OT: Good Energy Needed

Svashtar

Svashtar

Joined
Dec 28, 2003
Messages
4,793
Folks:

I have been careful in the last 10 months to not misuse the "power of the forum" by asking for prayer and smoke when so many others need it because of real desperate issues in their lives. I have been fortunate that I have work and health and my family is doing fine. God forbid I should have to ask for help with a health issue.

However I could use some good energy from you all (for want of a better term) this coming Friday. After 18 months I am finally ready (according to my instructor) for my private pilot checkride. I really don't test very well; when I am by myself I breathe deeply and take it slow and do OK, but when someone jumps in to check my progress I seem to make every bonehead error in the book! (Part of the problem is I should have flown and practiced straight thru but took a total of 8 months off for work and to reallocate finances; stupid, as the delay just cost me more as I had to relearn some basics after each break, each time with a different instructor. Dumb!)

This has been a long-term goal of mine, just something I always wanted to conquer. My Dad was a private pilot, but died when I was pretty young and was sick for several years prior to that so I never got to fly with him. I am practicing every day and trying to memorize as much as possible, but there is a ton of stuff they can get you on. I hesitate to even mention it here because if I screw up on Friday I'll have to tell you I blew it and then just try again. That would be embarrassing to say the least! I need to demonstrate that I can do steep turns, turns around a point, S-turns, recovery from unusual attitudes, instrument flying under fogged glasses, short field takeoffs and landings, soft field takeoffs and landings, correct pattern flying, slips, power on and off stalls, manuevering under slow flight, VOR and ADF navigation, correct communications with tower and departure / approach, correct non-towered pattern communications, know various FAA regulations, weather, cloud clearances, weight & balance, flight planning, etc., etc., ETC.!, and all to the practical standards criteria specified by the FAA.

Anyway, the whole verbal and flying test is about 5-6 hours Friday; I believe in good karma which I have tried to cultivate, and will welcome any positive thoughts and energy! Breathe deep! Calm! No sweat! (-:

Thanks to all my Cantina friends for all your generous best wishes and "prayers and smoke!"

Best Regards,

Norm
 
there are people you will never meet who depend on you to be a good pilot. Think about them when you take the test.
Good luck from your friends at Flexjet/Bombardier Aerospace
 
Will do for you Norm!:D And Best of Luck! I'm sure you will make it just fine!:D :cool:
 
there are people you will never meet who depend on you to be a good pilot. Think about them when you take the test.>>> Danny in Japan


That's right. There's a whole bunch of folks on the ground, in cars and buildings, on sidewalks and cafes, who really would like it if you wouldn't come down suddenly, unannounced, or on top of them.

You'll do fine. You're smart. You've put in your study.


munk
 
Norm,

Just think of Friday as a practice run.

Whether you pass it, or not, it is only one step in the process of becoming a good pilot. There are many people who believe in you or you wouldn't be there, and they are not going to change their opinion of you no matter what happens on Friday.

Good Luck! (and have a great time)

n2s
 
Norm,

Best of luck to you. Stay cool. Think of how Uncle Bill might handle the testing.

I have a friend a work who just recently got his pilot's license. If it would help to talk to someone, email me, and I'll see if I can connect you.

Joe
 
Just keep practicing those "Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr" sounds as you go to sleep.

You know what you're doing.
You'll do fine.

Best.
 
Good luck Norm...for what it's worth, my son is *behind* you in the same process, having recently started taking lessons. He'd be *SO* envious of you as an advanced and more experienced pilot and that you are ready to test! It's all perspective, eh? :)
 
Best wishes with the exam, Norm! I'm sure you'll pass with flying (pun intended) colors. ;) There are a few guidelines before and during the test which might help...

Have a light yet nutritious meal before the test. Make sure you get a good night's sleep too! Dress very comfortably, and organize all your paperwork and materials that you need to bring the day before. Lightly exercise a couple of hours before the test to shake off tension and stress. You can also pray or meditate before you drive to the testing site, and do have someone else familiar with the route drive you there!

You might want to visualize going over all of the procedures that you'll be asked to perform. Sit comfortably; breathe diaphramatically and softly, and go over everything you've done flawlessly before. :D Try to use all of your senses in the visualizations...auditory, visual, AND somasthetic. Smile when you are performing these tests just like a master pilot. :cool: Use your memory when you're not actually visualizing to automatically cancel out any negative thoughts about the test by affirming you will perform well, and had no problems performing them before...

Practice deep relaxation, by sitting down in a comfortably chair, and systematically relaxing forst your feet, your legs, your arms, your torso, etc., etc. Then breathe deeply, and exhale slowly, and do this for a minute. The increased blood oxygenation will have a calming effect. You can practice while driving to the testing site too.

You might want to write down or type your personal affirmations, and recite them either verbally or non-verbally too. Keep everything super positive and empowering; of course, in this case, write that you are ready and DESERVE to be granted a pilot's license, etc. Thank the Universe with gratitude for the gift (a passing grade on the exam) you are about to receive! :)

A few deep breaths every once and a while during the test will be of benefit, and I'd recommend breathing diaphramatically in general. It will help keep you "grounded"! :) You're already a good pilot, Norm, and the test is just a formality... I won't even say good luck, since it has nothing to do with it! Don't forget to buckle up, and close the door!!! :D
 
Best of luck, I know you'll do fine. Just remember to keep the ground below you and you'll do fine. ;)
 
Good luck, Norm. You'll do fine. Just do it like you've done it a hundred times before and it'll go well:)

Jake
 
Thanks to everyone for great feedback and responses. Drdan, there's some great tips there in your mail, thank you. I'll follow your advice as closely as possible. I know for a fact that things flow a lot better when I am prepared and have my head in the right place, no matter what odd things are happening outside the plane!

