Half-way there...

It's a good feeling when you go to a checkride and ten minutes into the oral part of it, you haven't been stumped yet. I guess that's what happens when you spend the three days leading up to the examination date doing nothing but read the Oral Exam Guide, FAR/AIM, and the airplane's Operating Handbook.

I rose early this morning at 6:30 and double-checked the weather forecast I saw last night, and what do you know, nothing had changed. A seemingly wonderfully calm and sunny day turned into a late February day. I shaved off my beard and made my way out to the airport to finish up last-minute paperwork and get required information into the computer. The proper endorsement was in my logbook. I called the examiner and he said he'd been expecting my call. With the winds and skies forecast the way they were, the flying portion of the checkride was moved to a later date but I would still go up and do the oral part.

I still had to get through two classes. To be honest, I heard nothing the instructor said. Sure, I contributed to the discussion, but my mind was in aviation mode running through mnemonic devices used for recalling such information as required documents on-board the aircraft (AROW) and required instruments for VFR-day flight (TOMATO FLAMES).

Both classes finally passed and I was back in my room to put on my dress shirt, pants and tie. After all, you must be act and look professional if you want to succeed. Then I was off to get lunch and out to the airport to eat said lunch while I got my weather briefing and put finishing touches onto the flight plan (Salina-St. Louis).

While I was driving to Salina, I had one eye on the road and one eye on my FAR/AIM, as I was going over the equipment requirements one last time. I arrived right on time and walked into Bill's office. Bill is a tall man. Sometimes he's a bit crass, but he what do you expect with someone who wears cowboy boots? He's the chief pilot for the KState aviation program. That means he flies coaches and the board of director's around in the college's Citation when he's not making Private Pilot applicants shiver in their socks.

The secret to a checkride with Bill is to get him to talk about one of three things:
1) His kid who owns a dentistry in Salina.
2) His grandkids.
3) Anything to do with KState. It could mean talking about the aircraft he flies, football, basketball, or anything.
I selected option number three this time around, having exhausted the dentistry subject last time. First, we chatted about TFRs, which are temporary flight restrictions. When I mentioned that they're associated with presidential visits and large gatherings like the Super Bowl, he cut me off and said that NCAA D1 football games also have TFRs. Seeing my chance, I asked him how many doofus' flew above Manhatten on game day. "Many," was his reply and he then talked about one of my favorite subjects, "asshats," as he put it, from Oklahoma. Common ground!

One area we didn't touch in the exam was weather. While I feel competent in my weather knowledge, I didn't take the time to study this subject very hard. I mainly focused on things relating to my flight plan to St. Louis. I also studied hard about the systems in the aircraft: landing gear, hydraulic, and propeller to name a few.

Suddenly we started talking about Wednesday and what time to meet. It was over! Well, half over. I fly up on Wednesday to complete the checkride. Another entry will be written after that adventure.

-Jon