Summary of Private Pilot Oral Examination and Checkride

The Oral Exam Topics and Example Questions

General Questions on Rules and Regulations

Pretend the weather outside is not so good and you have two miles visibility and the clouds are at 1000ft and you want to depart BWI. How can we accomplish this?
If you have a head cold, how might that affect you when you are flying? Are you allowed to fly?
Can you take Sudafed and then go flying? Who would you contact to determine which medications are safe to take before flying?
If your sinuses and inner ear are blocked up due to your head cold and you get into the clouds what could happen? How would you handle the situation?
On takeoff, you pull the nose up abruptly and your head jerks back. What might be your reaction to this?
If you want to do pattern work on a day with 1 mile visibility and low clouds where can you go to practice? What kind of airspace is that? Can you do that at a Class B, C, or D airport?
What are the weather minimums in Class B, C, and D?
What are the weather minimums in Class G day and night, below 1,200 AGL?
Can you fly the Cessna 150 into icing conditions? Why not?
Well, the Cessna 210 is a really nice plane, we could cruise at 20,000ft all the way to
Atlantic City can't we do that?
What is the service ceiling for the Cessna 150?
What additional equipment would we need to travel at 12,650 feet?
If we were flying at 12,650ft and you started getting dizzy and lightheaded what does that mean? What would you do? Is it an emergency?
Why wouldn't you descend at 1000ft per minute or 1500ft per minute?
What is preventing you from descending that fast?
Could you descend at 130 mph if you were also getting turbulence?
How fast would you descend then?
What if you had to pull up abruptly while you were descending at 120mph?
If you anticipated that you might have to pull up abruptly or do some sort of evasivemaneuver while descending what speed should you stay under?
What are the rules regarding flight after scuba diving? (He went on to explain the biology behind the danger of flying after diving.)
If an instrument that is not required for VFR flight is inoperative, are you allowed to fly anyway?
The correct answer is yes, if you follow three steps. (Document the inoperative equipment, post a placard in the aircraft, and notify FSDO.)
If your Mode C transponder is not working, are you allowed to fly the plane? (I said yes, if you get the transponder repaired at the destination airport.)
Do you need anything special in order to make that flight? (special flight permit/ ferry permit)
Why would you not want to go back to BWI in case of an emergency? (The examiner suggested that going back to BWI would disrupt operations at the airport and so therefore going back to BWI would be a bad option)
Your friend wants you to take him flying and he has never been in an airplane before,should you take him with you when you go out for the preflight? (he said the right answer is 'no' because the guy will ask you lots of questions and will distract you while you are doing the pre-flight and you might miss something)
Once you are done with the pre-flight and you get in the plane, what are you responsible for telling him before and while you are getting in the airplane? (how to get in/out, open and close the door, seat belt and harness, “sterility” of the cockpit meaning no talking or asking questions while you are trying to talk with controllers and during takeoff and landing, not to touch anything, avoiding putting feet on the rudder pedals)
Immediately after takeoff, your friend tells you he is getting light headed and you notice he is breathing heavy, what do you do? Is it an emergency? Should you come back and land?
Is there anything you can do to help him? Why is he experiencing this? (breathing into a paper bag, he is hyperventilating)
How can you warn passengers and inform them about hyperventilation while on the ground?
After your friend's first flight to Atlantic City, he realizes how much fun he had and wants to go back to Atlantic City every weekend to gamble. He says he will pay for all the expenses if you will promise to fly him there, can you do this?
After you tell your friend that he is only allowed to pay the pro rata share he says that he will pay the pro rata share every weekend instead as long as you promise to fly him to ACY, can you do this now?
Is this flying for hire even if you are not being compensated? Does the FAA care?
If the oil pressure drops significantly, but the oil temperature gauge indicates a temperature within the acceptable range, what might have happened?
Should you find somewhere to land anyway?
What is the minimum amount of oil that we can fly with, and what is the maximum capacity?

Mike had me complete a quiz on his computer that asked questions about the meanings of various airport signs. There were ten questions.

