its all seems back to front

[flyfish]

Being a ppl student about to complete his cross country qualifier (well hope to someday, its been cancelled 14 times so far due to the weather etc), I was pondering this question.
Why do we get sent on a 150 mile flight on our own, before being tested to see if we can safely handle stalls,engine failures, and any one of the possible inflight emergencies that, god forbid ,could occur.
Would it not be more logical to do the skills test first.
I know that the instuctor would not send you if he/she did not think you were ready , but shouldnt and examiner be deciding that.
Im sure there is a reason for this but i cant find it. I hope that someone with a better knowledge could explain it.Thanks in advance . Flyfish

[NIMBUS]

flyfish,
The skills test includes your ability to plan X-Country flights. Presumably your instructor has already taught you how to handles stalls, emergency situations, etc?
The X-Country solo is more of a confidence builder than anything else. All planning, etc, should be checked by the instructor before you set off on what is actually a supervised solo flight.
Remember, the checkride (skills test)is merely a second opinion to verify the instructor has done his/her job.

[Qwntm]

When your instructor endorses your logbook for the X-country, he/she is saying that you have the ability in his/her professional opionion to successfully complete the mission.

They call it a "checkride" because the examiner is just endorsing the instructors opinion that you are in fact the rating the instructor says you are. Or, to put it another way, until you fail the checkride, you are the rating the instructor signed you off for. That is why it is called a "checkride" not a "final examination."

Hope this helps. (And gives you confidence in the system, you can do it!)

[Shed Driver]

Qwntm, I hope you are more alert with your students than you are reading this bulletin board! If you had checked 'flyfishs' profile you would have seen he is in the UK, we do not have 'checkrides' here so everything you are trying to help him with is no help at all. Nimbus has it nearly right, but again falls down with using the word 'checkride' and 'skills test' in the same breath. We do not have check rides here, we have flight tests, or 'Skill Tests' under JAR.

Flyfish, your instructor is the one who knows what you are capable of, and you will have done dual flights to other airfields, so its no big shake for you to go on your own now. I always told my students that their solo qualifier, either PPL or CPL, was probably their most rewarding solo flight they could do (after 1st solo of course), so go and enjoy it!

[squeakyunclean]

For what it's worth, in my opinion the 'skills test' is there to confirm you ability to fly to a standard considered good enough to CARRY PASSENGERS. Up to that point in your training, including the QXC, you are of course not entitled to take a passenger up with you.

[Noggin]

Flyfish. There is no such thing as a cross country "qualifier" any more, that is a relic from the past.

The JAA consider PPL training establishments to be organisations that are professional enough to train people for the issue of a licence. Part of that training involves X-country flying which builds up to a solo 150 nm X-ctry flight. No school should send a student unless they have met adequate standards of general handling and navigation. If the school wishes to conduct check rides, progress checks, or whatever, they are free to do so, they may on the other hand do it less formally with the authorising instructor accepting responsibility.

The Skill Test is an independant check that you have achieved the necessary standard for licence issue and can only effectively be conducted once all of the training has been completed.

[flyfish]

Thanks to you all for your replies, I can say no more than , my question has been answered.Thankyou to the professionals.
Just for the record, solo cross country flight no.15 cancelled today because of cold weather, the CFI decided that he could not guarentee the state of my 2 airfields runways in relation to ice.Probably a good call, but god its frustrating.
Cheers once again. Flyfish.

[Noggin]

Motto,

don't start PPL course in the summer. Start it in the winter so you will do the nav in the good weather.

Time to Spare - Go by Air!!