The Flight Test Pressure mounts.

[viennatech]

So here I am, 5 years after obtaining my student license and ~50 hours later am ready to take my flight test this Sunday. Well maybe I am not ready yet the timing of it all says I MUST take it Sunday or else go back and rewrite the PSTAR and get a new SPL. I'd rather not do that.

I believe I was more ready to take the test 2 months ago when I was performing to 3's and 4's on most items. I went for a supervisory check last week and was barely scraping by with 2's and 3's. Is this something that happens to us all? I seem to have gotten more rusty as I get closer to the checkride.

So that said, I have 3 days to study for this test. Suggestions where my focus should be?

I have all the ground portions pat. I can do the planning and all of the calculations easily. I just seem to get brain dead about 1/2 way thru the check ride. Right about the time they are setting me up for the diversion I lose perspective. Is this normal?

Lastly I think it's related to the steep turns. As a hater of "G" I get a little disoriented after the steep turns. Has anyone ever asked to do this LAST on the ride? Will it work?

Hoping for some good insight on the verge of this test..

[philknight29]

I don't know how your Instructors mark things just yet. (Just about to convert my FAA to TC then the TC FI) but as a Senior Police Blue Light Instructor and Mock Tester I can tell you that I always marked very very rigidly on the Mock Tests hell doing 80 miles an hour along a road needs concentration. This more often than not kicked that student in the butt and made that extra effort at the end of the course to complete all the on road driving exercises higher than the standard required. Which at the end of the day is what we wanted.

So I'd say on your mock they are probably knocking you down a peg so you don't swagger in thinking you know it all. Keep studying and do the best you can.

[Hedley]

Many people are their own worst enemies when
it comes to written and flight tests - they needlessly
stress themselves out to the point where their performance
declines markedly. I'm not sure that's really our
objective in flight training, but ...

Prepare as best you can, then my advice is that you
need something to distract you, to keep your mind
off the pressure. A long tradition in aviation is to get
good and drunk the night before, so you are at your
finest the next day. Long before you were born, this
was used as a technique to improve instrument
flying precision.

When you get older, and have some more experience,
you will develop some perspective about artificial
written and flight tests. Even if you flunk them, it's
really not important - you still will go on living, and
with a bit of luck, still get laid tonight.

But if you make a mistake in the real world, after
you pass your artificial tests, you may very well
kill yourself, your passengers, and people on the
ground as well.

This is the real test - every flight AFTER your
artificial, regimented tests are complete.

I know, I know, crap on me from a great height
for introducing some realism.

[viennatech]

Many people are their own worst enemies when
it comes to written and flight tests - they needlessly
stress themselves out to the point where their performance
declines markedly. I'm not sure that's really our
objective in flight training, but ...

Prepare as best you can, then my advice is that you
need something to distract you, to keep your mind
off the pressure. A long tradition in aviation is to get
good and drunk the night before, so you are at your
finest the next day. Long before you were born, this
was used as a technique to improve instrument
flying precision.

Thanks Hedley, well put. The TC "test" is somely that. A bare minimum to ensure that I shouldn't kill the next person I fly with. The real life test is what truly matters. I get that.

So with the rain forecast for this weekend I probably will not get a chance to prove your theory but either way there will be some Scotch to consume and another day to fly. Just not on the same day!

[sugarfree]

But if you make a mistake in the real world, after
you pass your artificial tests, you may very well
kill yourself, your passengers, and people on the
ground as well.

This is the real test - every flight AFTER your
artificial, regimented tests are complete.

I know, I know, crap on me from a great height
for introducing some realism.

Man I really like what you have to say.. To the point..

+2

SF./

[Servisair]

If your instructor didnt think you were ready to do the test, they wouldn't have recommended you for it. You'll do fine. From my previous flight tests, I found that the examiner is not there to see that you can read out procedures word for word from the book. They just want to see that you know how to control the plane in a safe manner and have an understanding of the excercises.

[Duncan Idaho]

It's easy peasy

[Rockie]

Hedley is right about just about everything. A test is just one hurdle before you begin the real learning and trials. But contrary to what he says I wouldn't go out and get good and drunk the night before a test. Do that after your test.

After many years doing these things I found the absolute best thing to boost your confidence is knowledge. If you don't feel prepared for a test then you probably aren't. But if you are eager to go out and show the guy what you can do and what you know then that's a good thing.

Good luck

[Duncan Idaho]

Ah, well yes. Rockie is correct. I have to admit I went and made an assumption telling you it's easy, assuming that you know your stuff! There's nothing more frustrating when you're checking someone out when they haven't studied their material. If you have the background knowledge and a good attitude towards learning, I'm sure the examiner would be very pleased to be able to offer helpful tips and so on with your aircraft handling. But if you don't know the basics from your ground study.. it doesn't even seem like a good idea to pass someone.

[Barney]

If you could get your hands on a book called flight test notes, that's what I always used
for Comm and Priv, and found it worked really well in prep for the big day. Being well
prepared makes the flight test just a show for the examiner.

[ToFlyIsDivine]

have no worries at all, try to stay focused, a diversion is rather easy, its as simply as circle circle line, heading distance time...you may get disoriented.....as did I...feeling a bit lost after the diversion since you don't know if you are heading in the right direction....but rest assured that you will most likely not have any problems finding your diversion point, even if you are off, you have a map to reference it all.....

steep turns are hard, but just remember to go into the turn smoother (ie. bringing back the controls sooner and smoother) and exiting smoother, the G effects should be less prominent.....

as previous posters have said.....if your instructor has given you the green light, he knows you are ready....so just relax.....pretend the examiner is just a tourist....and simply show him that you can bring him on a very simple flight and not get him killed.....

best of luck to you.....

[Hedley]

steep turns are hard

No, they aren't really, if you've been shown how.

If you set the power and the pitch attitude correctly,
it will drive around the steep turn as pretty as can be.

As a rule of thumb, add power passing 30 degrees
of bank, and be sure to pull back on the stick/yoke.

If you are not pulling back enough on the stick/yoke,
and you do not feel the additional G pushing you
down in the seat, the nose is too low.

Sitting on the left side, in left turns the nose will
appear to be quite high. In right turns, the nose
will appear to be quite low. Sneak a peak at
the attitude indicator - the center dot should be
in the same place, both directions, just above
the horizon.

Rolling out of the turn, reduce power passing
30 degrees of bank, and nose down to avoid
popping up at the end.

Of course, ball in the center!

Steep turns are like getting your girlfriend's
bra off - nothing to be afraid of, and quite
enjoyable!