Questions on my Flight Plan to ACY

Your flight plan looks like a straight line to ACY, why did you decide this?
You are using pilotage and dead reckoning so what decisions went into choosing yourcheckpoints?
Choosing checkpoints that are equally spaced apart isn't as good as choosing highly visible checkpoints because if the weather is only 3 miles visibility then you probably won't see most of them what other ways can you navigate to ACY?
Why doesn't your flight plan start AT the BWI airport?
Your flight plan brings us through restricted airspace. Why did you still choose to go through it?
Can we just fly through it? Do we need to talk to anyone?
Can you also fly through prohibited areas if you contact their controlling agencies?
Where can we find out if these restricted areas are active?
What are our alternate airports in case we encounter bad weather?
Can we land at a private airfield as an alternate?
If we get lost half way there what can we do? Should we start circling? Should we turn around?
How can we use the VORs to help us out? (intersecting two VOR radials)
What ATC resources do we have during the cross country? (flight following)
What kind of airspace is at ACY?
What do we need to do to enter Class C airspace? Do we need any special equipment?
If we call ACY APR and they say “Cessna N18167 standby” can we still enter the airspace? Would you choose to enter the airspace?
What runway should we expect at ORF?
How do you know this? What resource did you check to find this out? Can't you request any runway you want?
Do they have Land and Hold Short Operations at ORF? Which runways?
How much runway distance is available for LAHSO(s) at ORF?
Do we have to accept a land and hold short clearance?
If they tell us to taxi to General Aviation parking and we don't know how to get there what resource should we use?
If we don't have the airport map then what do we do? (progressive taxi)
If they tell us to taxi across runway 4 do we have to stop and wait for them to tell us to cross or can we just cross?
How much fuel is it going to take us to get there? How did you determine this?
Did you do a weight and balance for the trip? Are we going to take off in CG? Are we going to land in CG? What if we run out of fuel half way there, are we still going to be in CG?
If the CG is too far forward, how would you know when you are flying? How will the plane handle?
If the CG is too far back, how would you know when you are flying? How will the plane handle?
If the CG is too far back and you stall what would you experience?
If the FSS is not answering on 122.2 then what do we do?
Can we use the VOR to contact FSS? What does the number 122.1R above the box for ENO mean?
If we can hear the ATIS on the VOR frequency does that mean the VOR is working?
How do we know if the VOR is working?
Identify the SFRA
Identify the FRZ

Once We Were Out on the Ramp

Mike was not all that interested in the preflight. I told him that I had conducted a prefight that morning before the exam, and he seemed satisfied with that then told me to do my walk around as necessary. As I did the walk around, he wandered over toward the silver SR22. I told him, “Mike, I’m not going to allow my passengers to wander freely on the ramp”, but he assured me that this was not an intentional distraction. When I had completed my general walk around and removed the ropes and chocks, I told Mike that I was all set and he returned to ask a few questions about the airplane.

What sort of things should you tell your passengers before you get into the plane?
Does the nose strut look like it’s inflated to the appropriate pressure setting?
How much air should the nose strut have?
What happens when it is over inflated? (He then picked up the nose of the plane to demonstrate the locking action of the nose wheel that occurs in flight.)
What is this thing on the side of the plane? (static port)
What instruments does the static port affect?
When should we turn on nav lights? (The answer is sunrise to sunset, but Mike encouraged me to “light the plane up like a Christmas tree” all hours of the day.)
When do we turn on the beacon?
What is the trim tab for?

