Mention the word “checkride” to a pilot and watch what happens. The color may drain from their face, they may begin to sweat, and they may start mumbling things like P.A.V.E, I.M.S.A.F.E, P.A.R.E, and any of the other numerous acronyms that they’ve learned throughout their training. Checkride anxiety is real and something I’ve struggled with myself. So how do we deal with that anxiety?
First, let’s start by saying it’s OK to be nervous
If this is your first checkride, a certain level of anxiety is to be expected. You often aren’t sure what to expect, you likely have never met your examiner prior to your checkride and there is a lot of internal pressure to pass. So let’s start by saying that the nervousness that you are feeling is normal, and it’s OK to be a little anxious. Assuming that you don’t show up to your practical exam shaking worse than a Chihuahua at the vet, you will likely do just fine.
Know what will be covered on your checkride
Every checkride, regardless of the certificate/rating sought, is performed in accordance with the testing standards outlined by the FAA. For most of the ratings (minus the instructor ratings), the DPE utilizes the Airmen Certification Standards. Open up the relevant document for the rating you are seeking and give it a good solid read. They go in great depth covering everything from your rights as the pilot, the responsibilities of the examiner, and most importantly the topics that they will ask about on the oral and what standards your maneuvers will be held to on the flight portion of the exam. I hope you are already well versed with the ACS for your particular rating, but if not, take some time to become intimately familiar with the document prior to your checkride.
Consider the “showmanship” of a checkride
While I wouldn’t suggest dressing up in a topcoat and doing a musical number, do consider the showmanship aspect of the checkride. Remember, your job is to show the DPE that you are ready to be a safe pilot. Every checkride centers around a scenario, and most of your oral exam will be questions related to that scenario. So start by anticipating those questions and figuring out all of the different ways the scenario could play out.
If you are tasked with picking up “Joe” who is 250lbs and his 200lbs of golf gear and taking him on a 400 mile cross country, how is that going to work? How are you going to divvy up that flight plan so that you can make the trip? Will you stop for gas? Will weight and balance work if Joe sits in the back seat? Will you need to have him mail his golf clubs? Will you cruise at best economy or full power? Does the airport you are going to have any hotspots, NOTAMS, or other important things to consider during your preflight? Where will you divert to for each leg of the flight if there is a problem? While it may seem a little obsessive, fully thinking through the scenario will help you anticipate the contingencies that you may be asked about on your checkride and these types of questions are also good things to think about when performing flights once you have your certificate.
By having everything prepared you can walk your examiner through your thought process and rationale and show them that you are adequately prepared for the scenario he gave you and are taking it seriously.
Another thing that you can do is to take some time before the checkride beings and have the maintenance logs for the airplane out and tabbed. I created a sheet like this one that I encourage students to use and have used myself on multiple checkrides. On the “tab” column I would take a series of colored tabs and put a different color for each inspection. Then I would put the same color tab in the corresponding maintenance log entry. That way when the examiner asks, “Ok, show me this aircraft is airworthy”. You can talk through each inspection and quickly find it in the logbooks. You can also do something similar with your logbook for showing that you meet the relevant aeronautical experience requirements.
Both of these things go to show the examiner that you are prepared and helps make a positive first impression.
No one is expecting perfection
For nearly every checkride that I’ve ever taken, I’ve gone into it with the wrong mindset. My mindset was that if I was to take this checkride, then my flying skills and oral knowledge must be perfect. The problem with this mindset is that it overlooks a very crucial part of the checkride……no one is expecting perfection. If you are waiting for your skills to be perfect then you will never take the checkride. Just ask my instructor who got so tired of me pushing back my checkride because “I wasn’t ready” that he just scheduled it and told me to show up.
So instead of focusing on perfection, let’s actually look and see what constitutes a “disqualification” on the checkride. Quoting straight from the appendix of the ACS titled, “Practical Test Roles, Responsibilities and Outcomes”. I’ve bolded some important clarification as to what constitutes a failure.
Typical areas of unsatisfactory performance and grounds for disqualification include:
- Any action or lack of action by the applicant that requires corrective intervention by the evaluator to maintain safe flight.
- Failure to use proper and effective visual scanning techniques to clear the area before and while performing maneuvers.
- Consistently exceeding tolerances stated in the skill elements of the Task.
- Failure to take prompt corrective action when tolerances are exceeded.
- Failure to exercise risk management.
