Private Checkride with Cliff Shuman
Date 01/09/2024
Summary:
The entire preliminary and oral part took about 3 hours. The Hobbs flight time / practical flight test took 1.7 hours.
The flight scenario is You are scheduled to attend this year’s Arizona State football game and you've offered to fly me to Deer Valley Airport (KDVT).
There's a lot riding on this trip. Be sure to consult the Private Pilot ACS and identify “Risk Elements” associated with this flight.
A strong understanding of ADM and adherence to personal minimums can greatly enhance your ability to perceive threats and take the appropriate action to mitigate any threats.
Preliminary:
- Review and signed the IACRA form
(We made a mistake when filling out the IACRA form, wrongly entering the ASE SEA instead of ASE Land. It took half hour to refill out a new application with my CFI and DPE.)
- Review the aircraft maintenance logbook, engine, prop, airplane, ….
- Reviewed the written test score (I got 100%).
- Reviewed photo ID, pilot certificate, Medical certificate
- Reviewed logbook and endorsements
Oral:
Cliff is very care about safety, risk mangenent, and ADM.
We started with qualification of private pilot
Documents required: photo ID, pilot certificate, medical
Medical : classes, Basic Med … (basic med limitations: weight, speed, altitude, plane and passengers…) , medicines for pilots…
Private pilot privileges (carry passenger, pro rata, charity, reimbursement …)
Currency to carry passenger ( day , night, tailwheel, log night time, …)
Flight review 24 months
PAVE checklist (pilot, aircraft, environment, external pressure)
IMSAFE checklist (explained medical, alcohol, even eating, body energy blood sugar …)
5 bad aviation attitudes
Then we start to talk about aircraft:
Documents (ARROW) AD, special flight permit…
Pilot vs owner or operator duty
Inspection (AAVIATE)
Weight and balance
Especially emphasize the fuel management (weather, emergency, diversion alternates, TFR hold…)
Discuss the airplane performance, takeoff, climb, density altitude (using examples of overloaded crash accidents in KAJO, and poor climbing performance in big bear lake…)
Engine spec and meaning, 150HP@2700rpm
Asked me to draw the fuel system of gravity feed c172.
Fuel type, 100ll color, alternative 100 color green
Equipment day and night, inoperative, (MEL for big jets)
Oxygen requirements at different altitudes
Pilot preventive maintenance
Then talk about the preflight:
NOTAMS types, D, FDC…
Weather (explain later…
Known ATC delay TFR (affect your route, and fuel…
RWY length
Alternates due to weather or emergency
Fuel reserve and personal minimum
Takeoff and landing distance (density altitude)
Take out the LA sectional chart:
Airspace: A, B, C, D, E, G, special use, TRSA, weather, equipment requirements
Especially compared the G and E, non towered airport in controlled airspace (start from sfc, like Thermal) SVFR operation (1 sm, clear of clouds), talk to Socal approach to land or takeoff to get clearence
Student pilot not allowed SVFR
MEF max elevation figure for clear obstacles
Talk about weather source. Then go through the weather brief in Foreflight:
- TFR
- NOTAMs
- AIRMETS to GA (S, T, Z), SIGMETs, Convective SIGMETs, PIREPs (how to report)
- Surface analysis chart (symbols, L H pressure, 4 different fronts, stability,…)
- METARs (definition, current, decode of KRAL, KDVT and explain… A02, SLP – L or H, density altitude…), Cyclone direction, VFR weather minimum,
- Forecast: cloud coverage,
- Vis, sfc winds, and precip (explained symbols of winds, wind level, gust- red symbol line, especially the symbol of thunderstorm)
- TAFs (meaning, radius, period, decode…)
- Wind chart, vertical cross sectional chart (wind, flight profile vs terrain), wind aloft (for wind correction angle in nav log, frozen level, icing level) , icing condition operation,
- NOTAMs (D, FDC… difference, examples)
Cliff tends to ask you to use as many weather sources as possible, the more informative, the easier to make good decision.
Flight portion (bring the hood):
- Preflight around the airplane
- Passenger brief
- ATIS, ground instructions, taxi diagram, runup
- Pre takeoff brief
- Normal takeoff from KRAL
- South departure to lake Matthew, 4000ft
- Clear turns, steep turns
- Slow flight , recover
- Power off stall
- Power on stall
- Put on hood, instrument flight, turn, climb, descent,
- Take out the hood, close eyes for unusual attitude recovery, nose high and nose low
- Simulate engine oil pressure, then engine fire emergency procedures, descent to 2500 ft
- Turn around a point over the lake island, S turns along a road.
- Divert to corona KAJO, ask me to use any sources in hand, sectional chart, foreflight, get weather, runway info, CTAF frequency…
- 45 entry left downwind, runway 25 (he used the ADS-B in to monitor the traffic around
- Normal landing in KAJO, RWY 25, full stop and taxi back
- Soft field takeoff , 25
- Soft field landing, 25
- Short filed takeoff, 25, left downwind departure back to KRAL
- Short filed landing in KRAL, 27, 1000 ft marker
- First attempt was floating too much, execute a go around
- Second attempt land right on the marker
- Contact ground, taxi to ramp and secure the plane
- He said congratulations !
Post flight brief:
He summarized the mistakes and key points in oral portion (class E operation)
Pointed out the radio call right after go around, and full power to go around: 61G, go around, to make everyone around know your intensions.
Be careful about left turning tendency to drift left side of runway. Keep maintain centerline of runway.
Use taxi diagram for taxiing in big, complex airport. Progressive taxi instruction.
Aviate, navigate, communicate.
He signed and gave me the temporary certificate.
