Skills Test Question

[DaveD]

I'm right at the end of my PPL and I have my skills test soon. I have no doubts about the practical side of things, i'm sure all of that is fine.

I have a question about the pre-flight stuff that I will need to produce to my examiner. Mass and Balance sheets.. etc..

Can anyone give me a detailed explanation as to what he will be expecting and how I should produce it?

Thanks

[Redbird72]

I was asked to prepare mass & balance, take-off calc, landing calc and I had to provide a "passenger briefing"

None of these are definates, my instructor suggested that I ask the examiner if he wanted to be briefed etc., and to clarify such things as the names used for the different stalls and PFL recovery height in the first briefing.

[ALEXA]

Your instructor should have gone through this with you already!

It's not rocket science, but doing it yourself just before the test with no previous practice is likely to distract you somewat, as you'll need the POH for the aircraft you will be flying and the W&B data from its most recent weighing.

I'm guessing from your question that you've seen neither document before. The morning of your test is probably not the time to be introduced to them.

Alexa

P.S. A whizzwheel AND a calculator might come in handy.

P.P.S. Having re-read your posting, I see that you are not just asking about W & B, so apologies if you know all about it already but are just unsure as to what the examiner will ask for on the day.

Since tests are booked in advance, get whoever books it for you to ask the examiner what he will want pre-flight. That way, you might get a clear idea in advance as to what tasks he wants. You might even ask what nav route he wants. If he is happy to say (mine was!) then you can plan much of the nav the night before the test.

[julian_storey]

You should be able to demonstrate that you can do all the stuff that you will need to do on your own once you get your PPL.

An examiner friend of mine makes this a little more fun. He asks the candidate to imagine that they have flown to France for lunch. He tells them how much fuel they have, how much he weighs, and also the weight of a bottle of wine. He asks them to calculate the maximum number of bottles of French wine they can bring back and then the take off distance required :-)

[modelman]

My examiner gave me a mild wringing out before the test with questions about the test a/c:landing /t/o distances,w&b,fuel consumption,tyre pressures (!!).
I had to present my plog (for the Nav part) showing the route,fuel burn,CG before and at end of flight.Try to get the regional and forecast pressure (from ATC).Mark max drift on your chart-handy for your diversion.
Unless you are a super cool type,your head will be a bit stressed and a good examiner will allow for that.
Ref the test itself-I found it much better to do the Nav and Handling parts as 2 flights.To do it all in one can be quite tiring.Did my Nav in the morning and Handling in the afternoon.Only got a partial ( crap PFL) but retook it after a bit more training.I think PFL's have been responsible for quite a few failures so make sure you have done some recently.
Come back and let us know how it went:)
MM

[Redbird72]

Oh yes, nearly forgot - I got a bit caught out by the aircraft questions: what type of oil and how much, what voltage is the electrical system. He will ask you to name all the speeds and answer questions about the instruments.

Good tip is, if you can't answer, get the POH and tell him from that; knowing where to look stuff up is as important as being able to memorise it.:ok:

[BackPacker]

Good tip is, if you can't answer, get the POH and tell him from that;

Actually, not so much a good tip as a vital requirement. The examiner will want to know you know how to use the POH. So he will continue to drill down on you with ever more complicated questions you can't possibly know, until you break out the POH.

When I did my flight training another candidate actually got a partial fail for not knowing where to look up basic things in the POH. Oops.:=

What helps a lot is to know that most, if not all, POHs of certified aircraft have a certain order in them. That makes it rather easy to look things up even if the aircraft is unfamiliar. If possible, grab a few POHs from different aircraft (internet-downloadable copies will work just fine) and compare the table of contents.

Of course, there are certain things you have to know, instead of having to look it up. A rough idea on how far and how long you can go on full tanks, and how many bodies you can carry in that case. MTOW+ISA+nil wind landing and take-off distances, a couple V-speeds and so forth.

[tangovictor]

I heard that one examiner asked where the fire extinguisher was located, poor student looked around for ages, before realising there wasn't one.

[Twiddle]

Phone the examiner, ask what they'd like you to prepare on the day, they're human, they'll talk to you, likewise, ask your instructor.

I'd assume W+B, take-off and landing within specs.
You should also brief them with your standard passenger brief (the basics, doors work like thus, seatbelts like this, if you see anything near us tell me regardless of whether you think I've seen it or not, when I'm talking or when I give you the bird STFU.......)

[BackPacker]

Phone the examiner, ask what they'd like you to prepare on the day, they're human, they'll talk to you, likewise, ask your instructor.

Ask his/her weight too and prepare the W&B with the real numbers instead of FAA/JAA/CAA averages.

[ifitaintboeing]

You should have been directed to the following document by your instructor:

http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/33/srg_fcl_19_A%20latestv5_.pdf

This should answer most of your questions about the skills test, and details the profile which the exam should follow.

[Whopity]

As an Examiner I want to know if the flight can be conducted legally. If the candidate cannot tell me he has just failed Section 1. There is little point continuing as he can at best only get a partial and of course paid the test fee in advance.