Official Like a Whistle

Well folks. I've done it. I'm a United States Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Authority, Licensed and Registered Private Pilot. This is one of the most exciting moment of my life. The check ride was very intensive. It consisted of an Oral and Practical Exam. The test is given by a Designated Pilot Examiner. This is a guy the FAA appoints to give exams. It's basically someone who has a great reputation in the aviation industry and years of experience. This is a guy that's been in the game so long that he can basically fly a plane blindfolded with one arm.

My big day went like this....
6:30am
I woke up, washed up and headed to the airport.
7:00am
I decided to stop by BK to try out those new pancakes. I got to the hanger and ate the pancakes. They were kind of hard on the outside. I think burger king cooks all there food in the microwave. It wasn't good at all. But it got food in my stomach. I taxied the plane from the hanger to the terminal building to find a good spot. But to my surprise the terminal didn't open until 8am. So I sat in the plane for about 30 minutes killing time.
8:00am
The terminal opened and I went inside to secure a table in the breakroom for my exam. The weather still looked crappy. Isolated thundershowers, gusting winds, icing conditions at the freezing levels, and low level wind shear. Yeah, not very good. The examiner was running a few minutes late and my CFI came to make sure all the paper work was squared away and wish me good luck. The examiner explained the ground rules and how the process would work and began the exam.

The oral was about an hour and half long. He asked me questions about everything I've learned, and stuff that I didn't learn. It was almost like a conversation. We reviewed my flight plan from Eagle Creek to Chicago Midway and discussed different airspaces, restrictions, flight minimums, etc. After we completed the exam he told me to check the weather and see if we could fly.

10:00am
I called Flight Services and got a full weather briefing and determined that the storms were isolated far enough apart that we would be okay. I preflighted the aircraft and we departed. We began flying to Chicago then just north of Lebanon, Indiana what do you know. A simulated engine failure. I performed my checklist by memory then reviewed it to make sure I didn't forget anything. I found a suitable spot to land and prepared the cabin for an emergency landing. Once the examiner saw that I could land the plane safely we climbed back up to a safe altitude. We did some ground reference maneuvers, lost procedures, and the fun part simulated instrument work.

Simulated instrument is when a pilot puts on "foggles" which limit his view from the outside. They look like safety glasses with blinders on them so they can only see the instrument panel and not the outside. We did some unusual attitudes recoveries, and heading changes and altitude changes etc.

Then we headed back to the airport. We performed soft, short field, take off and landings and no flap landings, go arounds etc. Then he told me to perform a normal landing. After I touched down he told me to taxi to the ramp in a serious voice. I got nervous thinking ooo crap. What did I do wrong. Then I parked, shut the engine down. His words were "Okay let's get this paper work filled out, we are done, you passed".

A weight of a thousand lbs lifted off my shoulders. I couldn't believe it. I looked at my clock and was like "WHOA!! Its 12pm lol". We went back into the terminal, found a computer and completed the paper work and he printed out my Temporary Pilot Certificate. He explained to me that my permanent one would come in the mail. He said it could take a week or 6 weeks. It just depends on the feds.

I called my wife and she was more excited than me. She made me a big ol feast. T-Bone steak, mac n cheese, she layed it down.

The weirdest thing now is the feeling of "Wow, I did it. I'm done". But really the journey has just begun. In the spring I hope to start my instrument training which is just as intense as the private license. Instrument flying allows me to fly in less than perfect visibility, in the clouds, etc. It's how all the airliners fly. But for now I'm going to take a much needed break from training and enjoy all that my Private Pilot Certificate has to offer.