Mark's Pilot Log

My CFI training is finally over! I passed the checkride today and have my temporary certificate in hand!

This checkride has been the worst one I've done as far as being worked up for it. The actual test itself wasn't bad. You definitely need to know your stuff, but if you are prepared, it's not particularly difficult. Just long.

One thing to remember is that the examiner is not asking you questions to see if you know the answer, but to see if you can teach it. Use the tools at your disposal. Make sure the room you use has a whiteboard and use it. And when you are teaching from the whiteboard, make sure you are facing the examiner when you are talking. My examiner complemented me on doing that and mentioned that a lot of CFI candidates talk to the board. Remember that you are acting as an instructor on this test. Be in command of the information and don't guess at what you are unsure of. Bring your entire reference library with you. Know where to find everything. When the examiner asks you a question that no one on earth would know off the top of his head, pull out the right book and turn right to it.

One example, I was asked how to fill out the address field on an 8710 if your mailing address is a post office box. That's not something that I've ever had to worry about, but I had read the instructions for the 8710 and remembered seeing something about that. So I picked up the 8710, turned to the instructions and pointed out exactly what you are supposed to do. My examiner liked asking questions that required me to go to the FARs, obviously testing me on my knowledge of where to find things rather than what I had memorized for the test.

The only thing he really corrected me on during the oral was one of the wing diagrams I drew showed the wing from the right side instead of the left side like you normally see it. He wanted everything to be drawn from the standard viewpoint. His point was that when you teach weight and balance it's easier to show the view of the left side of the plane (since positive numbers indicating distance from the datum are more logically displayed increasing to the right). So you should make all of your airplane drawings from the same view for consistency.

To be prepared for this test you must understand everything you had to know for your private and commercial checkrides, plus your privileges and responsibilities as an instructor. By understand, I mean you need to know the why, not just the what. You will spend far more time studying for this checkride than you have for any checkride before.

As for the flight portion of the checkride, it's pretty straight forward. Just make sure you can fly every maneuver from the private and commercial PTS from the right seat to commercial standards while explaining exactly what you are doing and why you're doing it. Anyone who can pass the commercial checkride can do the flying portion of the CFI checkride. You just have to practice from the right seat. It took me about 10-15 hours to get to commercial standards in the right seat (mostly the landings). The difficult part is being able to explain what you're doing while you're doing it and understand how to correct the mistakes students will make.

I really think that if I wasn't so worked up over it being a checkride, it would have actually been fun. But it was a checkride, so fun doesn't really describe it.

I'm just glad it's over...

This year I've spent a ton of time training. First my Commercial certificate, then my CFI. I think I've made two flights all year just to go flying. I've gotten a little burned out, to the point that I dove (no pun intended) exclusively back into scuba diving for the last couple of weeks. But today I had to get in my mandatory hour for the month.

My flying club charges you for one hour of flying per month whether you fly or not. This has the effect of giving people the incentive to fly regularly, theoretically keeping current. My problem is that I've been working on my CFI certificate, so I've been flying Pro Aero's Arrow. The CFI checkride must include time in a complex aircraft. (Although I think it's easier to do the whole thing in one plane, some people prefer to do only do the complex part in a complex aircraft and the rest in a fixed gear aircraft that they may be more familiar with.) Since the all of the club aircraft are fixed gear, I needed to rent the Arrow. Just to make things easier on myself, I didn't fly anything else this month. The result is that here it is the end of the month and I haven't flown any of the club planes.

So I decided to take up one of the 172's for a spin. No purpose (other than getting my hour in). I just took off and started flying. I ended up near Oxford, so I did a few touch and go's, but that was it. I just enjoyed the act of flying. It's been a long time since I've done that. Usually I at least have a destination in mind, fly there, have a coke, and fly back, but today, it was just about the flying. And flying a 172 instead of the Arrow and Saratoga (the only other planes I've flown in two months) was a big change. It feels like you're forgetting something: no prop lever, no gear. And since the one I flew was fuel injected, there isn't even carb heat. Not to mention I'm used to approach speeds of 75 to 80 knots instead of 60.

I need to get back to flying at least once a week just to fly. Maybe next week I'll see if we can start up airport night again.