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3 Common Private Pilot Checkride Mistakes

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The big day is finally here. 

After months of preparation, weeks of studying, tens of hours flying, and thousands of dollars, your Private Pilot checkride is rapidly approaching.

You’re nervous, you’re excited, and you really don’t want to mess this up.

Here are three common mistakes Private Pilot applicants make on their checkride. 

Common Mistakes on the Private Pilot Checkride

Everyone makes mistakes, and your Designated Pilot Examiner (DPE) is not looking for perfection. Above all else, the DPE’s job is to ensure you’re a safe pilot and pose no hazard to yourself or anyone else. 

Everything you do on checkride day is laid out in the Airman Certification Standards (ACS). 

The ACS is available to download from the FAA website, and it contains the tasks you must complete and how well you must know them or do them.

If you’re getting ready for the checkride, the ACS is an important document to help you prepare. 

The DPE will expect you to be familiar with it, and if you use it to study, there should be no surprises on your checkride day. 

As you prepare for the big day, remember the following three mistakes. These are places where students get tripped up, where things might not go as expected, or where DPEs have consistently noticed problems. 

These mistakes are somewhat generally simple because there are a lot of different tasks to complete on checkride day. 

1. Going Before You’re Ready/Lack of Preparation

Checkride jitters aside, you should feel ready to go. 

You should have done plenty of “mock” checkrides with your instructor, and, if possible, you should do one or two with another instructor as well.

Chances are, you’ll also do an “End of Course” flight with the flight school before your actual checkride.

None of these rides are likely as nerve-wracking as your actual checkride with a DPE, but chances are they will actually be tougher.

If you’ve practiced and studied to the point where all of these mock checkrides and progress checks don’t phase you, then chances are you’ll do just fine on the checkride. The real checkride might seem like a ‘cakewalk’ in comparison!

Private pilot checkride mistakes

No matter how your checkride progresses, the DPE will always find something you don’t know or can’t remember. 

It’s important not to guess or make anything up—any DPE will see right through that. The best tactic is to be honest. Confess to not knowing, but admit that you know where to look it up.

Then, pull out the proper book (i.e., the AFM, FARs, AIM, PHAK, checklist, or AFH) that gives the right answer.

However, the trick here is you must have studied enough that you can find the answer promptly. 

Here are some common areas where students show up under-prepared.

  • Paperwork—Make sure your logbook and endorsements are all in order, organized, and ready to show the DPE that you meet the requirements of Part 61. Also, be familiar with the aircraft logbooks and be able to prove that it’s had all of its inspections.
  • Oral Exam—Do you really understand the material, or are you regurgitating meaningless acronyms and facts? For example, can you explain what makes an aircraft airworthy, or is your answer simply “a tomato flames“?
  • Areas where students are often weak include airworthiness, airspace, weather minimums, pilotage/dead reckoning/navigation, communications, and landings (especially stabilized approaches and short field landings)
  • Study the ACS (Airman Certification Standards), paying special attention to the Special Emphasis Areas.

2. Bringing Too Much Anxiety 

Everyone is nervous on a checkride. Even your examiner understands that—they’ve flown with many nervous pilots before. 

That should make you feel better because it means you’re not alone, and it’s not unexpected.

The preparation you’ve done (see mistake number one!) should also help you manage your anxiety. You’ve practiced and practiced, and now all that remains is to do it for the examiner in the same way.

Don’t change anything, and you should be golden!

Dedicate the day before your checkride as a rest day. 

Student passing his private pilot checkride

Do not stay up late cramming for the exam! Instead, eat a good dinner and get lots of rest so you can come refreshed—and hopefully a little less stressed—for your checkride.

Still, people react differently when placed under the stress and pressure of the checkride. Know yourself well enough to know how you might react on checkride day. 

When you’re under pressure, do you rush? 

Rushing things is a common error on checkrides and something that DPEs particularly look for. An applicant who rushes to give an answer or take an action in the cockpit may more easily make mistakes. 

It’s always better to take a thoughtful approach—answer and act carefully and correctly. In the end, correct is better than quick. 

Speaking of taking your time, don’t feel rushed while doing your preflight planning and preflight inspection. And don’t taxi too fast!

The anxiety you feel on checkride day will wax and wane. 

The checkride lasts four hours or more. One thing that can pique your stress is accidentally making a mistake. 

At times like this, it’s important to remember that—as long as you take prompt, corrective actions—exceeding the tolerances once or twice is not grounds for failure. 

So don’t feel defeated just because you busted a little bit on one maneuver, so long as you fixed it without being told to. In other words: Don’t give up until it’s over.  

Specific examples of how too much anxiety can cause you problems on a checkride:

  • Answering or acting too quickly without thought
  • Rushing 
  • Trying something new or doing something differently than you’ve done with your instructor
  • Giving up too soon when you still have time to correct your mistakes
  • Skipping or missing important steps, like pulling out the checklist
  • Missing or misinterpreting instructions from the DPE or ATC
  • Becoming defensive and arguing with the DPE

3. Missed Procedures

You might miss a procedure due to stress or lack of preparation, but it’s also possible to miss a step for other reasons. Whatever the reason, missing a procedure along the way is a problem that plagues students on checkrides. 

When we talk about not trying anything new and not doing anything different, one thing we’re trying to say is don’t miss or skip any steps!

The key to not missing anything is to make sure you make every flight look like it’s a checkride.

If you never pull out a checklist on a typical flight, you won’t pull one out on the checkride either. 

Do it right all the time, and the checkride should be just another flight.

Student after their private pilot checkride

Specific times when students miss a procedure that might lead to a busted checkride:

  • Consistent lack of checklist use
  • Forgetting to do clearing turns before maneuvering
  • Not briefing the examiner like they’re a passenger
  • Emergency procedures, checklist use, and scenario 
  • Engine out scenarios (i.e., failure to establish and trim for Vg, failure to pick a good field and set up their approach, failure to run the checklist, or failure to declare the emergency time permitting)

Are You Ready for Your Private Pilot Checkride?

The checkride is a right of passage for pilots—a horror show we all must survive to call ourselves aviators.

The examiners are professionals doing their jobs, ensuring the pilots they certify are safe and pose no risk to themselves or the flying public. But none of these facts make the day of the checkride less stressful. Only adequate preparation and study can do that. 

Once you’ve completed your checkride, check out 10 things you can do with your private pilot license.

Related Thrust Flight Videos

Over the years we’ve recorded several checkride prep videos. Check them out below.

  • Private Pilot Checkride Mistakes
  • CFI Reacts to Private Pilot checkride
  • How to Impress your DPE

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