Phase check

To give myself that extra little boost of confidence, I scheduled a simulated checkride (commonly known as a Phase Check) with a different CFI – Gene Hudson. I ended up with mixed feelings – more on that in a moment.

I met Gene at his office at 9:00am, and after some small talk we got right into the oral. We spent a whopping 3 hours going over everything I might be asked. Loads of airspace and weather questions. I found I had problems explaining seemingly simple things like P-Factor, turbulence and temperature inversions. Other than that, I think I did respectably well, considering the real oral will probably only be half that long. When we finished, I felt very confident.

Then we went flying.

Everything started fine. Headed off on a cross country. Found first checkpoint. Estimated time. No problem. Broke it off and did an emergency procedure. Overshot the field a bit, but fine other than that. Hood work was fine. Stalls were fine. Turns around a point were bad. Steep turns were bad. Forgot clearing turns all day. Back to the airport for landings – very discouraged at this point. First landing – bounced. Second landing – bounced. He asked for a short field landing – bounced. No flap landing – came in too high – had to go around. Soft field takeoff – fair at best. Soft field landing – fair at best.

Overall I was NOT happy with my performance, but it was a GREAT experience. He gave me some great tips (he is an EXCELLENT instructor), I learned a lot, and know what to expect and how intense to be the day of my checkride. Like I mentioned at the beginning of this report, I’m not sure if I’m more confident or less confident, but one thing is for sure – I’m better prepared than I was. I’ll spend Monday and/or Tuesday practicing, and then give it my best. I know I’m a safe pilot – I just hope he agrees.