Check Ride Is Scheduled

My check ride is officially scheduled for January 10, 2012. CFI Mark Clark is helping me prepare for the check ride. As mentioned before this will be the final step to becoming an FAA licensed private pilot. The examiner is located out of Warren County Memorial Airport (RNC) in McMinnville, TN, so the flight will start there.

Warren County Memorial Airport (RNC)

I have been directed to plan a flight from RNC to Northwest Alabama Regional Airport (MSL) then to DeKalb Peachtree Airport (PDK). The RNC to MSL leg of the flight will be 88 nautical miles, and the MSL to PDK leg will be 156 nautical miles, which is by far my longest flight.



Flight Plan - starting point maked with a star




Northwest Alabama Regional Airport (MSL)




DeKalb Peachtree Airport (PDK)



In addition, this flight will take me right into the heart of some of the most complex/busy airspace in the country, into Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson airspace. This is class B airspace which is reserved for only a small number of airports in the country, for example: New York, L.A. or Chicago. There are special credentials and equipments requirements to fly into that airspace.

PDK is North Northeast of Atlanta

That being said, I will most likely come nowhere near to completing this flight. The examiner will be more concerned about my planning for the flight then actually flying it. The first hour or so will be the “oral” section of the exam, while he will review my flight plan and ask me details of why I selected one route over another. He may ask me what my plan would be if I had some type of problem mid-flight. He may also ask me some general knowledge questions. The overall goal is to determine if I use sound judgment and if I understand how to apply the knowledge that tested on during the written exam.

The second hour or so will be the “practical” section of the exam. We will fly the flight plan I drafted. He will observe my pre-flight inspection of the aircraft, note my radio communications, and evaluate my ability to safely operate an aircraft. Maybe 20-30 minutes into the flight he’ll create (simulate) some type in-flight emergency. Maybe, he pull back the throttle so I have to execute an emergency off-airport landing (he will not actually make me land in a field somewhere, but I’ll have to show what I would do if that happened). He may even create some type of distraction during the flight (example: bump my charts off my lap or talk to me while I need to listen to the radio) since numerous studies have indicated that most accidents while the pilot is distracted, I have to prove I can divide my attention while maintaining safe flight. Or maybe he’ll tell me I have sick passenger and I have to divert to another airport. This will require me to determine the course to the new airport and land safely at that location. In the picture below highlighted in red the possible airports I’ll have to divert to.



Next, he is likely to have me perform different maneuvers such as short field landings/takeoffs, turns around a point, forward slips, slow flight and more. I may have to explain the process for a spin recovery, but the private pilot exam does not require me to demonstrate it (actually, only the CFI exam requires it, since being with a new student is when it would most likely happen).
All in all, I feel like I’m prepared and confident. Now I just hope I remember everything and hope the weather is mild on the 10th.

I will have my results immediately following the exam, and if I pass, I can exercise the privileges of an FAA licensed private pilot the same day.