Preparing for your next check ride may help you fly safely and avoid expensive accidents. It’s essential to plan for your forthcoming ride, and here are some top commercial check-ride prep recommendations. See below for the top 10 tips.
Without a doubt, getting your commercial checkride may be a challenging and nerve-wracking procedure. After all, the stakes have been substantially increased. After passing the checkride, you will be hired to work as a professional pilot and will begin earning pay.
Here are some commercial check-ride prep ideas to assist you in your commercial checkride.
- Become Acquainted with Your Plane
As the first step in commercial check-ride prep, we suggest that you get intimately familiar with the aircraft that will be used for your checkride. Knowledge of glide capabilities, V-Speeds, and the operation of the electrical system, among other things, are essential and will have a significant impact on how smoothly your checkride goes. If you fly the checkride in the same kind of aircraft in which you’ve logged many hours and are comfortable, you’ll avoid getting startled or tripped up.
- Get Familiarised with Your Devices
Ensure that you are acquainted with your vehicle and equipment before taking the commercial checkride. In an ideal world, you should be able to use any piece of equipment with ease. It is conceivable that relying on equipment like an iPad may develop into a crutch, resulting in a loss of situational awareness. Equipment should be utilised only when necessary, and gadgets should work for you rather than against you.
- Avoid striving for perfection at all times.
Pilots, in particular, are prone to believe that perfection is needed. Indeed, the margin for error while flying an aircraft is more remarkable than when driving a car, for example. Nonetheless, bear in mind that, contrary to common perception, you are not being assessed for perfection but for conformity with practical exam requirements that you will either meet or not meet.
- Acknowledge Your Errors and Benefit from Them
As stated before, it is OK if the checkride does not go as smoothly as possible. To take it a step further, it’s also a good idea to acknowledge that you did anything (or didn’t do anything) and make the appropriate adjustments if you do make a mistake. If you continue, the examiner may infer that you were ignorant of your error and will make a note of it, putting you in a far worse position.
- Maintain an air of professionalism
Commercial pilot certification entitles you to receive compensation for flying, whether for cargo or passenger transportation. Because commercial pilots are expected to behave themselves professionally, ensure that your professionalism is maintained during the checkride.
- Avoid Haste
Anyone who has read one of the many accounts of pilots in emergency circumstances would undoubtedly recognise a pattern. The pilot maintained his calm throughout, which was remarkable at times. Their ability to keep calm enabled them to make an accurate assessment of the situation and their options and make the best decision feasible at the appropriate time. In other words, if there is no need to haste during an emergency, you may be sure that there will be no reason to rush during your commercial checkride as well. Remain composed and take your time doing things carefully and correctly. You have much more time than you believe.
- Conduct tests only when you have thoroughly prepared.
While it is normal to be nervous before a checkride if you are unsure that you are prepared, do not proceed. Consider increasing your time in the aircraft, enrolling in more flying courses, or doing further research. If you try the checkride and fail because of a lack of preparation, your anxiety will increase the next time you attempt it. You will find that your previous failed checkride is weighing heavily on your mind, which will only add to the pressure you are already feeling.
- Be mindful of commercial pilots’ limitations.
Recognise the limitations that apply to commercial pilots and their location in the regulations. Almost every examiner will ask two questions: one concerning common carriage and another about holding out.
- Be aware of the commercial pilot possibilities accessible to you.
Another constraint you face as a commercial pilot is the limited variety of activities you may engage in without an instrument rating. Without further training, a licenced commercial pilot must have an instrument rating to carry passengers more than 50 nautical miles from their departure airport. Additionally, regulations restrict the renting of cars to transport passengers at night.
- Begin with nothing seamless.
You want your passengers to feel secure and as though they are flying with an experienced pilot. Utilise all of the resources available to you during flight preparation to ensure a safe and well-planned journey! This is especially advantageous while travelling across borders and accumulating time to meet testing requirements. Choosing the least expensive airport to refuel is one way to do this.
- Avoid testing
Consider the comments of a pilot who has had a previous failure and has spoken with other pilots: ‘Everything is on your timetable’. Only when you have studied and flown extensively enough to ensure that you are prepared for this new licence is it time to sit for the test. For everyone concerned, check rides are unpleasant and nerve-wracking. You’ll likely fly worse than average on test day, but that’s OK since it’s simply your nervousness taking over.
Takeaway
Simply take into consideration that the ultimate goal is safety, not excellence! Take some deep breaths; give it your best shot, and then show to the examiner whatever you’ve been practising.
