CHECK RIDE QUESTION AND ANSWER SHEET
Bob Dedaker Checkride
CERTIFICATES AND DOCUMENTS
Private pilots may fly for pleasure, and carry passengers if current, but may not fly for hire. They may share operating expenses of a flight, but they may not be paid for their expenses. Just share them. They may operate an aircraft carrying passengers for business only if the fight is incidental to that business or employment and the pilot IS NOT PAID AS A PILOT. May fly for a charitable event if the FSDO is notified at least 7 days before the flight, it is conducted from an adequate public airport, the pilot has 200 hours total time minimum, there will be no acrobatic or formation flying, the flight is day VFR, and the aircraft has had a current 100 hour inspection..
His Current Medical (at least 3rd class), and his valid Private Pilot License
A Class 3 Medical is valid until the end of the last day of the 24th month of the examination date if you’re 40 years of age or older. Otherwise it’s valid for 36 month.
The aircraft must have AROW in the airplane. Airworthiness Certificate, Aircraft Registration, Pilots Operating Handbook, and Weight and Balance Information.
No. A 100 hour inspection does not replace an Annual. However, an Annual does replace a 100 hour. All aircraft need annuals, but only aircraft used to carry passengers for hire, or for flight instruction for hire, have to have 100 hours inspections.
If anything in your aircraft is inoperative, you need to look at your Minimum Equipment List to see if you may still legally fly the aircraft without that item. It will also usually tell you how long you have to replace it, and how to deal with it (Inop sticker on useless item, or remove it from aircraft)
In a low pressure area, the air flows in a counter clockwise motion (low pressure rises). A high pressure flows in a clockwise direction (high pressure sinks), and flows into a low pressure area. In the Southern Hemisphere, the directions are reversed.
A trough line is an elongated area of low pressure; usually associated with and most clearly identified as an area of maximum cyclonic curvature of the wind flow. (isobars, contours, or streamlins.) A ridge line is an elongated area of high pressure; associated with and most clearly identified as an area of maximum anticyclonic curvature of the wind flow.
Isobars are lines of equal or constant barometric pressure. The closer together the lines on the map, the higher the pressure system. The farther apart, the lower the pressure.
Structural icing requires two conditions—Flight through visible moisture, and temperature at freezing or below. Freezing rain causes the greatest accumulation of structural ice. Ice pellets are caused when rain droplets freeze at a higher altitude, so freezing rain exists above.
If you encounter icing, turn on your Pitot heat, and possibly Carb heat. Try to descend below it if you can get below and still be at a safe altitude. If that’s not possible, go above it if possible. Try to get to a warmer air area. If none of these are working, land at the nearest airport, with increased airspeed to counter the drag effects of the ice. Always talk to controllers-they may have suggestions regarding the icing conditions and altitudes.
Wind shear is when wind from opposite directions meet. It can occur at any altitude and be horizontal and/or vertical. There could be a difference in direction and/or wind speed. Expect wind shear in a temperature inversion whenever wind speed at 2,000 to 4,000 AGL is 25 knots or more. Hazardous wind shear may be expected in areas of low-level temperature inversions, frontal zones, and clear air turbulance.
Reports on visiblities are done in Statute miles.
PIREPS are Pilot Weather Reports. They are given by a pilot enroute in the air. They are given in the following format: Urgent or Routine (UUA or UA), Location, Time, Altitude, Type Aircraft. These are all mandatory for PIREPS. Also included could be sky cover, flight visibility and weather, temperature in Celcius, wind, turbulence, icing, and any other remarks you may have.
Surface Analysis Charts show Pressure systems—Low, High, etc.
The Occluded Front is probably the most dangerous to fly in, because an Occluded front is a Warm front and a Cold front colliding with each other.
Weather Depiction Charts show what areas are IFR vs VFR. Depicts sky conditions at the time stated on the chart based on surface aviation reports. All questions can be answered simply by reading the legend on the chart.
Radar Summery Chart show current weather/rain/icing type, intensity and movement of precipitation (squall lines, thunderstorm cells, and hazardous precip). Again, all questions can be answered by reading the legend on the chart.
Terminal Forcasts are the surface weather expected at an airport (usually the larger airports). They are issued 3 times a day for the next 24-hour peiord. The last six hours are an "outlook" rather than a forecast. Includes station identifier, date/time, cloud coverage and types, and winds within a 5 Nautical Mile radius from the center of the runway complex.