Thanks again and regards,

Norm
 
So, Norm, is your not posting news about your test a bad sign? Hope it all went well.

Joe
 
Nope, not a good sign Joe. :grumpy: Well, I sat thru 5 hours of ground interview from 11am until 5 pm. with a lunch break with good results. Did a full flight plan with current weather from Monterey to Sacramento, and then a night plan from Sac to Visalia. Abount 125 miles there with a tailwind and 180 return at night with a bit of a headwind. Did a weight and balance spreadsheet, listed all V speeds for the 172, answered questions about the sectional map, airspace, VFR weather minimums and FAA license / medical stuff. Listed takeoff and landing rolls for both airports for the day leg based on reported density altitudes. Then had to go over all aircraft maintenace record for the last year (which my instructor had NOT told me we needed to do so was just dropped on me; I knew it was in the test standards but had no idea it was so complex. His excuse, that he uses all the time and frankly is infuriating to me is "you're a big guy, you should be able to figure it out", referring to my size and height as if that is supposed to intuitively tell me that reviewing these records can take several hours.)

Anyway, we finally verified all engine, airframe and emergency locator transmitter (ELT) service records. I finally preflighted the airplane around 5:30 pm. while he asked questions of me, and he seemed satisfied.

We took off and flew X-country for 20 miles east and then turned north to Sac. The flight plan was just for practice and to show him you could do it, not that we would actually go there. He then put me under the foggles so I couldn't see outside, and I did slow turns, recovery from unusual attitudes (including a stall I had to recover from), finding a VOR beacon and turning to it while maintaining exact altitude and course. Then with the foggles off, turns around a point, S-turns, all good.

Then he surprised me by pulling the power and announcing I had no engine. I reduced to best glide speed, found a landing field and set up on it, but was so happy I had found a suitable field so quickly that I didn't follow the rest of the checklist, specifically I should have made a show of attempting an air start by checking fuel switch and shutoff valve, etc. I setup the field great and would have landed, but should have tried the airstart as well. One ding there.

Next he says we are going to divert to Fresno, so, question: where is Fresno in relation to us right now, what magnetic heading should I turn to to get there, what altitude should I fly, and how long will it take to get there? Then he reaches over and shuts down my beautiful GPS display.

Shyeeeet. By a MIRACLE I ID the town below as as little San Juan Bautista, pull out my folding map sectional (ever try looking at a folding map while driving? Try one 2X as big while flying and laying a plotter on it and figuring a course, on your lap, while keeping the plane at exactly the right altitude and not banking right or left.)

By another miracle, both towns fit on the length of my plotter, and I calculate that we are 85 miles from Fresno. At our current airspeed of 109 kts. I come up with a 47 minute ETA on my trusty manual E6-B flight computer. I tell him my plotter shows a course of 093 degrees so we sould fly there at an odd altitude + 500 feet; probably 5500 the whole way. He seems happy, and then tells me to head back to MRY, and I knew I had blown it. Talk about depressing.

On the ground he tells me that in addition to the airstart ding which he had been going to let slide, I had made a mistake on the X-country diversion. 85 miles was correct, as was the 47 minute ETA as was the altitude. However, I forgot to subtract the 15 degrees east magnetic deviation from the plotted course to give the magnetic course, and had instead given him the true course. I should have given him a corrected magnetic course of 078 degrees.

Following my course we would have flown south of Fresno. (Makes no difference that the GPS would have flagged the error almost immediately; you can't count on that.)

He was real nice about it, although I just felt like such a loser, which I hate of course. He said all the ground and flight plan stuff and oral review was fine, and that he thought I had a nice touch on the controls overall. He told me that as long as I retest in 60 days we only half to do the stuff I missed or didn't get to. So, no ground stuff, just flying. I'll have to do the engine out, another nav diversion, then steep turns and short field / soft field takeoffs and landings. A couple of hours at most.

Just going to practice as much as possible for as week or two, and try again. Hardest part for me is walking back into the flight school. These people are so arrogant (most of them anyway) that you are just treated like an idiot in ALL aspects of your life if you fail in anything to do with flying and I dread facing that. Personally, I know what I did wrong and how to fix it next time, so figure I'll live and learn. I want nothing from my instructor; no tips, no lectures, no I told you so's, just a solo endorsement so I can practice on my own.

I guess on both manuevers I blew I was perhaps feeling overconfident. I had answered everything he threw at me on the ground and done every single calculation perfectly, and then got too confident in the air.

Thanks anyway for all your support. As I say, live and learn, and it will cost me the price of a good khuk to practice and bit and retest, and I can't whine about that.

Regards and thanks,

Norm
 
Man that bites Norm. Still, it's good that they test so thoroughly. I know it doesn't sound so nice right now, but if you're ever up there and lose your instruments and engine you'll probably be very very grateful. That does sound like a LOT of stuff to keep straight too. Best of luck next time.
 
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