The Green Penguin,
Personally, that sounds like "padding" to me to get extra money out of you.
Captaincy? WTF, airmanship more like.
Can you make a decision based on the wx, notams and destination?
Taxi with care to your own aircraft and other people/buildings/aircraft around you. (eg, not blowing dust, or snow
into the hangar etc)
Have you allowed enough time for the flight to be completed before darkness &/or bad wx sets in?
Do you need prior permission to fly to your destination etc.
Insurance, maintenance release, multiple MEL items (maybe the Cherokee won't have that issue). If the transponder is U/S can I go? etc.
Accuracy. Err. Draw a line. Measure it. Fly it. Avoid Danger/Restricted areas and controlled airspace. Use appropriate visual and nav aids to avoid the above. Is just brushing past the London control area by a whisker smart versus picking a slightly different track and passing it with ease.
Flight by sole reference to instruments? Are you instrument rated or not? If not, you should not do that. If it is instruction for an IMC rating, do you need it if you are intending to fly commercially. Now, use of navaids as an aid to SA whilst operating in VMC is fine. (see above)
General handling. Yup, that'll be that straight and level thing won't it? Read your aircraft POM so you are using the right power settings and think about engine handling.
Note, if you're a bit nervy about xw landings, pick a day with some real fun xw and grab an instructor and circuit bash. Well worth it and great for your confidence.
Captain and pax briefing. If you're single pilot, who are you going to talk to? Ok, being facetious there. Have a plan. Think it through about the take off (if I don't make power/speed by X I will abort, if I have an engine failure at X I will do Y). Look for landing areas in flight, (if engine quits here, I will do X) Pax briefing, don't use scary words like turbulence or engine failure. Pax freak out. Revise what needs to be said. Seat belts, doors, mobile phones etc. If a problem arises, what will you say to them. (We use NITS as a mnemonic)
Many people think that a long winded "brief" (clue's in the name) is what the "big boys do". We don't. We mention the bits that are relevant. Long winded stuff (kind of like this post... sorry) is boring and you forget it.
Fuel management. That should have been taught to you. It's easy on big(ger) aircraft, fuel totalisers, FMSs... Ahhh nice. Keep a plot going, or a "howgozit". The aircraft burns X per hour. If you've been flying for 30 min, what's left? If below what you expect, why? What's changed? Wind? G/S or power setting? If all ok, is there a leak? What will you do to trouble shoot it? (or find a suitable place to land)
Believe me, it ain't rocket science.
Standardisation. Are they offering you a job? Is this a line check? No, you don't need it.
Just continue to build on your PPL stuff. You've got 30 years of standardisations to go through (and each aeroplane and company is different. Heck, we get new SOPs every 6 months.. Standardisation? No, rip off in this case)
There you go, just saved you £1500.
Ok, it's a bit tongue in cheek but you can do this yourself.
Be disciplined. Attempt "harder" flights. That is, set yourself goals WRT navigation and terrain etc. Build your experience up so you become more confident. Accept that some days you'll have to turn back. That is the most valuable lesson of them all. Some days you'll just have to say no.
The idea of building hours is to gain experience. Learn about this flying game, build confidence. Being "monitored" whilst doing this defeats the purpose. You'll get the edges polished during the IR and CPL.
Have fun.
