PPL skills test advice
Hello,
I'm finally booked in for my skills test next week after a majorly protracted PPL (started in 2008, various gaps due to personal problems). Assuming the weather holds out and I can fly, I was wondering if anyone had any tips? For example, on what kind of points can an applicant fail? I currently have a couple of concerns with my flying. The main one is that I've had difficulty identifying built up areas during my navigation lessons. On my mock tests my instructor had to drop some small hints to help me (eg, there is a railway here, a lake there) and on one occassion had to correct my identification of a built up area when I was looking to work out my track error. Would any of this result in a fail on the real test? I also had issues with practice forced landings without power. What is the examiner looking for with respect to these? Unfortunately during my final lesson practising these, the nature of the local area (built up) meant we couldn't take it too far down due to the 500ft rule and a lot of the tries weren't completed because of this, my instructor is happy with what I did do though. If I do something to fail the test during the flight, will the examiner let me know immediately and cut the flight short? And in this scenario, what is it that I would have to repeat? For example, if I made a mistake with an approach/landing would I need to repeat the entire handling section of the test, including the parts I did well in, or would I only need to do some circuits with the examiner? Any other advice/tips in general for the skills test would also be greatly appreciated! Thanks again Odai. |
My advice is, if it all goes pete tong, just stay calm and fly the aircraft. On my skills test I failed to identify the village the examiner had asked for. I was uncertain of position, but managed to get a fix by using two VOR radials. I was convinced I had failed but, to my astonishment, the examiner passed me because he was happy that, even though I'd screwed up the nav, I'd remained calm and flown the aircraft, and managed to get things back on track.
Very best of luck with it.... You may be in that Cirrus sooner than you think :ok: |
My examiner told me after my test when we were chatting that basically what he looks for is would I let my family fly with this guy?
I wouldn't worry about making mistakes as such, it's how you react when you make them that counts. |
Totally agree - as my instructor said, it as how you managed the situations that counted, I messed up a few things on my skills test but flew the aircraft safely, managed to find my way back to the home airfield and passed.
Main thing is fly the aircraft, navigate then communicate (that should be drilled into you) and dont be worried if something doesnt go to plan - if you are safe and carry on, its likely that you will get a pass with a long debrief. Try to stay confident dont get rattled if you go off track or you mess up the PFL. Just go back to flying. The main thing is fly the aircraft and be safe and try not to get lost :) Up to you, but my instrucor also told me to tell him what was going through my mind, so when I was trying to work out what town it was I was saying it out loud - he could then see my thought pattern, when doing the PFL I again said everything so it was clear what drills I was doing and what field I was aiming for - it helped me.. Good luck and enjoy - its the best feeling driving home after he gives you the thumbs up:) |
The main thing is to not get too uptight and nervous (as easy as that may sound) all he is looking for is general safety, if your radio, general handling and landings are good you will have no problems.
The nav is as hard as you make it, but again you have to really screw up to fail on the nav i.e get totally lost and panic and not rectify it. Personally I'd would not have booked a test until you was sure you could nail the nav no problem just to make sure. |
It's been posted so many times before but I still think it's worthwhile knowing: the train of thought the examiners usually have is "would I want to allow this pilot to fly my children" so safety and the ability to handle the plane is paramount - if you make a mistake, DON'T dwell on it, correct it, FLY the plane.
When I did my PFL, I totally forgot about taking wind direction into my calculations so came in way too fast for the field I had selected but instead of getting into a mess, just said "oops, am too high and fast, I'll go for that one over there instead" - at the end of the day, he's not expecting perfection, the learning curve of a pilot continues AFTER you pass your skills test and you start to expand your horizons, the examiner just wants to see that you are in control of the plane...... As for Nav, use all aids you have at your disposal to confirm to yourself you are where you believe you are - VRPs, VOR etc. Your preparation for the flight will help you too....... |
Odai
I failed the NAV section on my PPL when I did it. I had to divert to Fenlans which is a small field in amongst a number of others, and isnt the easiest airfield to find. My mistake wasnt so much I couldnt find it, but that I didnt apply logic in identifying built up apear properly. I mistook one large town for another. A good instructor I flew with subsequently told me to positively identify three things about the town or built up area you are trying to identify e.g. does that road running north.south correspond to the map?, does that river running east/west correspond with the map?, does that trainline to the southwest correspond with the map? There are many more examples using lakes, other towns, VRP's and so on. The point is dont take just one feature of that town and accept that is what you think it is on the map. If you fail either the NAV or the General Handling, then you get a partial pass and you just do the failed part again another time. I found out on the way back after passing the general handling bit, but it wasnt a surprise really given my adventures around the Fenland area ;-) Good luck though BTW :-) |
Advice for the PPL skills test.
