Day 9 - Multi-Engine Add-On Checkride

I can officially fly multi-engine aircraft, the Piper Seminole anyhow! The checkride went great!

I arrived at the airport about around 7:45 am, my checkride and oral exam were scheduled for 8:00. On my way out to the plane, to grab the maintenance logs, I came across Joe Leone, my examiner, getting out of his car. I let him know that I would be inside shortly and he agreed we would get things rolling then. unlike the stereotypical FAA Examiner Joe came across as an easy going guy. He was cracking jokes right off the bat. As Joe and I both settled in, we slowly got started on all of the paper work. Upon completing that, we moved right into the oral exam. His first question, immediately after he announced that the test was beginning (something FAA Examiners are required to do) he asked me what the decibel level of the Piper Seminole engine from 15' behind the airplane with the engine at 2200 RPM is. I did not panic, I simply told him that I did not know this value. I simultaneously begin to search the vast amount of information I had stuffed into my brain over the past 9 days. Something clicked. Just as I was about to tell him were this information could be found, he began to laugh. He of course did not expect me to know something as detailed as that, he also expressed that we are not engineers, we are pilots. When Joe began to ask actual questions he used the PTS (Practical Test Standards) book as a direct guide. This was a good thing considering I have been using it as a guide to my studies. All and all, the oral exam went very well.

The practical exam, or flight portion, went by rather quickly. We only logged 0.9 of flight time. As you see in the flight track picture we did something very similar to yesterday. The flight overall, was almost identical to every maneuver practice flight I had done the week prior except is was twice as fast. Joe was very helpful on the radios, seeing as I am from the quiet midwest, which does not compare to sunny southern California in terms of flight activity. After our maneuvers, we headed to Gillespie for a short field landing. We taxied back and for a normal takeoff into the pattern. He simulated an engine out shortly after takeoff and I was required to land on a single engine. Everything went just as planned. After landing Joe said "his plane" as he took the controls from me. He then took off, flew to Montgomery, and did the full landing. I was a little nervous and unsure as to why he decided to fly the aircraft back to base. I do know however, that if you fail, the examiner must tell you right then and there terminating the test portion of the flight. After we got back to the building Joe told me he had not flow in a while and simply wanted to have a practice landing. I can now say I have officially logged 1.4 hours of Multi-Engine Pilot-in-Command time!