Passing the commercial check ride

A few days ago a designated pilot examiner punched a hole through my private pilot’s certificate, invalidating one of my most prized possessions. 

Seconds later he handed me a completed FAA Form 8060-4, a temporary airman’s certificate. And for a minute or two, until someone else completed a check ride, I was, at age 73, the nation’s newest commercial pilot.

I started training for the rating last year after deciding my flying had stagnated with too many $100 barbecue runs among my newest logbook entries. I vowed to resume the intensive learning process that had helped me earn my private pilot’s certificate in 2001 at the age of 57 and my instrument rating seven years later.

Prepping for the written test was first and I attacked the FAR/AIM information manual and a variety of study guides with determination.

Primarily I used the Gleim commercial prep book, a Sporty’s commercial course downloaded on my iPad, the ASA and Gleim commercial oral prep books, and online material from John and Martha King. And there were dozens of helpful free videos on YouTube.

After three months I took the written. On my private and instrument tests I had scored in the high 90s. But I only recorded a 79 on the commercial, missing 21 questions.

Was that a sign I might not be up to the required knowledge level?

That worry was dismissed by an instructor who asked me if I knew what they called a captain who had made 70 on his written.

“No,” I answered.

“They call him captain,” he said. “You passed.”

Afterwards, I reviewed the subject areas not clear on the test.

The second stage was the flying practice. I had about 1,000 hours logged when I began the airborne prep for the test. All the minimum requirements for things like total time, cross countries, and pilot in command hours had already been completed. I did have to get a minimum of 10 hours and an endorsement in a complex aircraft. I did this in a PA-28 Arrow.

About this time I got a lucky break from the FAA. The requirement that a commercial candidate demonstrate proficiency on the check ride in a complex aircraft by at least taking off and landing was eliminated. The 10 hours and endorsement took care of the requirement.

Next came training for the specific takeoffs, landings, and maneuvers that make up the flying test. The elements of the commercial check ride listed in the Airman Certification Standards include five performance and ground reference maneuvers: Steep turns (50° bank), steep spiral, chandelles, lazy eights, and eights on pylons.

Also tested are pilotage and dead reckoning, navigation and radar services, diversion, slow flight, and stalls (power on, power off and accelerated), spin awareness, and emergency operations. The types of landings and takeoffs are listed in the standards.

As a very average pilot, I punched a lot of expensive holes in the sky, including more than 20 hours of instruction before being comfortable with the maneuvers, plus the required takeoffs and landings. Along the way I worked with instructors Dale Long and Dave Herwig on the maneuvers. Both teach at Cape Fear Aviation Flight School at Grays Creek (2GC) near Fayetteville, N.C.

When the time came for the check ride at Florence Regional Airport (KFLO) in South Carolina, local instructor Everett McMillian provided great insight into study areas for the oral and helped me perfect the flying sequence for the test.

I brought my own aircraft, a 1956 Skyhawk, and the examiner scoured my documents and logs. For me things went smoother because I had tabbed every item I thought the examiner might want to see in my logbooks and the aircraft logs. And, sure enough, he checked nearly every tab.

After the satisfactory condition of the aircraft was validated on paper, we began a nearly 90-minute conversation on a wide variety of subjects, including commercial pilot qualifications, airspace, my aircraft systems, weather, preflight, airport operations, medical and human factors, plus preventive and required maintenance.

Next we talked about the planned 140-mile cross-country flight. Be ready to discuss the weather, the airspace, if there are any temporary flight restrictions, the computations needed to determine your true course with explanations on wind correction, isogonic variation, compass steer correction for your aircraft and how you picked checkpoints.

Fuel consumption figures, takeoff, climb, and cruise performance should all be explained right out of the POH. Same for your weight and balance computations.

Most pilots already know from previous check rides that you never begin an answer you can’t finish with clarity. Answer only what is asked and be specific. Wait for a follow-up question if you’ve said all you know. If you know where to find the answer in the FAR/AIM say so.

My best prep sessions for the oral came during practice with Troy Gammon, an ATP-rated CFI who also manages Lumberton Regional Airport (KLBT) in North Carolina. He has a habit of entering a subject from the seemingly obscure and working toward the major knowledge areas. For instance, his question of what is the composition of a cumulus cloud moved rapidly to the types of clouds, the makeup and life cycle of thunderstorms, and then to airspace requirements and visibility for all classes of airspace.

Altogether the document check and questions took about two hours. And the primary observation here is that you can’t know everything. But you ought to be able to find just about anything as it is an open book test.

The flying practical lasted just over an hour with the examiner speaking only to issue instructions. Checklists are mandatory for preflight, engine start, takeoff and landing. And the examiner expects to be briefed as a passenger. 

During the last part of the oral I was asked to explain how to execute each of the maneuvers, so the examiner knew I had the knowledge. Once in the air, it was a matter of executing and that was without comment or any indication of how things were going.

To me, the flying exam is about adjusting to change and adapting to current conditions just like regular flying. You practice with various wind directions and speeds and on test day the conditions will almost certainly vary from previous flights. For instance, if you do all your practice under ideal conditions, your check ride will most likely take place on a blustery day. My instructors hit hard on the requirement to achieve a 70% passing grade on the maneuvers, but the examiner said nothing about grades on the individual maneuvers afterwards.

Clearing turns are mandatory on all maneuvers. The certification standards set out precisely how to successfully fly each maneuver. For instance, on steep turns you are required to roll into a coordinated 360° steep turn with approximately a 50° bank. Then perform the task in the opposite direction. While doing this maintain the entry altitude plus or minus 100′, airspeed plus or minus 10 knots, maintain 50° bank plus or minus 5° and roll out on the entry heading plus or minus 10°. With practice most pilots master the maneuvers in a few sessions.

Many pilots say the simple-appearing Lazy 8 is the most difficult maneuver to execute to a near perfect standard. But for me it was the final check ride assignment, the power-off 180 landing, that was my biggest worry. After pulling the power abeam the 1,000-yard stripes on the downwind at pattern altitude you must manage your descent on downwind, base and final to a landing on those stripes or within 100′ of them. Land short and you fail. Land long and you fail. I didn’t fail, but it took a substantial slip to get down on the stripes.

After engine shutdown the examiner asked, “How do you think you did?”

“I hope I passed,” I said.

“You did,” he responded. “Give me your license because I’m going to punch a hole in it and issue you a new one. Congratulations on your commercial pilot rating.”

Active pilots in the U.S.

The latest available statistics from the FAA indicate that at the end of 2018 the estimated number of active commercial pilot certificates totaled 98,880 and the estimated number of active Air Transport Pilot certificates was 162,145. The active private pilot total was 163,695. The current U.S. population is listed at approximately 328 million.