Checkride Gouges

Private Pilot Course

Bob didn't care anything for the airplane records and logs, and all the other paper work. Nor did he give me another oral. He just checked out the cross country flight log again.

Then he let me preflight the airplane. We started out with a soft-field takeoff. I don't know if you flew on Thursday or not, but visibility was perfect, even though clouds were at 3000ft. We could even clearly see Chicago's skyline across the lake. But yeah with that visibility I had no problem finding my check points and I was dead on course the whole time -- even though I was not allowed to use any VOR or nothing. After the first check point he told me to calculate a new GS, ETA, and remaining Fuel. I started with finding the GS and I explained to him what I was doing and why I was doing it. When I had just gotten the ground speed he told me to turn south towards Renselaer and he said that this is how I everyone should keep track of their cross country stuff. So I was finding references where we were. But with the tailwind we were faster than I thought, so I was a little off. Then in Renselaer he wanted me to do a soft-field landing. I was too high and too fast, I used a good forward slip, but when I was about 700' AGL I decided to make it a go-around. He was really impressed with that decision making; he thought I would try to get that plane on the ground no matter what. Then we went back towards VPZ. He had me put on the Foggles. He had me do slow flight at 65 and turning towards different headings, stalls in turns -- one power off one power off, then he had me climb to a specific altitude, then we did one unusual attitude. He had me take the foggles off, asked me where I was, I couldn't tell after looking around and on the map, he said that is alright, VPZ is towards there.!  On the way there we made three simulated engine failures. On the first one he told me to be more confident that I will make the field I picked. I was just irritated, because he kept on asking if we are going to make it or not. The other two were good though. Then we did a turn around a point. I stayed within 80' and kept about the same distance on every side. Then we did a couple steep turns -- I stayed within 60'. Then we got back to VPZ and he had me do a soft-field landing -- It was pretty a pretty hard touch down for a soft-field, a short-field -- he told me to touch down on 36 after the 9-27 crossing but stop before the thick marker lines, and I made, he actually thought I was not going to make that either, but I did; then he had me do a no-flaps landing, I was a little irritated because I had never done it before, but then I thought it will be no different than slow flight, it was not a perfect landing but it was good enough. Last he had me do a normal landing.

When we got back he told me that I passed, but he could have failed me on the soft-field landing, Taxiing -- because I didn't keep the airplane on the yellow line good enough, I got to say that the airplane behaved so different with his weight in it --, and I guess I didn't spot something but I couldn't hear what he said.

I don't remember if I told you or not but on my oral he asked me what the procedures are if I am intercepted. Of course I didn't know so I took an educated guess. It was sort of right, but I still looked it up in the AIM.