Lesson 33 05/19/09

1.4hrs Mock checkride, 1hr oral exam prep

It was a challenging day, and I was happy that this was a mock checkride, and not the real thing. It was bumpy, rainy, and windy. Definitely good practice.

We started with clean power off stalls, power off stalls in landing configuration (full landing flaps), power on stalls, and turning stalls. Nothing new here, but good to keep fresh on.

Next we practiced engine out and partial power/stuck throttle landings. These went fine, but were pretty challenging for me given the variable and gusty wind conditions. We also discussed some differant emergancy landing scenarios.

We then practiced recovery from unusual attitudes, turns, climbs and descents, and tracking a VOR while under the hood. All pretty good here, though I dove a bit during a few of the turns.

Diversions were next. My instructor asked me to fly back towards Twin Oaks, then picked somewhere at random and asked me to divert, giving him heading, and estimated distance, time in route, and fuel burn. Nothing too difficult here, we were right near the Newburg VOR, and could easily pick a radial to follow and estimate the rest. A couple of the diversions were places I’d not heard of, and took me a little time to find on the sectional.

Turns around a point were good, with some turbulent air down low and the wind adding a fair level of challenge.

As we headed for home, my instructor said that he feels I’m ready, probably more so than I feel I am, and asked how I feel. “Nervous just thinking about the checkride, to be honest, but if we wait for me to feel ready, it’ll be another year”.

We spent an hour on the ground reviewing what my instructor has quizzed me on in the past, and as well as communications, night ops, electrical systems, flight planning, decision making, and a host of other topics.

Wrapping it up for the day, my instructor will be calling the examiner to see what his availability is for next week (NEXT WEEK??!!). We’ll practice whatever I’d like when we are scheduled next, on Thursday (slips come to mind right off), and then fly with another instructor if I’d like, the day prior to the checkride.

Next Week??!!