Basic advice- on your nav trip maintain the heading, altitude and airspeed as precisely as you can. If you do this (an assuming the wind forecast is accurate) you will not be blown of track and your ETAs will be precise. This means that you will not have to make any corrections. Making correction error calculation dn revising ETAs are fairly simple, but on your test I would just focus on flying it accurately. You want to make it as simple as you can and not have to make all sorts of corrections. Also, tell the examiner what you are doing: ie, I am overhead Dunkeld, routing to Kelty and I estimate Kelty at time 34. Do this at the start of the leg and also at the 1/2 way point to keep him updated. As for the PFL, this is the part most people fail on: Make sure you turn into wind and set your set up just as you would in a normal circuit (depending on height) again give the examiner a brief. If you find you are too low, do a quick engine warm here and there to give you an advantage. Remember it's best to stay high, then you can use flaps etc to get down quicker. REMEMBER THE EXAMINER MAY DO AN EFATO ON THE CLIMB OUT SO BE PREPARED! Stalling- I think it's good airmanship to tell the examiner of the symptoms of the stall. Not only is he assessing your recovery techniques but he wants to make sure you can identify an on coming stall; ie high nose attitude, decaying airspeed, stick shaker. REMEMBER AND DO A HASEL CHECK! Steep turns- quite easy, just make sure you do a good lookout. VOR tracking- just make sure you tune and identify the VOR, again tell the examiner what radial you are on, the DME distance from the station and the ETA. Also if you want to go the extra mile, ask the instructor his weight, give him a detailed pax brief and good take-off brief. When taxiing out, ask your examiner if he wishes to check his brakes. Remember to read up on you aircraft general knowledge, some examiners come on the walk round with you so ask you various questions like oil type, transponder antenna, creep marks etc. If you make a mistake, move on DO NOT get bogged down and assume you have failed. |
Also if you want to go the extra mile, ask the instructor his weight, give him a detailed pax brief and good take-off brief. If your instructor is happy then you should be ok. Good luck and enjoy it:ok: |
I failed the NAV section on my PPL when I did it. I had to divert to Fenlans which is a small field in amongst a number of others, and isnt the easiest airfield to find. My mistake wasnt so much I couldnt find it, but that I didnt apply logic in identifying built up apear properly. I mistook one large town for another. |
There's a lot of information in previous threads in this forum - search for "skills test".
SD |
When I did my PFL, I totally forgot about taking wind direction into my calculations |
Piperarcher, Fenland is a very harsh target for a nav diversion! Draw the wind arrow on your map. |
Draw the wind arrow on your map. 1) This assumes that you have a new map for each trip (or use crayons on laminated maps) 2) It also assumes that the wind will *never* change. As an average skills test takes 90 minutes, that means there is easy enough time for the wind to change direction. The examiner isn't expecting perfection, just wants to see that the candidate is in full control of the plane. As for EFATO, isn't that always on the cards? Have spoken to a few of my fellow pilots and all of them confirmed that, 500 - 700 feet up, the examiner called "engine failure", pulled the throttle back to idle and asked "what are you going to do now?" But what is also good to refresh yourself with are your emergency procedures because the chances are, he will ask you the memory part of the lists - ie, what are you supposed to do if there is a fire, engine failure before take-off, etc.... |
a new map for each trip Oh, and when you're not using the DI bug for anything else, put the wind on there as well if you're expecting a PFL :) |
1) This assumes that you have a new map for each trip (or use crayons on laminated maps) 2) It also assumes that the wind will *never* change. As an average skills test takes 90 minutes, that means there is easy enough time for the wind to change direction. Personally I would not want to fly with a map that I could not at least draw my track on, and certainly teach putting on wind arrows and max drift. 2) Yes winds change, but not normally so much over the duration of a skills test (including the time to get off the ground) that it should be much of a problem, wind arrow is for guidance only anyway. |
Many thanks everyone for all the great advice.
So would I be right in saying that even if I fail on one specific point in either the navigation or handling section I'd have to repeat that entire section, even if the rest of the exercises are done well? |
Stop panicking and do it. You'll be OK.
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PPL skills test advice
Couldn't they do afato during circuit stage?
Cant remember if mine was done on circuits or efato Either way, your instructor would not let you go if he didn't think you are safe and competent. Its normal to doubt what you know in nervous situations. Rest knowing the above, if your instructor sent people who were not ready, the examiners would be having chats with him/her |
One tip I was given when I did my skills test was that when making radio contact with ATC or seeking an information service I should identify myself as:
"G-XXXX student pilot on skills test" All those I spoke to on the radio that day were very helpful. Best of luck! |
You could start by being more positive. Your posts are all so negative. Remember that in life things are generally self fulfilling. If you think you are going to fail, you are setting yourself up to fail.