So if you are consistent in your exceeding of tolerances and you don’t correct when you do exceed those tolerances then you are not likely to pass. Otherwise, you are OK. If at any point you fail your checkride, the examiner must tell you right away. So even if you feel as though your steep turns were terrible, if the examiner doesn’t say that the ride is “disqualified” then you haven’t failed. Push any negative feelings you have about that maneuver out of your mind and focus on the next task. Most importantly, remember that the goal here is consistently safe, not consistently perfect.
Take a day off
Anything you don’t know the day before your checkride, you don’t know. Resist the temptation to stay up all night cramming. Spend some time with your friends and family, go fishing, do whatever it is that brings you peace. Try to avoid obsessing over the checkride and focus on going into it well-rested and as relaxed as you can be.
Know what you know, and know what you don’t know
There will be questions that you may be asked that you don’t know the answer to. Resist the urge to word-vomit your way straight towards a disqualification. If you aren’t sure as to the answer, say that you aren’t sure, and then look it up. This is key. For those that I’ve coached for their checkride, I’ve often encouraged them to spend a good amount of time learning where to look things up. Is the answer to this question in the FAR? AIM? PHAK? AFH? POH? Knowing which resource to use to find the answer is as important as knowing the answer itself.
Most examiners will take the mindset of “if you could look it up in the real world, you can look it up on the checkride”. Meaning that forgetting if your night landings need to be to a full stop or not – that you can look up prior to the flight. Best glide speed? You gotta know that cold.
Do a mock oral
Speaking of “knowing what you know”, a great way to help ensure you are ready for your checkride is to do a mock oral. This is where you sit down with an instructor you haven’t worked with before and they ask you the same sorts of scenario-based questions that you would be asked on the actual checkride. While it usually takes a few hours, this is time well spent. You should be able to walk away from this experience knowing exactly what your strengths and weaknesses are. If you are looking for an instructor, I am happy to help and have been doing virtual mock oral exams for students all over the country.
Use your words!
DPEs may seem like these mystical super-pilots, but they are just as much human as you are. As I said before what they are looking for is consistently safe not perfect, and so if you notice that you are 150 feet low during cruise rather than the ACS standards of +-100 feet, verbalize that you are low and that you are correcting. Think about this from the DPE’s perspective. What do you think looks better? An applicant who knows they are low and implements a correction or the applicant who just sits there either unaware or hoping the DPE doesn’t notice. Trust me, they notice. Talking out loud during your checkride can help them get an insight into your thought process which can prove beneficial. If you feel as though the traffic pattern is swamped and you want to make a 360 for spacing, tell the DPE, “The traffic pattern is full right now so I’m going to make a right 360 to give us some room from the other traffic.” Boom! Now you get some points for risk mitigation and highlight your good aeronautical decision-making in the process.
You are the Pilot In Command. Act like it.
On the day of your checkride, you are the Pilot In Command in every sense of the word. You are responsible for the outcome and safety of that flight and the DPE will be looking to you to show that you are in control of whatever may come up. It can be easy for an applicant to think of the DPE as a similar role to their instructor but remember that DPEs can’t teach you on the checkride, so it’s better to think of them as a field or family member who just happens to know a little about aviation. They are your first passenger and so you’ll want to treat them as such. If they talk during takeoff, say “Sterile Cockpit” (and be sure to brief them on what that means during your passenger briefing). If the engine starts running rough during cruise, follow the appropriate checklist and fly the airplane. If you need a few seconds to gather your thoughts before starting a maneuver (assuming it’s not the emergency portion of the checkride) just tell them, take a breath and begin the maneuver when you are ready. Don’t allow yourself to be rushed or distracted. You are the PIC!
So you unsatisfactorily performed a maneuver. Now what?
If you happen to have a bad day and perform unsatisfactorily on a maneuver then you have two options at that point. You can continue on and try to knock out as many maneuvers as you can, or you can stop there. Assuming you are mentally able to do so, I’d recommend trying to continue on. The reason for this is when you come back to finish up your checkride you only have to redo the maneuvers that weren’t within standards. So if you busted due to your short-field landings, on your retest you will take the examiner up, do a short field landing, and then that well-earned handshake and temporary certificate will be yours.
Do try to enjoy the experience
While no one likes being evaluated, I do believe that we have a lot of control over how we choose to look at a particular experience. If you look at your checkride as something dreadful, then that’s exactly how it’s going to be. If you view it as a good opportunity to show an experienced aviator that you can safely exercise the privileges of the rating you are seeking then it will be a far more positive experience. Remember, all certificates are licenses to learn and the examiner knows that. Try to enjoy yourself!
I hope you found these tips useful as you prepare to take your checkride. Have something that I missed? Reach out and let me know!