Private Pilot Checkride: My Experience & Tips!
Вставка
- Опубліковано 25 сер 2021
- UPDATE: I passed my instrument checkride in October 2022 (it was uneventful, no video this time!). As of January 2024, I have completed my long (day) commercial solo and shorter day/night commercial XC's and just need a few more hours (less than 20 hours and some hood time) to be ready for the commercial checkride. Possibly Summer 2024.
2021:
In this video I share most of the details of my private pilot checkride, which I passed earlier this year (2021). Prior to the checkride, I had about 38 hours of flight time that I received during a 14-day accelerated pilot training program in Rexburg, Idaho (Summer 2019). I logged another 38 (or so) hours of training out of my home airport - Salt Lake International airport, with most of my training done in and around Toelle, UT (Fall of 2020 after a COVID break!).
Bob I cannot thank you enough. I am about a month away from my ppl check ride and this is the only video that I have seen that gives us a true understanding of what I about to go through with my DPE. Thank you
So glad it helped! Wishing you success on your checkride!
I am an older student pilot (63 now),prepairing for my Checkride .and I really apreciate your very informative and fun video about your Checkride. I felt very happy with your success. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks Rafael, from one older student pilot to another, wishing you success on your journey!
Thank you Bob, this was by far the best PPL debrief video on UA-cam, blue skies and tailwinds!
Much appreciated! All the best on your journey!
When you yelled “children on the runway!” I burst out laughing haha. I haven’t booked my flight test yet but my instructor and I are currently preparing for it. There is so much detail in this video! I appreciate you taking some time out of your life to sit down and share your experience with us. Very helpful indeed. Thank you Bob and (although it’s months late) congratulations!
Thank you Shirin! Yeah there were definitely some unexpected moments and appreciate the comment! All the best as you prepare for your flight test!
My CFI would often say deer on the runway when doing unexpected go-around practice. Children on the runway just makes it sound so much more dire.
Great video
Thank you!! I really appreciate all the details. I'm working toward my PPL and am feeling really overwhelmed at the present. So much to learn! Your video has so many practical tips. Thanks again!
Good luck on your aviation journey!
Congrats and thank you taking the time to share
Thanks!
This was incredible. I enjoyed this very much. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you Aaron!
Fantastic video. I’m beginning to prepare for my checkride and this was super helpful! Thank you!
Thank you! Wishing you the best on your check ride!
Thanks so much for doing this! Working on checkrride practice now, very helpful.
Thanks Joseph! Glad it was helpful and enjoy the practice!
Great video! Thanks for sharing your experience!
Your welcome!
Thank you for sharing your experience. You identified some learning points that I’ve never been exposed before. Definitely got me thinking how to better myself. Student pilot, started solo flights.
Glad it helped, and enjoy your journey of learning John!
Thank you for taking time to make this video.
Your welcome 🙏
Thanks a lot for sharing your experience. I'm preparing for my checkride right now and find this very helpful.
Your welcome, good luck!!
I'm close to my checkride and I cannot thank you enough for taking the time out of your life to share your experience! This helped me tremendously.
Great to hear, thanks for commenting, and all the best as you make final preparations for your check ride!
Thank you … superb detail
Thank you Padraig!
Outstanding debrief. Very helpful. Congratulations.
Thank you!
Ty so much for sharing your experience. I have not gone through actual flight training. I have passed my ground school, however. In any case, your experience was tough for certain. So a tear of pure happiness and joy for you in passing all the examines. No easy task for anyone. I really can't seem to find the proper wording to explain to you and any that watch this vlog, how so helpful it can be to have someone go through everything you did for all of us out here watching. So a grateful thank you to.
Thanks so much for taking the time to comment and many congrats on passing your ground school!!
Whoa! What a ride. Congratulations!!!👍🏻
Thank you!
This was great! Have my checkride in about 3 weeks. Thank you very much!
Your welcome and glad it helped, all the best on your checkride!
Thank you for sharing.
You're welcome!
Thank you very much Bob for sharing your checkride experience that was great! I am an A&P working towards my PPL . Congratulations! 👏👏👏👏👏👏
Awesome! Aircraft systems already a breeze for you! All the best on your journey!
Great video. Congratulations!!
Thank you!
I’m glad I stumbled upon your video! Informative and now I feel better prepared for my check ride! Thank you for the video.
Thank you, wishing you success on your checkride!