Your instructor must think you are capable of passing or he/she would not put you in for the test, so do him/her and yourself a favour by adopting a positive attitude before you start, and do what you have been trained to do. The examiner is trying to pass you, not trying to fail you. You just have to have faith in yourself and your instructor. Fly well, keep calm and carry on. |
Private Pilot Oral Exam
hi friend, try to watch this:
good luck:ok: |
So would I be right in saying that even if I fail on one specific point in either the navigation or handling section I'd have to repeat that entire section, even if the rest of the exercises are done well? I was very nervous when I did my test earlier in the year, but the last thing on my mind was thinking about failure. I was too concerned with trying to memorise all sorts of things that I would need to remember on the day of the test. I made a couple of silly, minor mistakes on the test but I knew immediately and told the examiner. He was happy that I had identified the mistakes and because of this it didn't affect the outcome. The most important thing, that others have said, is don't dwell on any mistakes for the remainder of the test. Fly each section of the test as though they are mini individual tests. |
Thanks again for the advice and kind wishes guys, much appreciated.
Jonzarno, I think I actually read somewhere that during the test you append the word "exam" to your callsign on initial calls. Is that not the case? |
Odai
I have not heard that version, but I guess it will work just as well. Once again, good luck! |
Thanks a lot!
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During the test you append the word "exam" to your callsign on initial calls. |
Odai you're obviously apprehensive about your forthcoming test
so SPEAK TO YOUR INSTRUCTOR! I think I actually read somewhere that during the test you append the word "exam" to your callsign on initial calls. Is that not he case? is very unlikely you will be tested by one of these as they mainly do initial CPL and IR tests - If your Examiner is a Staff Examiner they will brief you whether to use their personal Exam callsign or what you usually use. The "Student" prefix (eg Student G-ABCD) is used for the initial call to an ATC unit by a solo student pilot. On your test you are not solo and you expect, at the end, to record the flight as PICUS rather than DUAL(Pu/t). One tip I was given when I did my skills test was that when making radio contact with ATC or seeking an information service I should identify myself as: "G-XXXX student pilot on skills test" All those I spoke to on the radio that day were very helpful. up being too helpful. eg: "G-ABCD you said your next turning point was the Severn Bridge. You are 4 miles South of track. Suggest you turn North 10deg" Just what a pilot wants post-PPL, but not on a Skills Test - No opportunity for you to demonstrate to Examiner that you knew you were off track and knew how to make the appropriate correction - and Radar assistance is not allowed in a PPL test. The FAA Oral Test video posted by benjaavpilot is excellent. You are very unlikely to be quized at such length, or in such depth, but you should know your planing and aircraft (including POH and Documents) as well as that candidate - at least until you pass. Remember it is you being tested, not your school, nor your instructor. So if, for example, you are asked why you use 6USG for fuel consumption. "Because that is what I was told to use" is not a good answer. "The POH states 5.4USG for the power setting I intend to use - however that figure is based on a factory new aircraft, properly leaned and flown by a test pilot - so I am rounding up to 6USG to take that in to account" is a much better answer. Good Luck and enjoy. If you have other questions - don't post until you also have the answers FROM YOUR INSTRUCTOR |
The UK oral is very mild compared to the US one. My US multi engine oral was about 2hrs long and covered just about everything, even basic PPL stuff. Anything is fair game. Naturally, it's that particular examiners style and he's known for long orals, but still.
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Just to update the thread: my skills test was unfortunately postponed on Friday due to weather and the airfield resembling a lake. :p
Now scheduled for the 3rd January. It'll be three weeks since my last flight, but at least I'll have a lot more time to prepare, revise the theoretical material etc. |
Another update, after SIX cancellations due to being really unlucky with the weather we finally managed to get the ball rolling on the seventh attempt. :p
Really glad to say that I passed, made a few mistakes but learnt from them. :E Feels great to finally have it out of the way, now the serious flying can start! |
Many congrats! It's a great feeling to finally get through it. :ok:
Welcome to the club. |
Really glad to say that I passed, made a few mistakes but learnt from them. Feels great to finally have it out of the way, now the serious flying can start! |
Congratulations also from me! I am due to take test soon, previous cancelled due to confusion over new EASA paperwork, particularly need to have medical booked if you tak etest within 2 weeks of end of validity, followed by usual delays getting medical sorted:(
Caber:) |
Thanks guys!
I made a couple of mistakes with my navigation, map reading technique etc. This was made worse than usual by the awful visibility at the time. I also wasn't particularly good (to say the least) at getting the picture right during the glide approaches. I hadn't flown in 5 weeks, was tired, nervous, the visibility wasn't great, it was getting dark (well before sunset but still) so don't think I did myself justice. But I managed to pass and the combination of my examiner drilling into me what I got wrong and the horror of getting those things wrong on the test mean I won't be forgetting them in a hurry and will certainly be practicing them to perfection now. :p Good luck caber0, I can only sympathise with your situation, the delays are incredibly stressful and frustrating! |
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