Hello everyone! I’ll be taking my instrument checkride next week and I just wanted to see if there is any subject or information that was on your checkride that surprised you? Or that you wish you would have studied more in depth? Look forward to hearing from y’all!
Kyle,
I wish I had used the ACS in conjunction with my ground lessons. Just having read it and read the resources it references would have prepared me better for “surprises.” If you don’t have a copy you can download the pdf from the FAA’s website for free.
I would also open your FAR/AIM. Near the front is a list of regs as they relate to each certificate or rating. Be familiar with everything in the Private and Instrument list.
Tory
Yeah that makes sense, I have a copy of the ACS, I’ll make sure to go through it again to make sure I have everything down. Thank you for the advise! I’m kind of nervous but I just don’t like tests so that usually just comes with the territory for me. Thanks again.
Kyle,
As with most check rides, I find that the Oral Exam Guides are your best friend. Know every word of it and you should do well.
Chris
If there’s time, see if there is another CFI that is willing to give you a mock oral. Practicing may help calm your nerves for the real thing.
Tory
Kyle,
I honestly never really sweated the orals it’s the practical where you really need to step up. You can know the oral guide cover to cover but if you can’t shoot an approach well it doesn’t much matter.
Keep your scan moving, don’t fixate, small corrections.
Adam
Kyle,
If you studied with the ACS and the oral exam guides you should be good. Have all your resources pulled and be well versed in what information is on those documents and where. Sometimes examiners would ask questions they knew were a reach for that specific phase of training but they wanted to see how the applicant takes a challenging question and use their FAA approved resources to find the answer. So have chart legends, TERPS, AC’s, etc downloaded and saved so you can easily reference them if needed.
In the flight portion, don’t get too ahead of yourself. Many have failed on an ILS approach forgetting to hit VLOC button because they had their mind thinking further down to the next approach or the hold to come. Be present plus one step ahead enough to be prepared.
Hannah
Kyle,
I am a big believer in Jason Schappert’s Pass Your Instrument Pilot Checkride audiobook, you can buy it for a few dollars, it’s around two and a half hours…I listened to it for weeks before my checkride. I would generally take an hour and half at night to walk around my housing complex and just get fresh air and answer questions as he was going through them. Check through the Oral Exam Guides that you have, have instructors and even fellow students to give you a mock oral. If you utilize the ACS to study, you will be prepared for the oral, just always ensure you’re always thinking ahead of the plane.
P.S. Do not forget the $700 button, when you’re doing a missed approach – remember, remember, remember, OBS to remove the SUSP and execute the missed approach. And like Hannah mentioned, verify on a ILS approach that you are no longer in GPS and in VLOC (VOR/LOC) mode and that the magenta needles have turned green.
Brady
What the heck are you guys talking about? Don’t you simply press the APPR button, sit back and watch the magic? I do! 
Adam
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Thank you all for the advice! I will for sure take everything in to consideration that y’all have said and make sure to focus and do my best with the checkride. Thank you all again!
Anytime. Let us know how the ride goes, please.
Hello again! Sorry for the delayed response, good news is I passed my instrument checkride! Thank you everyone for the tips. It was like y’all said, the oral part was about what I expected, it was tough but it is information we are expected to know as instrument rated pilots. The practical part of the exam was tough because had strong winds with gusting near the surface, but I was able to fly within standards even with the wind so I was happy with my performance. Thank y’all again for the pointers and information leading up to the checkride.
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Congrats Kyle!
Thanks for the update. Have fun on crew!
-Hannah
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Kyle,
Congrats sir! Many consider the Instrument checkride to be the most challenging so major kudos!
Thanks for the update.
Adam
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Kyle,
Congratulations! I always thought the instrument ride was the most difficult. Enjoy your cross country time, I found it to be the most enjoyable part of the program.
Chris
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Well done, sir!
So what would you say helped prepare you best for the oral? Anything you would have done differently?
Tory
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Thank y’all! I would say for the oral the thing that helped me the best was just going through the ACS line by line and seeing if I could answer the questions without looking them up. If I missed one or couldn’t answer I would do more of a deep dive into the subject. Something I would have done differently is reference the Instrument flying handbook(IFH) more. I feel like the IFH has some good material that I overlooked at first glance
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Kyle,
Great news hearing about the Instrument Checkride and passing it! The ACS is great material to prepare for an upcoming checkride because DPE’s will be testing off the content. The IFH is also a really good source of material, when you prepare for CFI Academy, you’ll find that the video modules do justice, but tabbing and highlighting in the Instructor Handbook will help. All the reading material that is provided is really key to staying sharp.
Enjoy yourself some crew, it gets really fun!
Brady
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Kyle,
That is a good pint about the IFH, I find that it is an often over liked reference and is really very good. I have been guilty of this mistake myself.
Chris
Hey Kyle, yes, the IFH is a treasure of knowledge for the Instrument but more so for CFI, just remember as you review, look at it as teaching to someone else vs learning. Makes a big difference on perspective. Ed
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