Jump to content

CFI Checkride - PASSED

Apollo

By Apollo
in General Mooney Talk

 Share

Recommended Posts

Apollo Enthusiast

Apollo

Posted
Posted

Hey All,

 

I posted this on another forum but I thought my Mooney brethren might like to know how it all went down. I used my mooney, a m20C model for the checkride. I have been practicing with friends (pilots) in the left seat and I have been teaching manuevers and landings in the right seat for about two months. Here's how the ride went:

 

 

I was tested over Human Behavior and the Principles of Learning/Levels/Maslows Hierarchy of Needs. Those are very easy for me because my current job is essentially all of that stuff put together. I'm a professor at a university.

Next up was Flight Instructor responsiblities. Chatted a bit about how I'm not supposed to be the sheriff or narc of the airport, but to keep an eye out and make sure nobody dies. He began to ask me about endorsements but as soon as I brought out the 61-65E we went to the next subject. He did make sure to mention that if the endorsement document has been revised up to letter 'E', that I better make sure I'm endorsing what I think I am by referencing the proper reg, 61.87 etc.


I then taught Runway Incursion and a proper Weight and Balance. W&B was easy since I teach them as two separate subjects and combine them afterwards.

Taught Steep Turns - Ended up drawing vertical and horizontal components of lift and talked a lot about load factor and all that jazz.




Flying Portion - I used my M20C that I have 300 hours in now. That made it really easy. I had also been sitting right seat in my and another friends Mooney for the last 3 months so I was quite comfortable doing the right seat flying. Just....no brakes wink.gif

Real easy, he said he was a private pilot here to do a complex checkout. Okay no problem that's easy. Talked about how the Mooney is the only airplane with a proper tail.... (he is a helo guy so he chuckled)


Did Steep Turns, Climbs, Power off Stalls, Lazy Eights, S-Turns across a road. Soft field and short field landings and takeoffs. My soft field landing was probably the best one I had ever done, and we ended on that.

I'll extrapolate if anybody has any questions, I know I was desperate to find out what the CFI ride was like especially since no one in our area had taken the ride with our examiner.






I gave 1.8 hours of Dual today. emot-3.gif My dad was a flight instructor so yesterday and today were the culmination of a dream I've had ever since I was 2 years old!

 

 

I'm hoping to be the premier Mooney expert in West Texas..... Let's see how well I do :)

 

www.austinwalden.com

 

  • Like 4
Apollo Enthusiast

Apollo

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Thanks everybody I really appreciate it!

 

 

It's hard getting used to those CFI initials behind the name. Almost like it's not really true.

 

 

Today I've giving a mock PPL checkride. In a..........................Cessna 182 :(
 

 

Oh well I'm getting paid for adding more hours to my logbook. How bad could that be!

mike_elliott Grand Master

mike_elliott

Posted
Posted

don't prep too slow, the FAA is about to change the exam. While not producing quantifiable results of improved pilot safety with the NPR, the "committee" is pushing forward full steam to get new PTS standards in place for PP, Instr. and CFI. No sense in you being the "test" applicant :)

 

While an overhaul is needed, the NPR doesn't clearly define a lot of measurable objectives, IMHO.

Rod Machado asked some very pointed questions of the "committee" about the need for some of the changes and as far as I know, has not been given the courtesy of a response as of yet.

mike_elliott Grand Master

mike_elliott

Posted
Posted

don't prep too slow, the FAA is about to change the exam. While not producing quantifiable results of improved pilot safety with the NPR, the "committee" is pushing forward full steam to get new PTS standards in place for PP, Instr. and CFI. No sense in you being the "test" applicant :)

 

While an overhaul is needed, the NPR doesn't clearly define a lot of measurable objectives, IMHO.

Rod Machado asked some very pointed questions of the "committee" about the need for some of the changes and as far as I know, has not been given the courtesy of a response as of yet.

