Going like a Boeing! (#4)
Firstly, let me tell you what you can expect in the flight test. By knowing what to expect is already one less worry on your mind. Your examiner will have expected you to file the necessary flight plans and also to have phoned the Met. office. Next, he/she will watch you doing your pre-flight – don’t let the fact that someone is watching distract you – just go about it as you normally would, remember: the main reason for you doing your pre-flight is for your own safety – not to impress the examiner. It is a very good idea to get to the flight school earlier so that you can re-fuel before the examiner arrives. Go through your normal checks and radiowork as you always do (if you don’t usually do your checks properly then ignore what I just said and DO them properly from now on!). You will either do two separate flights: one for the cross-country and one for the practical, or they will be combined. In other words after your cross-country you will fly back via the GF and do the practical. The cross-country will be a route that you have not flown, so your navigational skills are essential here! Be prepared for a diversion somewhere along your route. Hopefully you would have practised this with your instructor. Your practical will include spins, stalls, forced and precautionary landings and turns. You will most probably do a couple of circuits and do landings in different configurations. Right – so first bit of stress eliminated – now you know exactly what to expect.
Getting rid of unnecessary stress will improve your overall performance and allow you to feel more comfortable and think more clearly. Feeling unwell, lack of sleep and other situations such as problems at home will all add to this stress.
Be well prepared, feel confident about your abilities, speak to others and try not to talk yourself into getting anxious. Once again, get to the flight school early so that you can sit down and relax.
My PPL Flight test was on April 13 – luckily it was a Thursday and not a Friday! I was very happy that I was booked on my favourite aircraft, but when I got to the school I found that she was in for an MPI and I would be flying the plane I had my radio failure in. I phoned the Met. office: “Uh-oh, there are Charlie Bravos all over the place”. All this didn’t help matters much. My examiner arrived and looked like he was in a really big hurry – I later discovered that he was doing a renewal right after our flight. The aircraft was late and the person flying it was told by ATC to take it straight to the fuel bay and we would meet him there. I ended up having to do the entire pre-flight while the aircraft was being re-fuelled. Speaking of which, it is a good idea to do the pre-flight before your examiner arrives, if possible. If there is something wrong you can sort that out by either getting the problem fixed or booking onto another aircraft so as not to waste your own and the examiners time. You can then do your normal pre-flight again with him/her there. My thorough start-up checks and slow taxiing seemed to frustrate him – but don’t let that put you off doing things properly. For all I know it could have been part of the test to see how I reacted. Everything went according to plan. At Witbank I had to do a flapless landing. I was much too high on final approach and I decided that I would do a go-around. Never be afraid to do a go-around if you feel you are in an unsafe situation. The visibility was not so great, but luckily there were no Charlie Bravos enroute. On the third leg I was asked to divert back to the GF. I worked out my new route. Watch out for any restricted airspace and remember to tell Information your change of plans. Make sure that you have all the equipment you need like your protractor and pen nearby. In the GF I did a stall, spin, steep turns and a forced landing. The sun was already setting by this time. We flew back to Wonderboom and the runway lights were on… and so were my sunglasses! I hadn’t even thought of removing them. My examiner had a good chuckle when I commented how quickly it had got dark, and he took my sunglasses off on base leg. I landed safely on the ground and taxied back to the school. I had passed my flight test. The highlight is of course the Solo/Wings party, where you WILL be made a fool of, guaranteed! I was finally handed my certificates and had earned my wings!
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