A Sigmet is a Significant Meterological Weather phenomenon. It advises of non-convective weather that is potentially hazardous to all aircraft. It covers severe icing not associated with thunderstorms, severe or extreme turbulence not associated with thunderstorms, dust or sandstorms or volcanic ash lowering visibilities to below 3 Statute miles, volcanic eruptions and tropical storms or hurricanes. The maximum valid period for a sigmet is 4 hours. Convective Sigmets are issued for Severe thunderstorms due to surface winds greater than or equal to 50 knots, hail grater than or equal to ¾ in. in diameter, tornadoes, embedded thunderstorms, a line of thunderstorms, and thunderstorms greater than or equal to intensity level 4, affecting 40% or more of an area at least 3,000 square miles. Any convective Sigmet implies severe or greater turbulence, severe icing, and low level wind shear. The maximum valid period for a Convective Sigmet is 2 hours.
An Airmet is an advisory of significant weather phenomena but describes conditions at intensities lower than those of Sigmets. Airmets are intended for all pilots in the preflight and enroute phase to enhance safety. They are issued every six hours, beginning at 0200 UTC every day. They include information on moderate icing, moderate turbulence, sustained surface winds of 30 knots or more, ceiling less than 1000’ and/or visibility less than 3 statute miles affecting over 50% of the area at one time, and extensive mountain obscurement.
Lift, Weight, Thrust and Drag. Lift vs Weight, Thrust vs Drag.
A Wing, a hot air balloon, anything that uses airflow over a surface to produce lift.
Frost, and the configuration of the aircraft (flaps, landing gear).
When the wing no longer produces lift, it causes an airplane to stall. The wing loses lift when the critical angle of attack is reached, and the airflow over the wing separates, causing the loss of lift. It has nothing to do with airspeed. An airplane can stall at any given airspeed.
Aft is by far the worst error in CG to fly with. If it’s Fore, you may have trouble raising the nose, which could make you land nose wheel first, or have a difficult takeoff. But if the CG is Aft, you cannot lower your nose. It could put you in a stall/spin situation, and would be difficult or impossible to recover from it (since you couldn’t lower your nose.)
High density causes an airplane to decrease its performance capability. There are fewer air molecules in the air with a higher air density, so you need more power and speed to get through the air. Thus you will need longer runways, and higher power settings to achieve the same results on a normal day with a lower density.
"Dead" stands for "Deductive" Reasoning.
Military Training Routes are
established below 10,000 feet MSL for operations at speeds above 250 knots.
They are designated by the gray lines with VR (for
Obstructions over 1,000 feet are shown by the largest towers. If there are "rays of light" coming off the top, then it is a lighted tower.
Obstructions under 1,000 feet are designated by the shortest towers. Also with the arrows of light if a lighted tower.
Private airports are designated as an "R" in a circle, and are for Private use only, or in the event of an emergency.
Prohibited Areas are areas such as the White House, where you are NOT allowed to go through them for any reason.
Restricted Areas have unusual and possibly invisible hazards to aircraft such as balloons, or military operations. In order to fly into that airspace, you must have permission from the controlling agency prior to entering the airspace. The controlling agency is listed for each restricted area at the bottom of all sectional charts.
A Vortac is depicted as a hexagon with a dot in the center and a small solid rectangel attached to three of the six sides. It can be used as a VOR for civilian flying, or a TACAN for military flying. It always includes DME.
A Victor airway is 8 miles wide. Class E area from 1200 AGL to 17,999 MSL. Very busy.. look for other aircraft.
Magnetic Variation is the angle between true North and magnetic North.
Magnetic Deviation is the error in your magnetic compass due to the electrical equipment the airplane conatins.
A VOR radial is a line drawn from the center of the VOR spreading outward. There are 360 radials, one for each degree around the VOR. Each degree is the line (radial) from the center of the VOR.
Climb, and Talk. Climb to an altitude where the frequencies you have on your chart may be able to reach you, and call up an ATC and tell them that you are uncertain of your position, but you last knew where you were when you were at …
Airport Facilitiy Directories, and most importantly, NOTAM’s, both Local and Distant.
Always know where you are, and always know where the nearest airport is in a direction NOT heading into the weather. Never allow yourself to be surrounded by the bad weather. If you can turn around, do so. If it’s behind you, go to the nearest airport you can find.
