Eye of Experience #16:Killing the Checkitis Bug

Everybodytakes checkrides. It simply goes with the territory - if you want to fly, anFAA Inspector (Fed) will examine you from time to time or you will be tested bya Designated Pilot Examiner (DPE). In a 17-year career as a DPE, andhaving administered over four thousand flight tests as a DPE, I believe I haveseen chickitis in virtually all its forms. Throughout my entire career as a DPEI never spent less than 15 minutes (and on many occasions as much as a half-houror more) attempting to calm down each applicant that faced me. I had severaltechniques for accomplishing this.

The Examiner Expects You to Pass

First, I would start out by explaining that I wanted to see the applicant'sbest effort, and he/she certainly can't show me that if he or she is all tied upin knots with an advanced state of nerves. I would then explain that at leastthree people wanted the applicant to pass: the applicant him/herself, his or herinstructor, and me. The applicant because of the time, effort, and moneyinvested in reaching this point, his/her instructor because the result becomespart of the instructor's permanent record, and me because it is much easier topass an applicant that to fail one. (There's a lot of paperwork involved indisapproving an application for a certificate or rating, and I simply hatepaperwork, not to mention that I would have to get back in an airplane or glideras the case might be for the re-check.) Therefore, I would tell the applicantthat I expect and want him or her to pass.

Comparing the Test to Other Facets of the Applicant's Life

Another technique I used to calm an applicant down was to compare thecheckride to some other phases of the applicant's life. I remember one applicantfor a Private Pilot Certificate, a physician, who was so nervous when he came tome that he had to excuse himself and go to the restroom and barf before we evengot started on the oral portion of the practical test! I asked him if, aftergoing through four years of undergraduate college, four years of medical school,several years of internship and residency before taking the state boards for hisspecialty, he was this nervous. He answered in the negative, explaining that hewas well prepared and confident. I then asked if he wasn't this upset then, whyon earth he would let a piddling little thing like a private pilot checkrideupset him so? This calmed him down and he gave me a good ride.

What Difference Does It Make?

To help an applicant relax I would often ask this question; "Today isMay 5th, 1999. On May 5th, 2005, is it going to make any difference whether yougot your certificate (or rating) on May 5th, 1999, or on May 8th, 1999?" Ofcourse, viewed from that angle the applicant would have to answer in thenegative. Basically, applicants want to know that they met the standard. Theydon't want the certificate or rating to be a gift - they want to earn it. Thisgives them the confidence to exercise their new privileges without the fear offeeling that they don't really measure up. Although everybody wants to pass hischeckride, nobody really wants an "easy" examiner. They want to know,deep down, that they have successfully met the standard of the PTS.

Marginal Performance

Every examiner enjoys seeing an applicant do a perfect job on the practicaltest. It is a joy to see a well-prepared applicant breeze right through everyTASK in the PTS. The FAA tells examiners to take the onus of a bust offthemselves and place it where it belongs by explaining, "Look, I didn'tbust you, the regulations did." Of course this is true. The applicantreally busted him/herself by failing to measure up to the standard of thePractical Test Standards (PTS). From the examiner's standpoint the nice, cleanpassing test is easy. So too is the nice, clean bust - the one in which theapplicant knows just what he did wrong and when. I once busted a six-monthinstrument check by attempting to recapture the localizer with one engine cagedin a cabin class twin after a three-dot deflection of the needle. I knew exactlywhat I did wrong and had no trouble accepting the bust. I just went back thenext day an did that approach right.

On the other hand, the ones that drive an examiner out of his mind as heattempts to make the difficult decision are the marginal applicants who give theexaminer a ride that could go either way. The FAA emphatically says,"There's no such thing as a marginal applicant. They either meet thestandard or they don't!" I don't know about you, but I certainly don'tbelieve that statement. The PTS does allow some leeway for the conditions thatexist at the time of the ride - gusty winds, mild chop, etc., and if thetolerances are slightly exceeded because of these conditions the examiner maytake this into account. Of course, some applicants use these conditions as anexcuse to cover up a poor performance. Here, however, I am referring to theapplicant who consistently operates right on the edge in good conditions. Mypolicy in those cases was to repeat the maneuver - or a similar one with thesame objective - a couple of times until I was certain the applicant knew whathe/she was supposed to do and did it right and until the objective as spelledout in the PTS was satisfactorily met.

Psyching Yourself Up for the Checkride

It seems like I've been taking checkrides all my life. At one point in time Iwas taking five checkrides a year, all with the Feds. And somehow I would manageto convince myself that I would go in and show the inspector how I fly, and ifit wasn't good enough, I didn't deserve to pass. This technique has alwaysworked for me, and I would go in relaxed and give the inspector an example of mybest effort.

There was one exception when I met the inspector in a high state of nerves.Just before leaving the office to go to the Flight Standards District Office(FSDO) for the checkride my then-partner said, "You know if you bust thisride, you'll lose your instrument privileges." The realization of theveracity of this statement got me extremely upset, and when I met the inspector(a nice guy, by the way), he observed that I was nervous.

He said, "What's the matter, Howard? Every time we've been together inthe past you have been perfectly calm, but today you seem to be quitenervous." I responded, "I realize that if I bust this ride I'll losemy instrument privileges, and I earn my living in the instrument airspace."He replied, "Don't worry. If you screw something up, you'll just come backtomorrow and do it over again." This calmed me down and I was able to givehim a passing performance. The technique of convincing yourself, emotionally aswell as intellectually, that you are ready really works for me, and it can foryou, too.

Heckling the Applicant

Although as an examiner I worked very hard at attempting to see that eachapplicant was not nervous in the flight test situation, there was one area ofthe practical test in which I would actually heckle the applicant. Formerly, the PTS forthe Private Pilot Practical Test said that the applicant would plan his/hercross-country flight near the range of the airplane within 30 minutes, takinginto account the existing conditions. With very few exceptions almost noapplicants were successful in meeting the 30-minute limit. Whenever the planningprocess took over an hour, I would usually snarl at the applicant, "Onereason people fly airplanes is because they go fast. If it takes over 30 minutesto plan a three-hour trip it is indicative of weak planning ability. Let's getthis wrapped up right now!" The applicant would usually answer that he/shewas trying to make sure that everything was right and all the bases covered, butit did spur them on to work a bit faster.

Once in the air, examiners are instructed to throw a few distractions at theapplicant to ensure that the priorities are kept straight - that the first dutyof flying the airplane is taken care of prior to the attention being turned tohandle whatever the distraction might be. One nasty technique I used was toattempt to induce vertigo while the applicant had a view-limiting device inplace. I would drop my pen on the floor and ask the applicant to pick it up. Ifhe kept his head level and his eyes on the panel, all would be well, but if heleaned forward and lowered his head as he looked at the floorboard, the chanceswere he would experience vertigo. You might think this is unfair, but itprovides a graphic demonstration of the working of the inner ear.

Conclusion

The government does us aviators an enormous favor by publishing in thePractical Test Standards exactly what is expected of the applicant on eachcheckride for every certificate and rating. Yet, I have seen countlessapplicants show up without ever having heard of the PTS, let alone seen one. Ibelieve it is almost criminal for an instructor to send an applicant in for thepractical test without having gone through the PTS for that test with theapplicant again and again.

The bottom line is simply this: As the Boy Scouts say, "BePrepared!" If an applicant is well prepared, he can meet the examinerwithout cockiness but with confidence, and if he is well prepared there is noexcuse for busting a checkride.