How was my Check Ride Part 1

How was my Check Ride Part 1

     The check ride was not bad but boy was I nervous during it. My examiner was very calm and collective. He did not raise his voice and make me uncomfortable during any of it. I did see it funny because my exam was on a military base and I had to pick him up and drive him from the gate. I had the strangest feeling that he was testing me on my driving. I noticed my self going exactly the speed limit, keeping both hands on the wheel like I was having a driving test thought it was kinda funny.

We both got back to the building around 8 am and took about 30-45 minutes getting all of the paper work together to make sure I am even qualified to be able to participate in this exam. He needed

• Medical
• My Student Licence
• IACRA filled out for a PPL
• Made sure my log book met the minimum for a PPL
• Made sure I graduated my ground school I used King School Online Cessna Course

     Make sure to have everything you need before meeting with the examiner. Organization can make or break an exam. For me, if I am unorganized there is a larger chance for a down spiral out of control and losing control of the situation and possibly failing. Have everything that is needed in a folder making is so much easier to keep organized.

     After all of the paperwork was done he read me that this is an exam and that he wants me to pass but he just wants to make sure situations will be handle safely because now I will be on my own. He told me to stay calm there is not rush and don't be afraid to not know something and that I am able to look up questions if need be.  The type of questions he asked me were all questions that I recognized from the Oral Guide and the ACS. The only difference was that he hid those questions in a scenario and wanted me to use critical thinking to come up with the answer. When he asked a question I was strangely surprised that the answer came out of my mouth and made sense.

Flight to Burbank

     This weekend I picked up my wife from the airport at the Hollywood Burbank Airport (KBUR). This was my second flight as a private pilot and she was my first passenger as a private pilot. As the days dwindled closer to my fight and I was getting ready, I started to check the weather. The day before was a perfect day for flying 85 degrees or so and winds calm could not have been any better. In the forecast for the next day was in the mid 70's but windy, from the west north-west at 16 gusting to 45 mph. This was not ideal weather to go flying in an aircraft especially a small one.

   

     The next day came and in the morning there was a calm breeze and everything seemed like it was going to stay that way but it never got any better, winds started to pick up a little bit. Then it was time to make my decision to fly or not fly, I decided to fly. Finished my preflight I got in the plane and started it up. Taxied to the runway and took off instantly taking note of the wind only had about an 8-knot crosswind calculated for the angle of the 15-knot winds gusting 20 knots. As I was climbing there were a few bumps normal with the presence of that amount of wind, my heading was southerly and the wind was apparent with my 30-degree crab to the right. As I climbed through 6 thousand feet or so the air began to smooth out. I passed over the mountains into the LA basin and was cleared to enter a left base for runway 15. I was about 15 or so miles out so I had some time to get everything ready for landing. As I lined up for final I applied flaps as the ground approached closer and closer. After hearing the words "You are cleared to land runway one five."

I remember those words and seeing a wide runway with Southwest jets taxing everywhere. I floated over the numbers and started to settle in for a landing, there was little wind variable at 4 knots. I did not feel much of a cross-wind being that I did not have to correct for one. I floated just feet above the runway to bleed off some speed and only have to touch the ground once (not bounce). I was a little left of centerline but either way, it was a pretty good landing (being that I have not flown in a month).