Live Your Life
Preparing for a checkride can become all- consuming if you allow it.
BY MATT JOHNSON CHECKRIDE JITTERS!
The helicopter is scheduled. The 8710 is complete, and all the necessary endorsements are in order. Your instructor says you’re ready. You’ve spent more money than you probably want to
think about, studied until Federal
Aviation Regulations (FAR) are showing up in your dreams, and now there is just one thing standing between you and that temporary airman certificate—the checkride.
Suddenly, you can’t remember anything! Sound familiar?
After years of conducting practical tests, I can tell you that checkride anxiety is very real. I have watched extremely well-prepared applicants walk through the door looking like they’re headed for a root canal instead of an opportunity to demonstrate skills they’ve been practicing for months—or sometimes years.
Here’s something worth remembering: If your instructor has signed you off for the practical test, he or she believes you’re ready! That doesn’t mean you know everything. You don’t. Your instructor doesn’t. Your examiner certainly doesn’t. Aviation has a wonderful way of reminding us that no matter how long we’ve been doing this, there is always something else to learn.
Your job on checkride day isn’t to prove that you know everything. Your job is to demonstrate that you meet the applicable standards and, perhaps more importantly, that you can exercise the judgment expected of the certificate or rating you’re seeking.
Fear of the Unknown
For many applicants, especially those taking their first checkride, a large portion of the anxiety comes from simply not knowing what to expect.
Who is this examiner? What are they going to ask? What if I don’t know an answer? What happens if I make a mistake? Is the examiner
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going to sit across the table staring at me for four hours waiting for me to say something stupid? (No, that isn’t going to happen.)
One of the best ways to remove some of that mystery is to conduct a realistic mock checkride
with someone other than your
regular instructor. If your school offers one, take advantage of it. If it doesn’t, ask your instructor whether another CFI can conduct one. And treat it like the real thing.
Show up prepared. Bring your documents. Plan the flight. Have your aircraft records ready. Use the same resources you intend to use during the actual practical test.
Most importantly, if the person conducting your mock checkride finds weaknesses, don’t become defensive. Finding a weak area three days before the checkride is called training.
Stop Cramming
There also comes a point when more studying isn’t necessarily better studying. I’ve seen applicants spend the final days before a checkride trying to cram every regulation, chart symbol, aerodynamic concept, aircraft limitation, and obscure piece of aviation trivia into their heads. At some point, enough is enough. If it’s 11:30 the night before your checkride and you’re desperately trying to memorize something you haven’t understood during the previous six months of training, another three hours of staring at the book probably isn’t going to save you.
However, sleep might! Fatigue affects concentration, memory, decision-making, and communication—all things you’re going to need the next day.
Close the book. Eat something. Spend some time with your family. Take the dog for a walk. Watch television. Do whatever allows your brain to disengage from aviation for a little while. Then get some sleep.
Most applicants aren’t professional students with unlimited time to devote to aviation. They have jobs, spouses, children, bills, appointments, and all of the other responsibilities that don’t magically disappear because there’s a checkride on the calendar. Ignoring those responsibilities usually doesn’t reduce stress;
it simply moves the stress
somewhere else. Remember How You Got Here
Finally, don’t allow anxiety about the last few hours of this process to overshadow everything you’ve already accomplished. Think back to your first lesson. There was probably a time when simply talking on the radio seemed intimidating. Hovering a helicopter may have seemed impossible. Landings weren’t always pretty. Navigation took work. Weather didn’t make nearly as much sense as it does today. Yet, here you are!
Prepare thoroughly. Know the applicable Airman Certification Standards. Know your aircraft. Know where to find information when you don’t know something. Perhaps most importantly, give yourself permission to make a mistake without mentally turning that mistake into an automatic failure.
Examiners aren’t looking for perfection. We’re looking for competence, judgment, safety, and the ability to recognize and correct errors when they occur.
So, when checkride morning finally arrives, take a deep breath, trust the training that got you there, and go do what you’ve already demonstrated to your instructor that you can do. Fly the aircraft.
Matt Johnson has been an FAA designated pilot examiner for over a decade, conducting exams ranging from Private to ATP and CFI. Additionally, he is a single-pilot IFR air medical captain, Part 135 instructor, and check airman. He can be reached at
HelicopterDPE@gmail.com and via Twitter @HelicopterDPE
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