Well today was the day. A long day at that…
I set my alarm for 7:30 in the morning to make sure I had everything together. My stomach was turning upside down from the butterflies. I had to get current weather information for the flight that I planned a cross country for (Van Nuys to Imperial).
I went over all my paper work, my weight and balance and FAA application (8710 form). When I had everything together, I got dressed and made my way to Van Nuys for a meeting with my instructor. When we met, we went over all of the papers, log books and maintenance records to make sure there would be no snags when we met with the DPE.
At 11:00, we took the plane for a couple of spins around the pattern to warm up. We only flew for 0.4 hours but it was enough since I would have to be doing more flying later on. Once we landed, we decided it would be a good idea to get a quick bite to eat then make way to meet with the DPE.
We arrived at about 12:00 and began to go over the aircraft documents to make sure they were all in order. The DPE verified that the plane was up to date on the annual and 100-hour inspection and all other inspections were made (transponder, pitot/static, ELT). Once he was satisfied that the plane was airworthy and that all paperwork was complete, my CFI left and we began the oral portion of the exam.
The first few questions he had asked me we pretty simple and straight forward and I began to feel at ease. I felt all my worries melt away as far as the PTS oral exam was concerned. As the exam went on, I began to draw blanks for certain questions. The nervousness came back and questions I knew the answers to were coming up empty. My mouth was dry and my lack of words earned me some weird looks from the DPE. With the answers to easy questions not coming out right, I thought for sure it was going to cost me some points.
After a brief break, I was to show the DPE the cross country trip I planned to Imperial. I took out my sectional chart and explained the route I chose to fly. He was satisfied with my plan and weather to support the trip and began to ask me questions regarding the chart and various airspace. For the most part, I knew much of the sectional and all of the symbols but did have my occasional “huh?” moment.
By the time the oral exam was done, I though for sure I could have done better. I was a bit disappointed that even after all my hard work, I still managed to forget very simple things. In the end, the DPE said I did a pretty good job overall and that we would be going over to Continental to do the flight portion. I was excited to know that I passed.
We drove to the base of the tower where the FBO is located and I began my thorough check of the plane. I always do a pretty good job on the preflight but I made sure I went through my list twice. After I knew I had checked the plane to the best of my abilities, we got inside and taxied for a left closed traffic departure.
The first thing we did was a normal takeoff and landing. My takeoff was fine but the landing could have been much better. We taxied back and I was asked to make a short field takeoff and landing. The takeoff was simple and my landing was much better than I was used to. I had a great approach speed and touched down right on the numbers. I didn’t break to hard and I pitched back to slow the plane.
We taxied back again for a soft field takeoff then made a right crosswind departure. We flew a steady heading until we cleared the class C airspace then started with some steep turns. Aside from the soft filed takeoffs and landings, the steep turns scared me. I was afraid that I would sink too much due to a loss of lift and lose too much altitude to be satisfactory…I was spot on.
When a plane went by rather closely to us, the DPE grabbed the yoke and maneuvered the plane in an effort to keep an eye on the traffic. It was a bit scary but eventually he gave me the plane and we did slow flight and stalls on the way to Simi Valley.
Once those were completed, he had me track the Fillmore VOR. I set the heading and flew directly to it without a problem but when I got closer, he told me not to touch the VOR and intercept the radial and fly a heading toward Agua Dolce and explain how long it would take to get there. I got a bit confused at that moment and he took notice. Again the nervousness took over.
I did my best which seemed to be enough and we continued to do some hood work with unusual attitudes, turns around a point and S-turns over a road. He corrected some minor errors that I had as far as technique went but mentioned my overall understanding of them was satisfactory.
Right before heading back to Van Nuys, he pulled the throttle and had me simulate an emergency landing. I picked my spot but didn’t get the best glide speed fast enough or go through a proper emergency checklist. I thought I botched it but still made a decent descent and explained the pattern I was flying. At that point, he told me to fly back to Van Nuys.
I didn’t know what to think at that moment. Had I done something so wrong that the checkride was over? I flew back to Van Nuys and made all the appropriate calls. We were put on a long downwind due to traffic. We were told to switch to 16L and we were clear to land. The DPE told me to make it a soft field landing. This was my moment of truth.
A long final approach. I made sure I had proper airspeed and used 30 degrees of flaps for a nice and easy touch down. I flared slowly and hovered above the runway. I touched down softly and kept the nose up. The nose slowly lowered onto the runway and we turned off. I contacted ground and got clearance to taxi back to Continental.
After going through my shut down checklist, the DPE went over that simulated engine out. He asked what checklist I would go through to try and restart the engine. I drew a blank. I was sitting in the plane, getting questioned on things not knowing if I had passed or not. He gave me a bit of a lecture as to what would have been the perfect emergency procedure in that situation and the whole time the unknown outcome was swimming in my mind. Once he finished explaining things to me, he made sure I understood then shook my hand and said “congratulations, you are now a private pilot”. All of the energy I had lost through the day due to flying twice and going through a difficult line of questioning had returned to me. The DPE said I actually flew very well and that I have a good feel for the plane. That made me happier than anything in the world.
When I got out of the plane, a few instructors, the mechanic, the owner of the FBO, and even my mother and girlfriend came out to congratulate me. It was so nice to have that waiting for me on the ground! I had accomplished my dream.
The DPE and myself went back to his office to go over a couple of missed points on the oral and he typed out my temporary certificate. My long journey had come to an end today. I had spent over a year training for this and everything finally came to a happy ending. The intimidating DPE turned out to be a great guy when the testing was over and told me what I needed to brush up on and what I was good on. He was extremely knowledgeable and taught me a lot that day. Though I have obtained my certificate, the learning process for me is just beginning and I look forward to continuing on my journey as a new pilot.