2.7 (8) Crazy Flight on the Day Before Checkride

At last, the checkride will be tomorrow. We took off our base airport It was the most nervous moment throughout the training. The area of Salt Airport and its vicinity are very turbulent with rough air. I was scared with it. I made lots of subtle mistakes from even before takeoff. I’ve been making efforts but on the previous day of the checkride, I wasn’t feeling motivated.

Arriving at Salt Airport, I felt calm down. We parked the aircraft after landing to check the building where I was to take a checkride. Then, I contacted the controller with new ATIS to taxi to the runway.

First, we did a final check for several maneuvers and others. While flying, we discussed overshoot in the base-to-final turn, braking action in entering the runway for short-field takeoff, timing of seeing VASI when landing, reference points for turns at the traffic pattern, timing of adding power for soft-field landing, smooth lowering of aircraft nose in soft-field takeoff, braking action in landing, and the wind correction angle, etc. These corrections in detail resulted in completion of each maneuver.

However, when the controller gives me a complicated instruction, I lost an altitude or others. I easily forget “Fly The Airplane.” Don’t rush, be calm.

It is usually very windy and turbulent at and around Salt Airport. On that day, in addition to the rough air, the traffic was increasing, resulting in eventful traffic patterns (with complicated instructions by the controller).

I monitored an ATC instruction to make one S-Turn to the other traffic, which he didn’t understand at once. Then I tried to keep the approach path higher to do the forward slip, which is used to rapidly dissipate altitude and increase descent rate without increasing airspeed. Struggling with a forward slip, I got the same instruction to do two S-Turns. No way! I’m too busy.

Furthermore, because it may be caused by heavy traffic ahead, I was instructed to make three sixty (360), which means flying circle and back to the traffic pattern. I felt pressed to read back like “make three chicks tee.” Throughout the maneuver, the wind was strong, making me feel tumbled and depressed. But these series of events helped me in the checkride on the next day.

In the checkride, student pilots demonstrate the initial fragment of a cross-country flight previously designated by the examiner. In that practice, I almost entered the airspace which required us to be permitted. That was close. If I actually entered the airspace without permission, that would affect our license.

＜Airworks etc.＞

The level of completeness was satisfactory, but once I am distracted, it suddenly turned to collapse like a tire with a nut come off. We completed other final check including the airport’s unique local rules, terrain, airspaces in the vicinity, etc.

Because I’ll have the checkride tomorrow, I wish I could fly perfect today and have good sleep for tomorrow.

The reason why I am so scared of the windy conditions may be my experience in the past to encounter big turbulence on board of a jetliner. I got onto the floor while walking the aisle. As I shared with the instructor this experience and fear, he said there would not happen such turbulence at altitudes where we fly, so I should get calm. He also said that I made myself get panic. These words convinced me. I considered those words to be accurate reading, which helped me not only with checkride but also with my general life thereafter. That’s why I turned on a new mindset not to care much about the windy condition.

<You’ll Be OK, If Not Losing Heart>

After getting out of the plane, I was not in a good mood. The instructor said, “You’ll be OK, if you don’t lose heart.” “You’ve done well everything.” Yes, my success or failure will depend on my mental state.

In FAA checkride, there is a case of partial success. For example, your takeoffs and landing are successful but a cross-country flight is failure, or your soft-field landing is failure but the others are successful. In this case, you can take retest only for the rest of them.

I decided not to lose heart whatever will happen tomorrow. If any of the maneuvers or something else is considered to be failed, I will continue the checkride so as to be successful in areas as many as possible.

From an objective viewpoint, it’s a fifty-fifty chance. I’ve been doing best I could. So I don’t care about success or failure. I’m determined not to lose heart at any time tomorrow. (continued)