Congrats Bob and thank you for sharing! I'm scheduling my written test now and beginning to shift my focus towards checkride. Great insight from this video!
Thanks! And all the best on your journey to pilot!
Thank you Bob. Blues skies and tail winds.
Same to you!
Nice job and congratulations. I’m going for the ck ride this week and found this very helpful. Perfect prep help at the right time.
So happy to hear! Each is unique and you will do great!
Great detail, thank you
That was one hell of a checkride.
You're welcome!🙏
Thanks for the amazing video! I got my checkride coming up really soon 👍👌
Best of luck! Let us know how it goes and I'm sure you'll do great!
@@radamdrake thank you bob 👌👍
Great video thank you 🙏🏾 taking notes and getting ready for my chedkrode
Thanks!All the best and excited for you!
I hope to take that check ride by the end of January. Thanks for your tips and sharing your scenarios, I'll use them to prepare. As Nancy says, Fly Straight, Don't Suck!
Thanks William! all the best as you make final preparations for your checkeide!
Thank you so much Bob. I’m 65 and almost ready for my solo and your video this very helpful for my check ride.
Flying at 65, so cool! Many years of enjoyment still ahead for you! All the best!
Thank you so much for this video! Very informative. Getting ready to do my mock chekride and then hopefully will be a private pilot soon!)
Exciting time for you!
Your welcome! Exciting time for you!
Thanks for sharing your experience, I just started unsupervised solo, and i still have a way to go, but I know the checkride is coming, and this was a lot of useful information, knowing they gonna throw curveballs at you, when it's least expected.
I would really wanna be fully prepared for this.
congratulations for passing.
Thanks! Glad the video helped and congrats on the solo! Now its just practice and building confidence!
Congrats Bob on your success and all the very best in your CPL journey. Very Informative. When U pass ur IFR and CPL Please make videos like these.
Thank you Abey! That is the plan! Appreciate the feedback!
Honestly enjoyed the video 🙏🏾
Thank you!
Great video, very helpful ! Thank you very much
Your welcome!
Thanks for this video! I will be using this video as a reference in my studies. I'm about 10 hours into my training.
Awesome, it only gets better! Enjoy the journey!
brilliant video Bob thanks for sharing i am in the uk and interested in my ppl,probaly i will do it over there looks fun but very hard work.congratulations you earned it.
Thanks Wilson! Good luck!
Wish I had your stack of memory cards! I started flying at age 16. Accumulated 45 hour, then life changed my plans BUT now 50 years later I'm about to go back to an accredited aviation college in Duluth Minnesota. Using the King online course to reintroduce myself once again. Loved your podcast.
Never too late! Lots of flying years ahead for you, wish you well and glad this video was helpful!
How's it going? I retired at 50 from a career. Been in atp 2 months now, getting ready for check ride.
Congratulations! It was one of the most nerve racking and rewarding days of my life other than passing the instrument check ride. Enjoy and stay safe.
thanks Paul! getting my CC hours in for instrument rating and excited to cross that milestone soon.
@@radamdrake I'm old now with some serious health issue but still get to do some instrument flying and approaches on my PC with Xplane 11. I've got a pretty good set-up with a yoke, rudder pedals, Logitech throttle quadrant and instrument clusters. Not quite the real thing but helpful especially if you find the weather is too bad for actual flight. Anyway, best of luck to you as you work toward your commercial rating. Have a great holiday season
Thanks. I got my checkride coming up soon.
Good luck Charles!
Great video! And great job with your PPL check-ride. Your DPE did throw some curve-balls for sure. But it sounds like it was a great learning experience. Also, I'm sure that being used to flying out of class B gave you a good head start on your instrument rating. I got my PPL out of an airport in the Washington DC SFRA, so already being comfortable talking to approach was helpful for my IR. The point is, you have pilots out in some areas that have never seen a class D. Anyways, congrats again!
Thanks Alexander! I'm taking the instrument knowledge test this week, and on the path to getting my IR. Sounds like you are well down the road on your aviation journey and appreciate the comment!
as a student, this will help me with my two final tests. thanks for the video!
Your welcome! Best wishes on your journey!
Passed my ppl checkride yesterday and just wanted to say thank you! I used the flashcards and the drawings like you did and it helped a lot, the oral felt like a breeze. No children on the runway for my practical but was ready for it nonetheless, thanks again!!
Yay! Congrats, such a great feeling and so happy for you!!
