Completion!

This last flight was a huge milestone for me. I have now met every FAA requirement for the private pilot!  I was shooting for completion in 55 hours (average is 70 hours) and it looks like I came pretty close.  The only thing left is for me to pass the exams.

 There are three different exams I’ll need to pass:

• Knowledge exam – Just as it implies, it is a computer based exam which tests basic knowledge of aeronautics and FFA requirements. It is 60 questions long, and is randomly taken from a list of about 650 published questions.
• Oral exam – This is a conversation the pilot will have with an FAA examiner where they prove they can apply the knowledge. There are no set questions for this exam, the examiner will just ask the pilot to explain how they would handle some possible situations.
• Practical exam – This is where the pilot will fly with the examiner and required to demonstrate skills of operating an aircraft. It will start off with flying a cross country flight (yet the examiner will usually divert the flight before completion) and then the examiner will require the pilot to demonstrate a list of maneuvers (all of which I have discussed on this blog).

I have the knowledge exam scheduled for 12/29/11 and the passing score is 70%. Over the past couple weeks I have taken practice exams and have consistently pasted.

The oral and practical exams usually take place on the same day and are referred to as the “check ride”. I hope to schedule that shortly.