Who can help me?? Question about Checkride

[Daultonio]

HI there who can help me with this????
I ahve just come back from the USA with my licence and i now need to do a checkride in the UK to get use to the flying in this country, i have done some flying in this country but more in the USA. What does the checkride involve?
Iam looking to fly from Blackbushe so anyone who flies there would be great help but not to worry otherwise.
Any help would be great CHeers

[Fuji Abound]

Check ride with who?

Presumably the club you intend to rent from?

If so it means whatever they want it to mean, from some daft instructor who thinks it would be "cool" to put you though a GFT to a couple of circuits.

However, ask the club what to expect, as they should have a standard to which they conform.

Also consider for your own benefit what you expect from the check ride. How familiar are you with the type (you might have trained in something completely different), or you might like to spend some time getting use to the local points of reference. Well worth including these aspects in the check ride.

That aside, personally I would expect some one who wanted to do a check ride with me to demonstrate a circuit or two, a go around, a stall and recovery and a PFL - that would be about it. I reckon by the end you would have a pretty good idea whether you would want to let them loose with your aircraft and could reasonably expect it and them to return in one piece.

[gcolyer]

If it is a JAA PPL then ther eis no legal requirement for a "checkride". However 99.9999999999999999% of clubs will not let you fly their aircraft without a check flight, and majority of them will also have a currency rule.

As far as a club check goes most of them will require you to do a check ride with an Instructor. As there is no law stating this is a must some clubs will allow "trusted" or high experience club members to perform a check ride.

The check ride will cover things like:

Stalls
Slow Flight
PFL's
Circuits

All that sort of thing. Every club is different so how much of a grilling you get depends on them. Some clubs will not let you fly if they are not happy with your airmanship or theory knowledge and will insist that you have more training. Again this is not legally enforceable.

Some clubs are also really anal about pilots having trained in the U.S so be prepared for that.

When I came back from the states I done a 1.9 hour check flight which included difference training in a C172.

[BackPacker]

Don't dread it. As said before, it's mainly the club wanting to make sure they will want to rent the aircraft to you. A few circuits and such will convince them of that.

Best approach is to treat this as one (or two) additional lesson(s). Make a list of what YOU want to learn from the checkride. For instance:
- How to refuel the aircraft, how to get reimbursed for refueling off-site.
- How to book in and out, how to pay your bills.
- Local area familiarization
- Local radio procedures
- Really short- and soft field landings and take-offs, if you didn't do any in the US.

When I got back from Florida I started with a two-hour one-on-one groundschool, then did two flights with that same instructor. I learned a lot from those lessons. Getting checked out for the club was only incidental to the whole affair.

[BEagle]

I would also require you to do some dual navigation to get used to things like MATZ penetrations, RPS, FIS, RIS/RAS, FISOs and A/G operators, overhead joins....etc, etc.

Plus the usual GH and some circuits.

And fine you £10 every time you call an Air Trafficker 'Sir'!

[Julian]

I would also require you to do some dual navigation to get used to things like MATZ penetrations, RPS, FIS, RIS/RAS, FISOs and A/G operators, overhead joins....etc, etc.


Errr....why????

Surely a checkride is make sure an individual is competent in the aircraft that he is going to rent from the club. He already has a PPL so he should know how to use the radio, navigate, MATZ Penetrations, etc....:confused:

[Bravo73]

He already has a PPL so he should know how to use the radio, navigate, MATZ Penetrations, etc....

Technically, yes, he should.

But if all of his flying has been in the USA then he will have no practical experience of these matters. (You will struggle to find a MATZ in Florida! Hell, you'll really struggle to find a fast talking RAF controller over there...)

I'm with BEagle on this one. It is not simply a matter of getting a 'JAA' licence in Florida then going for a quick 1 hour check flight once back in the UK. I would budget for at least 5 hours 'familiarisation'.



(And before you jump on me for being 'anti-Florida JAA training', the same would apply the other way around. ie FAA training in the UK then flying in California for the first time.)



PS BEags - I would make it a £50 fine... :E

[Julian]

Aha, me not reading question properly! DOH!

Yes if straight from US then worth doing an hour or two checkride including UK oddities.

(You will struggle to find a MATZ in Florida! Hell, you'll really struggle to find a fast talking RAF controller over there...)


You should try California then, lots of military activity and the RT can be challenging to say the least. I guess FL is laid back :)

J.

[high-hopes]

Finally did my first "check ride" abroad (in Italy). Never flown outside the UK before.

Instructor was really nice. Professional and friendly.
Local AFIS was happy with English R/T.
Great wee flying club, well kept fleet, reasonable prices and no landing fees !

Tour of the local area, what to know about it and a couple of circuits.
Total time 25 minutes.

I think hat's the way it should be. Have already paid an expensive JAA examiner fee, don't need a skills test everywhere I go, especially to fly yet another PA Shed or a Cessna SpamCan.

I could understand maybe the UK instructor a bit more "suspicious" about the Florida PPL, because of so many horror stories around. But then again there's more gossip at flying clubs than there is at hairdressers'

Well, off to enjoy the Italian Alps from a privileged position :)