B Cat Flight Test

[zkcub]

Hello all,
Just wondering if any of you who have sat this test(ideally in the Christchurch area)might have any tips or hints about the day or know of any favourite questions/tricks that PD might like to use during the day?
cheers

Cub

[a&dcat]

Ask him about the day he did his CPL issue!

[deadhead]

Just slip him a girlie mag along with the coffee and you should be right :cool:

Seriously, the B cat is just like the C cat, you do all the same things, but the emphasis is different. For the C-cat you parrot your instructor and the GAP Flight Instructor's Guide, but for the B cat you are expected to be able to show a little more of the 'human' side, skills in being able to put students at ease, vary it up a little, that sort of thing, instead of being an automaton. Briefing wise, they let you do it in one hour for the C cat, but for the B cat the same briefing, whatever it is, should only take 40 minutes max. Having RD Campbell and Kermode on the sideboard will give you brownie points, but only if you are familiar with them. Typical scenario might be a PPL doing CPL training, and your exercise could be anything from post solo (eg practice forced landings) to something like max rate turns. You are unlikely to be asked to teach a pre-solo briefing as an exercise - but of course that is by no means a given!

If he asks you to "patter" a manoeuvre, that is self explanatory - do and talk. "Demo" means do and not talk. But if he asks you to "Teach" a manoeuvre, that means start at the beginning as if it were the exercise you were given on the ground (it may be a different exercise) and continue the teaching sequence for that lesson until he tells you to stop. You may get a couple of those, as well as the exercise you briefed him on, so be ready for that and don't confuse "teach" with "patter" when feeling the pressure. Don't be afraid to take your time and get clarification if you aren't sure.

You will need to have an 'A' cat or (preferably a senior) 'B' cat supervising your training, of course. You probably should have 10-15 hours dual minimum with your supervisor, more if you have only the bare minimum instructing hours for the 'B' cat issue.

You'll also need to cover the usual law stuff etc as per Part 61, and don't forget about the first solo considerations which will be new for you, so make sure your instructor has covered that with you.

If you really love instructing, all of this stuff will be occurring naturally, and your test will be a breeze. But if you don't you may struggle a little.

Good luck!:ok:

dh
B&D Instructor (cheap, too)

[Killer Loop]

When he's having his pre flight cigarette join him outside and ask him about his horses, he bloody loves those horses. Also if he calls you a f#&king tw@t at some point in the proceedings try not to let it worry you, he doesn't mean it personally. Good luck.

[flying ginge]

Standard tip of don't dig yourself a hole. And definitely talk about the horses. He'll pull out photos if you're lucky. And once he's got those blue-blockers strapped on it's game on...

Good luck

[ZK-DAN]

All sounds pretty good to me. I'm planning on doing my B-Cat by June this year. I've dusted off the Kermode in preparation! If you're talking about the same examiner I thing you are he'll also enjoy a strategically placed pile of FHM's/Ralph etc ( he did for my C-Cat).

[6080ft]

ZK DAN
From what I have seen the testing officers seem to be a bit 'easier' on you if you are not doing your b cat test on the bare minimums.

If you are currently activly instructing cpl students, I see no reason why you would need 10-15hrs dual with a senior instructor. You already (hopefully)possess the instructing skills that you learnt as a c cat and have been continuing to practice as a c cat. All you have to do is make sure your flying is on the numbers. I did about 3 hours with a b cat to make sure I had not developed any bad habits, one solo, then did my flight test.

I think I have some of PDs questions somewhere I will see if I can find them for you.

good luck
6080ft
b cat

[skape-naaier]

Yip must agree with all the above posts. PD is a great guy,oldschool and a true gentleman. Used to be a hardman on the sauce too, many a grand night had with him. He will have worked you out in the first two mins if you'll pass or not, been doing it that long he can tell pretty quickly.
If i remember correctly..its milk with two.

[zkcub]

Thank for all the tips
fridays the day

[deadhead]

Just to clarify: above I talked about a scenario "PPL doing CPL training." What I meant was PD will (or could) simulate himself being a PPL doing CPL training, rather than a B-cat candidate doing CPL training. Hence the comment from 6080ft? Anyway, agree that if that is the case, 10-15 hrs dual is not necessary, that would be a worst case scenario, that of a C-cat not doing much and having only the barebones minimum. Agree that only a few sorties with a senior instructor are necessary for an experienced full time c-cat. In those cases you will probably only fail on your ground work rather than the flying. So prepare hard and good luck.

[6080ft]

deadhead
sorry for confusion - I was just trying to point out that all the dual you suggested seemed a bit excessive if the candidate is a fairly current instructor whether that be teaching ppl or cpl students. Obviously teaching cpls would keep them uptodate with all the necessary skills for the b cat flight test, which after all is a cpl flight test with a bit more talking involved!

rgds
6080ft