This is so relieving. I have my checkride in two weeks and I'm on the verge of switching instructors because my CFI has met with me in about two weeks. I have no idea what to expect so this is helpful.
Glad it helped!
How only 3 likes on this? Great job man! My checkride for PPL is a week from tomorrow. This was a great experience for you to share and I will be taking some of it with me on my test. Thanks so much!
How'd it go?
@@YuDuTheMath - I passed with flying colors apparently, though I would have failed myself. I guess it is good to be overly paranoid and hard on yourself :D
@@Captain_Shane Congrats! I think so, too :D
@@Captain_Shane Congrats!! License to learn, and sounds like you nailed it!
This was a great video and I can’t say that enough. Please do more and you should really consider teaching once you complete everything.
Thank you David, that is the plan! Glad it helped!
Oh man children on the runway. Yeah that would’ve freaked me out if he would’ve said something like that during taxi, it would’ve got me. it’s pretty terrifying when you don’t know where kids are going to run around a prop extremely dangerous environment. That was a great job man. Thank you for sharing this.
Glad it helped !
Good job!! My checkride is coming up on Feb 6. Thanks for sharing. I’ve learned a lot from your video and hoping to nail mine too 🙏🏻
Thanks for the feedback and hoping for the best on your checkride!!
How’d it go?
Dang you had me sweating YOUR check ride! Mines coming up in a couple weeks..I hope I have a different DPE..lol
You'll do great!
I am training out of Ogden, working now towards checkride. With your very helpful video hopefully within a month or so I will have the same success as you did! Great work Bob, and excellent video.
Good luck William! I flew into Ogden this morning. Then did my commercial xc solo to St George and back today. Weather has been rough lately in UT but hope you get smooth skies and wishing you success on your checkride!
Great video, just found it today. I have just started my PPL so my brain is fried at the moment. Pracising slow speed stall, steep turns etc etc. I don't even want to think about the landings lol. Nice to see what is ahead but at the same time bloody nerve wracking lol Thank you
Welcome to the journey! Every repetition will build muscle memory. Have fun!
My checkride is getting close. Thanks for making me sick to my stomach! Congrats! Sounds like you went through the fire with that one. I’m told my Inspector is an old school gentleman so I don’t know what to expect
Everyone's experience is unique. All the best and trust your training!
Hey Bob im a student pilot in Ogden preparing for my checkride on the 24th of this month, this video was super helpful thanks!
Awesome, a local student pilot up north! Good luck!
I didn’t even realize I watched all 40 minutes until the video was almost over lol. Great job.
Thank you and great to hear!
Great video! Definitely don't ask the DPE for advice, he is merely a passenger.
Indeed!
This is great content, it would be useful for others to share their experiences too ( good and bad). While there is one ACS there seems to be a lot of deviation in what the DPEs ask for the checkrides. I think that your DPE was pretty tough, forcing you to have a fire followed by having to land on the runway as your simulated emergency landing ( not sure who had to handle the radio for that one if there were others in the pattern) and then turning the radio off and landing without flaps. Wow.
Thanks, there was only one other plane in the pattern, non -towered. We made the call right above the airport and the emergency descent put me right on downwind for power off landing. So the sequencing was fine. Yes, lots of variation in DPEs!
Dam wish I would have known about that ACS study guide. My checkride is next week, and I still don’t really feel like I’m ready 😅
These study guides are all very similar I think. Not sure anyone feels 100% ready. Trust your training and you'll do great!
How did it go?
@@williamatkinson4371 I was way more ready than I thought I was. Smashed the verbal, but we ended up discontinuing cause it was getting really windy and I wasn’t feeling confident. That was Wednesday, going to finish up after Christmas.
@@cartercampbell4646 Good deal, you'll kill the rest of the exam with no issue. Congrats in advance!
I prepped like a fiend for my check ride. I can’t emphasize enough how much being ready for the oral will help you with the flight portion. If you ace the oral, a decent DPE will be more reasonable with the flight portion. For the flight portion. make sure you study the PoH carefully for the short/soft field takeoff/landing procedure, because they are model specific. The shorter you want your landing, the longer and more stable you want your approach to be.
Don’t be a wuss about the stalls, especially the power on stall. Be ready for full right rudder at the power on stall point.
