So I failed my PPL checkride the other day. The sad part is I couldn't even pass the oral. The examiner informed me that the exam was over once I missed 3 questions in a row on the sectional chart. I told him in a real scenario I could always use the legend on the side if I ever forgot what a symbol meant. I also told him I had dedicated a major portion of studying towards creating flight plans, part 91 guidelines and aircraft knowledge. I asked him if we could continue and finish the flying part. He said that the FAA changed their policy and students who can't pass the oral part are unable to continue to the practical flight.
I thought I was well prepared and my instructor signed me off. Unfortunately, the examiner thought my knowledge of the sectional charts was inadequate and I quote this from the examiner "You will kill yourself if I give you a license today". However he did say I wasn't to blame. He said he will be contacting my instructor later this week to have a talk with him. He also informed me that he would have liked to be my instructor. My actual instructor was shocked when I walked outside to tell him I had failed, he thought I was joking with him. After the examiner left, my instructor sat down with me and said that I was his best student in terms of knowledge and only one other student rivaled me in flying skill. (He wants me to fly with the other student once I receive my license so we can exchange notes/techniques)
So basically $500 went down the drain and I am seriously bummed out. I told my instructor I won't be able to afford another checkride until August. This means I now have to spend more money renting the plane again to brush up on my stalls, landings, etc. so I don't fail the practical part this time around. My question is am I to blame? Or did my instructor not give me the proper preparation for the check ride? We did 3 hours of ground the day before the exam. I went home and stuck my head in part 91 for the rest of the night.
PS. The examiner said that if I didn't screw up on the sectional, we would have walked right outside and began the preflight.