No drugs at all except for a small few which are perscription drugs. An FAA certified doctor will tell you whether you are approved to fly on the drug or not. Do not fly if you were not specifically told you may. Almost all antibiotics and all painkillers are illegal to fly on. Alcohol…8 hours from Bottle to Throttle or a Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) of .04. If you still don’t feel well after 8 hours, don’t go.
Balloons before Gliders before Airship before Airplane before Rotocraft. Any aircraft in an emergency Always has the right of way. Any aircraft in the process of fueling has the right of way over others not fueling (as long as they are not in an emergency.) When two aircraft are in the traffic pattern, whoever is at the lower altitude has the right of way.
The minimum safe altitude you are to be at, at any time, populated or unpopulated, is an altitude that would be sufficient to permit an emergency landing without undue hazard to persons or property on the surface in a power unit fails.
See above
Legally, VFR day fuel requirements are 30 minutes of excess fuel, and VFR Night and IFR requirements are 45 minutes reserve fuel. Realistically, please do not take off with only 30 or 45 minutes extra fuel, as that consists of about 3 gallons per tank.
An aircraft must be equipped with an Airspeed Indicator, a Magnetic Compass and/or Directional Gyro, an Altimeter, and all relative engine guages (Rotating beacon?).
Night VFR flight requires the exact same instruments, with the addition of Anticollision lights. (and a landing light if the aircraft is used commercially or for hire.)
Position lights must be on from
dusk to dawn.
Prohibited Areas are areas such as the White House, where you are NOT allowed to go through them for any reason.
MOA’s are Military Operating Areas. You may enter those as you wish, but you need to exercise caution. A pilot should contact any FSS within 100 Nautical Miles to determine the MOA hours of operation. If active, the pilot should contact the controlling agency prior to entering the MOA for traffic advisories because of high density military training.
Military Training Routes are
established below 10,000 feet MSL for operations at speeds above 250 knots.
They are designated by the gray lines with VR (for
Know Stop, Left, Right, Cut the engine, etc.
Taxi lights are blue, Runway lights are white except the last 2000’ of a runway will have amber lights. The Taxi center line will be yellow. The runway center line will be white.
Wake turbulence is only created when airplanes develop lift. (Wingtip vortices). This happens most often when the aircraft is heavy, clean (gear up no flaps), and slow. Vortices tend to sink into the flight path of airplanes below them. So always fly above the flight path of a large jet rather than below. Fly upwind rather than downwind of the flight path, since vortices will drift with the wind. The most dangerous wind when taking off or landing behind a heavy aircraft, is the light quartering tailwind. It will push the vortices into your touchdown zone, even if you are executing proper procedures. Always take off prior to the other planes point of rotation. Always land after the point of tochdown of the other aircraft…Turbulence will sink.
The elevator Pivots the aircraft around the Lateral Axis. Allows for the up and down motion.
The rudder pivots the aircraft around the vertical axis. Also, it combats adverse yaw.
The flaps allow you to descend at a steeper angle without increasing your airspeed by changing the airfoil of the wing. It allows you to lower your nose for landings without picking up speed.
Carburator ice may form anywhere from 20-70 degrees Farenheit. Air is cooled as it is pulled through the carburator, and can freeze up inside. Apply the carborator heat to melt the carb ice. The carb heat routs heated air into the carborator instead of fresh air. The warm air causes a drop in RPM because warm air produces less power than cool air. As the ice melts, the RPM’s will increase again.
Varies With Plane. You may go a grade higher, but you may NOT go a grade lower.
Also Varies With Plane, but usually the Radios and the Turn Coordinator.
You could be low on oil. If you notice a rise in oil temperature, then you almost definitely are low on oil.
On the ground, keep cranking the engine to start the airplane and suck the fumes/flames into the engine. Then exit the aircraft. In the air, shut off your fuel supply, and land as soon as possible.
Shut off your Master Switch, then land at the nearest airport.
Airspeed Indicator, Altimeter, VSI.
Directional Gyro, and the Attitude Indicator, and possibly part of the Turn Coordinator.
Hypoxia is the lack of oxygen.
Descend to a lower altitude, take slow, deep breaths. Signs are a feeling of euphoria, blue lips/fingernails. Not smoking helps.
You must wait 24 hours from diving to flying. Nitrogen build up in your blood stream, and if you go up in an airplane, as the oxygen gets thinner, you could get "The Bends" and pass out, or even die.