Also, key, for emergency engine out, remember the ABCDE acronym as well as the ANC acronym. Follow the checklists for engine restart and then engine out landing. If you’re low, focus on landing the plane. And look below you for a suitable place to land. Some DPEs will pull your power right over a rural airstrip, and you’ll miss it if it’s right below you.
Excellent tips, very helpful and agree the oral portion really sets the tone for the flight portion. Maintain a certain amount of humility while answering with confidence, meaning recognize there is always more to learn. Also, if you dont know an answer share what you do know about the topic, or if you can quickly get to the answer in the FAR or sectional legend, look it up!
Bet that Taxi felt like it took forever with your heart racing. Looks like a hard check-ride. I am not ready yet.
If you can nail the standards the majority of the time in practice, the extra focus on checkride day will likely carry you through! Good luck!
Children on the runway!? Man I would have died of a heart attack lol. Btw thanks for posting this video, my checkride for PPL is in two days! hopefully I will pass and your video really helped in having an idea.
Hope it went well! I have mine coming up
Yeah, that threw me off, but gotta prepare for the unexpected!
I'm just starting my quest. Have an AME appointment set up. Will probably need a waiver because of diabetes which is under control but taking insulin.
I really appreciated the video but also very concerned that I may not be able to learn all the things you talked about.
Every checkride is unique and like any test you don't need to be perfect, just remain within ACS (standards). Just learn a few new things each month and stack them up! Good luck!
Seems as though you had a very thorough DPE. I feel as though a lot of this is commercial level. Especially for the different airplane systems. Very good video thanks for all the hard work you put into it!
Thanks Bracken. I will be taking my instrument checkride soon, then commercial license to follow so hopefully I will be ready for that one!
@@radamdrake just got my instrument on Thursday! You will be a great instrument pilot I’m sure. It’s a really fun phase and makes us all better pilots. Best of luck with instrument!
@@brackenquinton2955 congrats! And Thanks! I cant imagine stopping at just private. I have learned so much during my instrument training. All the best on your pilot journey!
Great video!!!
Can I buy those flash cards from you?
I recommend making your own, will make a huge difference in learning!
Prepping for my check ride, think I could get my hands on your systems and diagrams you drew out so I have an example of how to make my own? That’s the part I’m feeling least confident about.
Sorry just saw this! I can share if you send request to radamdrake@live.com.
Just passed mine today. Thankfully didn’t have to take mine in a Class B haha. This video was very helpful though
Congrats!! Well done!
I took my check ride in 2001 out of FXE. We spent about one hour on the oral and around 2 hours in the air. On our way back his way of letting me know I passed was who would be my first passenger ( my Wife) he then added that I was the most prepared student he had ever tested. I give this credit to Vishal my instructor. To him plus or minus wasn’t enough. He demanded the best out of all of his students. His reasoning was most private pilots first passengers are family and if you not good enough to fly my family then you’re not good enough to fly your own. He gets the credit for my success.
Love this!
Can you share your drawings on the airplane systems (quick text photo) ? I'd like to study those for my upcoming check ride. I'm flying a C172.
See my video here! Hope they help. ua-cam.com/video/tqj7TfLJkys/v-deo.html
This is a great video. I have my checkride in 20 days and am terrified. Question. When you had your radios disconnected, did you really get 7600 into the transponder, or you just simulated it?
No I did not Squawk 7600. I was not in ATC controlled airspace at that time and I was able to quickly get the radio back up. If I had been in class Bravo and simulated a lost radio I would simulate squawking 7600 but remain on the Squawk code assigned by ATC...good luck on your checkride!
Nice video. Very helpful. Who was your DPE?
I can DM you.
This DPE sounds hardcore. A fire, radio failure, and broken flaps all in 1 flight.
I was going to make a video about my instrument checkride, but it was very straightforward. Not nearly as many curveballs!
@@radamdrake have you talked to other pilots about their PPL check ride? I'm curious if that's typical. I'm going to prepare as if it is of course. I'd rather be over prepared than caught off guard.
@davethibeault2484 Yes, and it wasn't typical. But good to be mentally ready for anything. Also, if they design a more challenging checkride it may come with some more leniency on any area requiring judgment by the DPE. Of course everything has to be executed within the ACS.
thx for sharing. hit me up if you need to be picked up from any of las vegas' airports.
Noted! will eventually make my way South!
Sound to low
Sorry!
That DPE a mofo
he was a boss for sure, I believe I'm a better pilot for it.
Great video
Thanks!