Once We Got Into the Airplane

Mike had the hardest time trying to fasten his harness, and I wasn’t sure whether he was testing me or truly couldn’t figure it out, so I tried to help him out a little bit. I listened to the ATIS on 127.8 since 115.1 hasn’t been working, and Mike wanted to verify that 115.1 indeed was not working. I requested clearance to the south, since Mike still wanted to keep the destination a surprise. Then I contacted ground control and taxied out with proper aileron deflections. When I reached the run-up area, I turned back into the wind and conducted my run-up, about which Mike asked no questions. He told me that he wanted me to do a soft-field takeoff out of BWI, but when I called the tower they approved only “position and hold”, so I set up on the centerline and applied brakes. When the tower cleared us for takeoff, I brought the elevator full back and did a modified soft-field takeoff. As we climbed, I expected to hear “turn right heading 060, contact Potomac Departure on 119.7” from the tower, but instead, the tower only told me to contact Potomac Departure and assigned no vectors, so I continued to climb on 335. I contacted Potomac Departure as I passed 1,000 feet or so, and they requested my intentions. I then looked at Mike and asked him where he planned to go, and he said that he wanted me to divert to Essex. Once I requested on course to Essex from Potomac Departure, they asked that I descend to below the 1,500 foot floor of the Bravo and exit the Bravo and the SFRA then remain clear of them. I descended to 1,400 feet and turned toward Essex. This unexpected exchange ultimately ended up working in my favor, because I noticed that Mike was reluctant to pull my throttle at 1,400 feet. I called MartinTower and told them that I would be conducting some pattern work at Essex Skypark, and the controller approved. There was an aircraft backtaxiing runway 34 when I switched to the UNICOM, so I did not have to choose which pattern to enter. I entered the downwind for runway 34 but did so at about 1,200 feet then descended to 1,000 while on downwind. Mike did not like the fact that I chose to descend once established in the pattern, as I could have converged with someone in the pattern below me unknowingly. My first approach was standard, and Mike requested a short-field landing. This was probably my best landing during the checkride. I landed and backtaxied on 34, and Mike requested a short-field takeoff. I did our standard short-field takeoff on runway 34, but when I lowered the nose to remain in ground effect and build up airspeed, Mike disapproved. He insisted that in a short-field takeoff, you should not try to sustain ground effect. Anyway, I climbed then re-entered the left pattern. Mike told me on downwind that he wanted me to do a forward slip to a landing on this next approach. He therefore told me to keep my altitude for as long as possible to set up on a high approach. Mike then pulled my throttle on base leg, and I began to conduct our standard procedure of glide speed, place to land, checklist, brief passengers. I figured that extending flaps would offer a more controlled emergency approach than a forward slip, so I extended flaps to about 30 degrees on final approach when Mike said again “forward slip to a landing”. I recalled that slips should not be conducted with flaps extended, so I retracted my flaps 10 degrees at a time (but fairly quickly). I then entered the forward slip and did my best to lose altitude, but I was still way too high and fast on short final. Mike said,“what are you going to do?” and I knew to go-around. I conducted a go-around and rejoined the pattern. Mike told me on either upwind or crosswind that he intended for me to do a forward slip with flaps extended in order to make the field, but I told him that Nizar had actively discouraged that. He said okay, and we tried a similar approach. He pulled the throttle, and I began my slip much sooner on final this time. I still crossed the threshold with excessive airspeed and could only pray that it would bleed of in 1,000 feet or so. My landing was not great, but Mike comforted me by saying, “In a true emergency, you’re still alive. That’s what matters.” I backtaxied and did another short-field takeoff on runway 34. This time I made sure not to positively lower the plane into ground effect. I climbed over the trees then retracted flaps and attained Vy. Mike said that he wanted me to depart the pattern toward HartMillerIsland, over which we would do some maneuvers. I contacted MartinTower and requested this, and they approved with the condition that we stay clear of the final approach for runway 33 at Martin. I agreed to the condition and we did a climbing left bank to 2,000 feet and toward HartMillerIsland. Mike first requested a slow flight maneuver, with full flaps. He asked me to extend full flaps and slow the plane to 55 mph airspeed. In this configuration

I did some gentle banks, then Mike told me to “clean it up” and I returned to cruise. Mike likes to do clearing turns before each maneuver in addition to clearing the area visually, so we did a clearing turn then he told me to do a power-on stall in a ten degree bank. I stalled the plane and recovered nicely. He then told me to do a power-off stall, so I reduced my power while maintaining altitude until the airplane stalled. As I recovered, MartinTower called, “Cessna 167, is there any reason why you’re hovering so close to the 33 final?” Mike was noticeably disgusted and told me to reply that we would head eastbound toward the shoreline. While over the bay we did a steep turn (I believe it was only one), and he lined me up to face the BayBridge so that I could use it as a reference point for roll out. I thought this was a very good technique to supplement the designated heading. Mike then pulled my engine again and said “what do you do now?” I turned toward the eastern shore, since there was no chance that I could make Essex or Martin from where we were. I checked my map to see if there was a private field on which I could set up an emergency approach, but the closest was Breezecroft, and we were well south of that. I spotted a field that looked long and level enough for a landing. Mike asked how I could determine the wind in those circumstances, and I replied with, “waves and swells in the water, trees blowing, smoke plumes…” I set up a fairly good approach and when we were within a couple hundred feet of the ground, Mike told me to go around. I did so, and he had me put on my foggles. We did two unusual attitudes, which were both fairly mild compared to those that we practice. He asked me to tune the nav radio to Baltimore’s VOR and track it home while maintaining altitude, and I did so. I contacted SFRA, Potomac Approach, and BaltimoreTower, and when we got close to the airport, I took my foggles off and Mike took the airplane to demonstrate additional slow flight. He extended 40 degrees flaps and maintained 60 mph then said that by mastering that configuration you can touchdown at any point on any runway. In that configuration I set up on a modified right base then final approach for runway 33R and landed with a soft-field technique. This landing was not great, but I had told Mike on final that I would only land with 20 degrees flaps in this situation since there was a substantial crosswind. Since he insisted that I land with 40, he took credit for the not so great landing. We taxied back with the tower.