would have allowed you to solo. This was my third attempt at it and it finally worked out. Everyone has a little trouble with the first check ride, whether they admit it or not.
Next post will be for my first solo. Hopefully, I’ll have pictures or a video to share.
The winds were definitely not optimal for a check ride. During the preflight paperwork, the winds were coming 30 degrees off the active runway at 11 knots. By the time I was practicing my touch and goes, 2 hours later the winds were still 30 degrees off the centerline but at 14 knots and gusting to 25. While you might think the winds made it harder, they somewhat helped. My check airman judged my landings more leniently than if the winds were weaker or variable.
Just like the last two attempts, I was judged on both the power off and power on stalls, as well as slow flight. However, this time, I was instructed to a ground reference maneuver. Unfortunately the winds were gusting so my circle around a point wasn’t the best I had ever done. (After the flight, the check airman actually admitted that he was expecting a horrible circle around the point. So I won’t say I impressed him, but he was a little surprised). As for the rest of the maneuvers, they went well. The stalls were satisfactory, as well were my two engine failure procedures. Like I said before, the landings were a little bit dicey. I had to do 2 go-arounds; one because the plane in front of me was going way too slow and I caught up to him, and the other because the tower told me to do so. Other than that, my flight was a success.
Next lesson I can finally do my first solo. The first solo for our school is three taxi-backs. (Which means I’ll land, taxi off the runway, and go back to the active runway to take off again). The only thing I need to watch is the crosswinds. My instructors won’t let me solo unless the crosswinds are less than 5 knots. As for stage 2, I’ll be learning how to plan cross-country flights, as well as flying at night.
Don’t worry if you fail a check ride which would have allowed you to solo. This was my third attempt at it and it finally worked out. Everyone has a little trouble with the first check ride, whether they admit it or not.
Next post will be for my first solo. Hopefully, I’ll have pictures or a video to share.
