Failed the Checkride

This morning started off chilly. In fact there was frost on the plane we were going to use, which can be a big problem with proper air flow over the wings, so CFI Mark Clark manually moved the plane into an area on the ramp where it would get more sun.


Today another student from Nashville Flight Training was taking his private pilot check ride so we traveled together. He flew us there and for the first time, I sat in the back seat as a passenger.

He went first, and while he was completing the oral section of the test, Mark and I practiced more. The main maneuvers I would be testing on such as stalls, steep turn and short field landings I have only done 3 times in the Cessna 172.

Once we landed, the other student took his flight for the practical exam and I finished my cross country flight planning. He passed both exams.

Next, it was my turn for the oral exam. The DPE (Designated Pilot Examiner) was Bill Barton. There is no formal oral test. It is simply whatever the examiner believes is important to cover (from my understanding the FAA routinely suggests topics to cover based upon recent accident trends). When talking to pilots about their check rides, you’ll most likely get horror stories about ridged and tough examiners. I was pleased to say that Mr. Barton was nothing but helpful.

We covered some FAA regulations, types of airspace, airport markings and a handful of other aviation related items. I was familiar with most everything we covered and was able to answer confidently. Of the few items that stumped me (mostly because he asked me as an acronym I wasn’t used to hearing), I felt no anxiety about saying, “I don’t know.” When that happened, the test turned into an instruction and he provided me with the information. Overall, I was very excited about my performance and believed that Mr. Barton was satisfied as well.

Next was my practical exam. It didn’t start off well. The winds had picked up to a bumpy 30 knots and at 3pm the sun was setting to the west, exactly the direction I was going to fly. One bad omen (very embarrassing) was that during the pre-flight check of the aircraft, I opened the door of the plane and my charts flew out the door. I probably ran the length of a football field trying to catch up with it. Each time as I got closer to it, the wind would blow it a few feet more. It must have been a sight from inside the airport to see the wind so easily get the best of a student pilot before he even left the ground. Luckily, I don’t think anyone actually saw.

We took off and the sun was in our eyes the whole time. Plus, the wind was making it difficult to stay on course and at altitude. We climbed higher (to 4,500 ft MSL) to avoid it, but it wasn’t helpful. As expected, once we hit the first check point, he diverted me to a different airport, in this case it was Winchester. I was glad not to be staring into the sun anymore.

As we passed the city of Tullahoma, Mr. Burton had me head back to McMinnville Airport. While in route, he had me fly in slow flight, perform a power off stall, power on stall, steep turns and simulated engine failure. My performance wasn’t what I had hoped and I knew it. There wasn’t anything unsafe, but there are margins of expectations which I knew I didn’t meet. For example, during a steep turn, I need to maintain the same altitude (plus/minus 100 feet), and I had deviated from this. Yet, he was very reassuring and I felt with I was still hanging in there. I think the strong winds were working against me and he was giving me the benefit of the doubt.

Next he had me enter the traffic pattern for a normal landing at McMinnville. All was going ok, but I came in a little high and bounced once. I thought it was best to abort the landing and execute a go around. This was perfectly sound judgment, but by this time I was starting to lose my confidence. I engaged full power and pulled back on the yoke, and started to once again ascend. When we were about 100-200 feet off the ground, he pointed to the flaps lever and said, “We have a problem.”

I had forgotten to neutralize the flaps. The flaps are a portion of the wings that the pilot is able to adjust to alter the air flow over the wings. When landing, the pilot will often use full flaps to increase drag, thus slowing the plane for the landing. I had engaged full flaps for the landing, but without neutralizing them again, it made the wings work inefficiently. It is like driving a race with the parking brakes on. Yes, you are moving, but it is not performing as it could.

This error does have the potential to be unsafe. The cool January weather helped to mask my error as I hadn’t really noticed the performance drop. Had the weather been warm, the plane would have really struggled to get the weight of two grown men into the air. Without a doubt, I knew how to complete a go around, it just slipped my memory. Once he pointed it out, I instantly knew what to do to correct the situation. It was a rookie mistake. One I hadn’t made in the last six months.

Once back the air, he had me do a couple different types of landings and take-offs, which I performed appropriately.

We taxied back to the ramp and I shut down the engine. It was here that Mr. Burton informed me that I did not pass. He was very kind. He told me that he would discuss with my CFI some of the issues that he saw, including the go around, and we can re-test.

I’m sure he was just trying to be encouraging, pointing out that I have been with four different instructors, but yet the real challenge was having my training in two very different aircraft types. I thanked him for his time and told him I was disappointed, but I would rather be a safe pilot than a pilot.

I won’t lie, I was devastated. It is hard to put everything you have into something just to miss it because of a small error. An error that I will NEVER make again! I look back at my life and I haven’t often failed. I passed the firefighter’s exam, EMT exam, SCUBA exam, black belt test, and all of my college courses on the first try. This was a hard pill to swallow.

In addition, the blog made me feel foolish. Week after week I talk about my success and boast about how much I know about aviation. I have been blessed with the support of so many of my friends and family. I felt like I let everyone down - my wife, parents, son, and the readers of the blog (mainly Chuck and Gene). I was not looking forward to writing this post.

Then again, this is exactly the reason why I write this blog. I want my children to see that I struggle, too. If I look at every accomplishment in my life I’m proud about (such as those listed above), none of them were easy to achieve. In fact, I’m not sure if I would have even wanted to pursue them if they were. Pretty much everything I have is not because I’m particularly talented or smart, it is because I’m persistent. If I continue working on a challenge, I usually reach my goal. I want to pass this trait on to my children.

I will re-take the test and next time I will pass. I will eventually write on this blog that I’m a FAA licensed pilot, just not today. The example I set will hopefully be a better lesson than anything I can tell my children.

An expensive lesson…

Test Fee: $350.00
Plane Rental: 495.00