Passed Your Checkride! Now What?
Congratulations, what an achievement! After long hours of studying and many hours in the cockpit practicing, you passed! The ink may barely be dry on your license and you could be thinking, “Now what?” It is my personal belief that the first few hours of pilot in command time are the most critical in a pilot’s log book. The decisions you will face will help build and expand the knowledge you already have and give you more confidence in the cockpit. This is not to say your solo time was not important, in fact just the contrary. The fact is, having the watchful eye of your instructor always added an extra degree of security to each solo flight. Well, let me offer you a few suggestions to help you accumulate some important pilot in command time.
Set your personal minimums. Yes, you did pass your checkride. Yes, you do have a license. But does that mean you should fly in conditions you have never flown in before? This is probably not a smart idea. “So how do you set your personal minimums?” you ask. One way may be to sit own with your logbook and page through some of your training flights. What kind of experiences have you had? How did you feel? For example, did your landing at a 2000 foot airstrip make you feel uncomfortable? If it did, what length of airstrip makes you feel comfortable? Use that as your minimum airstrip length. Keep in mind aircraft performance may be different than your minimums. A good rule of thumb would be to take the most conservative choice. In the example above, if the aircraft’s performance can easily handle take-offs and landings on a 2000 ft. airstrip, yet, you do not feel comfortable with anything less than 3000 ft, use the latter as your minimum. The same can be said for winds, crosswinds, visibility, cloud cover and possibly airport runway length and surfaces. At a minimum I would recommend using these as a basis. Stick to those minimums for the first few hours; don’t be afraid to cancel or postpone a flight if it is not within your minimums. As you gain more experience, you can always change your minimums accordingly. When I was working as an instructor, I always admired the pilots who altered their plans to stay within their own comfort zone. Keep in mind, everyone’s answers will be different; remember these are personal minimums.
Schedule some flight time – alone. I have been here; you are so incredibly eager to share flight with your spouse, children, friends, neighbors or companion. But get used to going to the airport and flying the plane alone, no distractions, for the first couple hours. “Distractions?” you hail, “No one I would take flying will be a distraction!” Let me give you a personal experience. I had been a licensed pilot over 10 years and was flying commercially before I took my parents for an airplane ride. Truth be told, I was nervous. The whole time before and during the flight I could not help but think – “Mom, Dad are you two OK?” Shamefully, my landing was less than perfect, even though weather was on my side! Let me preface this by stating my parents are very reluctant flyers. I had offered on several occasions to take my parents for a flight and they declined. And wouldn’t you know it, the first day both came to visit me at the airport to take advantage of my repeated offers, the winds were gusting over twenty knots! Needless to say, I did not take them flying that day. But I digress. However small or insignificant you may think this “distraction” may be on the ground, in the air it could be a completely different experience.
Repeat one of your solo cross countries. Shortly after passing my private pilot checkride, I repeated my first solo cross country three times. “Why three times?” you ask. My only reason: this trip has one of the most scenic views of the Connecticut and Rhode Island shorelines. It is still my favorite trip to this day. You may think this could get boring, but it never did. Each cross country was carefully planned and executed. I still get a thrill today calculating takeoff and landing performance, fuel burn, check points, time enroute and seeing each fall into my flight plan as planned - and when it doesn’t, learning why. To make each flight challenging and rewarding, I would add a new “twist” to the flight. As an example, looking at my logbook, the first of the three cross countrys included short field take-offs and landings. The second flight, I diverted to a different airstrip with a planned no-flap landing at the diverted airport, then on to my original destination. Once there, I flew in the traffic pattern for awhile before heading home. The third was my favorite. It was also the first time I had a passenger on board, my college roommate. I planned a sight seeing tour – the weather could not have been any better. Smooth, calm and severe clear was the order for the entire day. My roommate was a non-pilot and had never been in a “small” airplane before – I found this ironic given the fact he was an aeronautical engineering major. Each of these three flights expanded upon knowledge already learned and my confidence in the cockpit increased, not too mention that I was having a great deal of fun! Above all, be safe. Flying is an incredible adventure and each flight is going to be remembered, whether good or not so good.
By Andrew Marsden, CFI, CFII, MEI, AGI, IGI