Hyperventilation is too much oxygen. Relax, slow down your breathing, breathe into a paper bag. Don’t take the shallow, quick breaths.
It will impair your judgement, impair your motor skills, and your reflexes. Your vision will be impaired, and your distance judging skills. All in all, a really, REALLY stupid idea.
A Visual Approach Slope Indicator (VASI) is a combination of lights provided to give visual descent guidance information during an approach to landing. A two bar VASI has a combination of red and white bars indicating an on glide path approach, a below glide path approach, or an above glide path approach. Remember: Red over White you’re alright (you are on glide path), White over White fly all night (you are above the glide path), and Red over Red you’re dead (you are below the glide path).
A three bar VASI is similar to the two bar VASI except that it has one extra bar to be a little more precise. If you see all three bars are red, you are below both the lower and upper glide paths. If you see the middle and far bar as red and the near bar is white, you are on the lower glide path. If you see the far bar is red and the middle and near bar are white, you are on the upper glide path. And if you see all bars as white, you are above both glide paths.
A tricolor VASI is a single light source using amber, green and red lights indicating the slope of the glide path. An amber light indicates you are above the glide path, a green light indicates an on glide path approach, and a red light indicates you are below the glide path.
A Precision Approach Path Indicator (PAPI) is similar to a VASI except that the lights (either 2 or 4 lights) are in a single row rather than spaced vertically. As with a 4 light system: four white lights indicate you are above the glide path, three white lights and one red light indicates you are slightly high above the glide path, two white lights and two red lights indicate you are on the glide path, three red lights and one white light indicates you are slightly low of the glide path, and four red lights indicate you are completely below the glide path.
Runway Identifier Lights (REIL) provide rapid and positive identification of the approach end of runway. REILs are a pair of synchronized flashing lights located on each side of the runway threshold.
Pilot Control Lighting is available at selected airports and controlled by keying the aircraft’s microphone. Key the mic seven times to turn the lights on (high intensity), the five times to receive medium intensity or three times for low intensity.
The color combinations for civil airport beacons are one flashing green and rotating white lights, for military airport beacons are two white flashing lights and one green rotating light, and for seaplane airport beacons are one yellow and one white rotating lights.
Taxiway lights are blue and runway lights are white except on instrument runways where amber replaces white on the last 2,000 feet or half of the runway length (the lesser of the two), and the end of the runway is illuminated with red lights.
A closed runway is indicated by an X at the approach ends of the runway.
A displaced threshold is the beginning of the runway used for landing purposes. However, the remaining runway behind the displaced threshold can be used for taxi and takeoff.
Mandatory Instruction signs have a red background with white inscription. Examples are Runway Holding Position signs and ILS critical area signs. Location signs have a black background with yellow inscription. Examples are Taxi Location signs and Runway Location signs. Destination Signs have a yellow background with black inscription. Examples are destination signs for Military Areas and Taxi routes to two runways.
1. He looked over my logbook, checked my drivers license, student pilots license and 8710 form. He verified all my hours.
2. He asked me for all the AROW documents in the airplane and then had me show him the airplane logs and point out the current annual inspection, VFR transponder check and ELT battery.
3. He reviewed my cross-country flight planning and then went over weather charts, METARS and TAFS.
4. I preflighted the airplane. MAKE SURE THE WINDSHIELD IS CLEAN!
5. After we were in the plane he asked me several questions about the instruments.
6. I taxied and he tried to distract me by turning things on and off. (lights, fuel pump, radios, etc.)
7. He told me I was PIC and should be constantly checking instruments and gauges and expecting something to go wrong.
8. First take-off normal, first landing normal, touch and go, second take-off short field, second landing short field, then touch and go and third take-off soft field, then left the pattern and climbed to 3,500 ft.
9. Did one turning, power-off stall.
10. Then I did a power on stall.
11. Then a power off stall in level flight.
12. He had me do 180 degree clearing turns.
13. I did slow flight all the while.
14. Then he had me over-fly the airport and fly to the first checkpoint of my planned cross country.
15. When I
reached the checkpoint, he asked me if I had written down the time when we
crossed the
16. We then did low altitude maneuvers; S-turns, turns around a point at 1900 ft.
17. He had me do a simulated emergency engine out procedure. He then had me fly back to the airport and execute a soft field landing.
18. What is the quickest way to lose altitude? Execute a slow spiral.