Club Check Rides - What to expect ?.

[Leezyjet]

I've got my first club check ride in a couple of days and I'm not sure what to expect. I've done a search but nothing useful came up.

What sort of things will be expected of me ?.

I'm a South African PPL holder, so will they give me a grilling or should it just be fairly straight forward ?. Am I worrying about nothing ?.

Any help greatly appreciated - check out is with Blackbushe Aviation btw.

I've also got another with Multiflight at LBA in a couple of weeks time too.

:)

[Blinkz]

Well I myself had a checkout at blackbushe about a month ago after coming home from uni.

Checkride was very simple. Some stalls, some steep turns, a pfl, then back to the bushe for some circuits and that was it. Instructor very friendly. I've only flown once since then, and that was half an hour of circuits, altho I am hoping to take my gf around the local area on thurs, and taking a mate to the Iow (my first xc since PPL!) next tues.

What plane you getting checked on? I was on the pa38, mainly cos its the cheapest.

[Leezyjet]

Blinkz,

Thanks for the reply, I'm on the C152. It's the only a/c they have that I can fly as the SA PPL is type rated and I'm only rated on the 152 and 172.

Do they ask you any questions before hand abotu procedures and the like ?.

:)

[Blinkz]

Not really mate, obviosly do your homework, look at the area around the airfield, the GH is done to the NW of the field. I asked the instructor more then he asked me! Just about the usual stuff, joins, local procedures etc. Nothing too challenging.

Altho saying that I've still not explored the area properly lol, will be doing that on thurs hopefully. I was given a good description of the area around the bushe by one of the local members, PM me your email and I can forward it to you if you'd like.

[18greens]

A good checkflight should be a fun learning experience for you. A chance to hone your skills, get a few tips and ask any questions that you have not been certain about.

If it becomes confrontational then you picked the wrong instructor. The worst that should happen is you get asked to do it again with some practice.

It is also probably the only time people ever practice PFLs and just about everyone messes up their first one.

If you are coming from a different environment let the instructor know. They will usually have come across American/SA/Aus pilots before and its not usually a problem.

The instructor is usually 90% certain of the outcome of the flight by the time you get to the hold.

Have fun.

[MLS-12D]

I haven't undergone any sort of checkrides in the UK, but whenever I have rented from American FBOs they have invariably included an extensive pre-flight quiz dealing with airspace classifications and restrictions.

[Whopity]

Firstly, you should ask the school doing the check, that way you will find out for sure what they intend to do. In the main they will check your ability to operate their aeroplane, that means basic manoeuvres:

Stalling
Steep Turns
UPs
PFL
Circuits
EFATO

If you don't hold a UK issued licence they should be interested in you radio work and knowledge of UK Rules/Airspace.

[Genghis the Engineer]

Just in case nobody noticed, Leezyjet has two issue here that the rest of us probably don't.

As holder of a South African PPL, he has to be type-rated on each type, so for example as a 152 pilot he needs to be formally typerated on a C172. This is a peculiarity of the South African system - I think that he may need to have this checkout done by a ZA instructor, which may complicate things slighty since there aren't all that many in the UK.

Secondly, if he's just got his PPL in ZA, (or Florida, France, etc.) it will be assumed that he's not yet familiar with flying in UK airspace, so may well get a fairly prolonged checkride for that reason.

If you need a South African instructor Leezyjet, try our very own Irv who operates out of Popham.

G

[A and C]

I some times wonder why "club checks" include a lot of stuff that it is clear that a PPL knows from the first two CCT's and compleatly misses some very important things that don't get covered often.

For a new club member I run a club check something like this:-
Before flight
1 W & B for the flight
2 Cruise power setting for a selected ALT with fuel flow/ endurance.
3 Take off & landing perf calculation.

Flying excercice

1 Normal CCT to T & G
2 EFATO this is the first big test as if the guy controls the airspeed well then stalling can be ignored.
3 setting up for the cruise- picking a power setting from the flight manual and setting the correct RPM for PX ALT and leaning the engine.
4 steep turn- as a collision avoidance exercise with recovery from a spiral dive.
5 Forced landing without power flown down to about 100ft AGL.
6 Electrical fire & smoke in cabin- drills run to full electrical shutdown and return to airfield with no radio so light signals used for landing/taxi clearance ( ATC pre-briefed ).

It takes about 40 min in the air if the guy is average things can be added if it is clear that some part of the guys flying is not up to scratch

For those who are new to UK airspace thie a briefing on the UK airspace system needs to be included before flight and after the flight a de-brief should sort out any minor problems.

[Leezyjet]

Thanks for the replies so far.

Genghis,

I've been to one of Irv's seminars and also did a flight to the IOW with him.

I would fly out of Popham, but I've only got 44 hours at the moment and they won't rent out to anyone with below 60, hence why I'm having to join a school to hire their a/c.

:)

[Yorks.ppl]

Leezyjet,

I did my PPL at Multiflight, there was at that time a south african instructor by the name of Vernon Guppy, he is a nice guy and if he is still there perhaps its worth asking if you can do the check with him.
He will at least know the background of how things are done in SA

[cjhants]

leezyjet,
most of the handling is done close to the compton VOR. have a look at the map for a couple of farmstrips close by. the instructors will normally call the PFL within gliding distance of one of these to see if you spot it.
most of the rest has already been said, but i had to do a precautionary landing excercise, with a check to see if i could calculate if the strip was long enough (50/50 chance, guessed right).

[Nordams]

Vernon's still at Multiflight