Oh, and Gary, ping me when you want your IPC

  • Like 1
  • 4 weeks later...
flyboy Enthusiast

flyboy

Posted
Posted

Job well done. I took my CFI checkride in a Beech Sierra about 25 years ago. I had never flown one until the day before the checkride. I stayed up all night to study the airplane and its systems, speeds, avionics, etc. It was the hardest checkride I have ever had ( private, IFR, commercial, multi, multi IFR, CFI, CFII, Multi CFI) I was about an hour late due to weather and had to request a special VFR clearance to get into the airport. after a long flight. I later found out that the FAA examiner knew the airplane tail number and had been listening to my radio technique. He was actually observing me ( sort of ) before I even arrived. I was scared to death at being in the FAA office, sort of like being in a lion's den. The examiner sensed that I was nervous at the beginning and went to get me a cup of coffee. He took a very long time ( on purpose I think ) which gave me time to relax a bit, clear my head and transition from difficult flight to teacher/checkride mode. Once we were finally in the air, he pretended to be a student, sometimes with 0 hours, sometimes with thousands of hours, and anywhere in between. After what seemed like the checkride that would never end, I was awarded a CFI certificate. There was another guy there the same day taking a CFI checkride in a Piper Arrow, he did not pass.

 

Things I would do different.

Make the flight the night before, get a room, get rest.

Be on time, its just part of professionalism.

If possible, use an airplane that you have a LOT of time in, know every screw, every switch, every number, every scratch of that airplane.

Remember, the examiner is not a monster. He/she is a human, there to do a job. No more, no less.

  • Like 2
John Pleisse Grand Master

John Pleisse

Posted
Posted

Congrats Austin. Great info. I'd like to ask the board what the FSDO's are doing for check rides. Would anyone dare to quantify what percentage of CFI check rides get delegated to local examiners and what percentage stay with FSDO's? Is it workload specific? So, if one were to take the ride at a FSDO in a major metropolitan area, you'd have a greater chance of getting an examiner instead?

RocketAviator Mentor

RocketAviator

Posted
Posted

Congratulations.... sir well done.

I am the worst test & check ride taker there ever was...

 

Great to see the support and the sharing by those in GA, I sure wish I knew of this Forum when I took my private (did not exist some 30 years ago) and most recently several years ago for my Instrument Rating...

 

Fly safe and thanks for continuing to support our passion of flying!!

RocketAviator Mentor

RocketAviator

Posted
Posted

Job well done. I took my CFI checkride in a Beech Sierra about 25 years ago. I had never flown one until the day before the checkride. I stayed up all night to study the airplane and its systems, speeds, avionics, etc. It was the hardest checkride I have ever had ( private, IFR, commercial, multi, multi IFR, CFI, CFII, Multi CFI) I was about an hour late due to weather and had to request a special VFR clearance to get into the airport. after a long flight. I later found out that the FAA examiner knew the airplane tail number and had been listening to my radio technique. He was actually observing me ( sort of ) before I even arrived. I was scared to death at being in the FAA office, sort of like being in a lion's den. The examiner sensed that I was nervous at the beginning and went to get me a cup of coffee. He took a very long time ( on purpose I think ) which gave me time to relax a bit, clear my head and transition from difficult flight to teacher/checkride mode. Once we were finally in the air, he pretended to be a student, sometimes with 0 hours, sometimes with thousands of hours, and anywhere in between. After what seemed like the checkride that would never end, I was awarded a CFI certificate. There was another guy there the same day taking a CFI checkride in a Piper Arrow, he did not pass.

 

Things I would do different.

Make the flight the night before, get a room, get rest.

Be on time, its just part of professionalism.

If possible, use an airplane that you have a LOT of time in, know every screw, every switch, every number, every scratch of that airplane.

Remember, the examiner is not a monster. He/she is a human, there to do a job. No more, no less.

I am always amazed at the great advise and human compassion for those who are working on new and additional ratings and accomplishments from those who have and those who are working on them within this Forum.  I especially like what appears to be mostly a common thread of consideration and appreciation for the Examiners!!!  Well done.

Seth Grand Master

Seth

Posted
Posted

Congrats Austin! 

 

I'm looking forward to posting the same thing here in a few years. 

 

Enjoy teaching others to fly! 

 

Glad the examiner let you fly the Mooney in the right seat without brakes - I've heard that can be an issue.

 

-Seth

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.