IFR Check ride

Steve Martin
7/22/2024

Steve martin told me to call him the day before the check ride to get the
details. I called him the morning before and he simply told me to plan an IFR cross
country from PVG to ROA. He didn’t give any other specifics. He also told me to
send him a picture of my written test report and that was the end of our
conversation. The weather was terrible the morning of, it was raining and
thunderstorms all around. I called Steve again that morning expecting him to
want to cancel. He said he thought we would be able to get it done so we went
ahead and flew over to PVG. Upon arriving he greeted us in the main lobby and
we talked for a few minutes before going back to a room and getting the IACRA
stuff out of the way. Between his stories this took about 30-45 minutes. We then
went back to a conference room and sat down, he told me that the test was
beginning.

Oral exam
He started by reviewing my personal documents (ID, License, and medical),
After that he asked me for the planes log book which I handed to him. He went
through it on his own, never asked me any questions about it. He asked me when
I needed an instrument rating, how we log approaches, when do we need a safety
pilot, currency requirements, and what inspections and equipment are needed in
the airplane. I gave him satisfactory answers to these and we moved on. He then
asked to see my written test report. He looked over for a minute and said that I
got a weather question wrong. He then interrogated me for about 30 minutes on
weather info. Cold and warm fronts and what kind of weather to expect from
them. Same with high- and low-pressure systems. We pulled up a prog chart and
he asked me about pretty much every symbol on it. He would ask about areas
around the country and wanted me to tell him what kind of weather they should
expect from looking at the chart. Different types of clouds and what kind or
rainfall to expect (steady precipitation or sparse rainfall). We talked about
temperature inversions and thunderstorms (what causes a thunderstorm and the
stages). He then started pulling up metars and Tafs, had me decode multiple and
explain what weather to expect at a certain time based on the Taf. Different types
of icing and why is icing dangerous. This led to a discussion about deicing fluid. I
read three different gouges on his instrument check ride and all of them mention
him asking about deicing fluid, so definitely know what type of fluid you can use
based on your rotation speed. He asked why it was based on rotation speed, he
wants to hear that the fluid is viscous and requires a certain speed to shed off the
plane when it rotates. He asked what deicing equipment we have on board. (just
carb heat and pitot heat) this led to him asking how carb heat works. We very
briefly talked about aircraft systems. (Gyroscopic instruments vs pitot static
instruments) he asked what instruments we had that didn’t rely on either ( Mag
compass and ball of turn coordinator). He asked me how WAAS and RAIM work
and when we need them. How does VOR nav work? He asked me about different
illusions involved with flying IFR. We also discussed compass errors and how to
correct for them.
We then moved on to discussing my cross country. He asked me to explain
how I picked my route and asked me how I did my planning. He wanted to know
how I got my weather briefing, I told him I used the foreflight briefing and he liked
this answer but he asked me where else I could obtain a briefing. He gave me a
weather scenario and asked me to think about it for a minute and tell me which
approach I would request at ROA, he went to use the restroom while I looked it
over. His scenario was calm winds but low ceilings and I told him I would do the
LDA Z 6 approach because it has the lowest minimums, he liked this answer. He
then asked me if we could do the RNAV Y 34 which has a minimum climb gradient
for the missed, he wants you to do calculations and make sure you can meet the
missed climb requirement. So, make sure you know how to figure that out. We
very briefly talked about alternates and when we need one. We then discussed
multiple lost comms procedures and what I would do in a certain situation. He
asked what I would do in the case of an electrical fire and we discussed this for a
few minutes. This was pretty much the end of the cross-country portion. He asked
a couple very brief questions about weight and balance. How gross weight affects
Va. ILS critical area, what it is and when do we have to hold short? This was pretty
much the end of the oral. He likes to stop and tell stories and my advice is to ask
him questions about his stories and keep him talking. He had absolutely no
problem answering question, he likes to teach from what I could tell.

Flight
 We took a break before sitting down and discussing our flight. He told me
exactly what we were going to do and exactly what he expected. We went out the
the plane and I did a preflight, he asked me about all of the antennas on the plane
and a few questions about the engine. We got in and he told me he didn’t need a
PAX briefing. Started up and taxied to runway 10. I announced my instrument
check during taxi. After the runup he told me he would make all traffic calls he
just wanted me to focus on flying and talking to him as he simulated ATC. While in
the runup area I called him and said I was ready for my clearance, he gave me a
clearance which was cleared to SFQ 180 heading on departure RV to V1 then
EDTAJ then direct. I loaded up the full flight plan and I briefed the departure
procedure and we took off. Flew the departure procedure then turned heading
180. He called and gave me vectors until we intercepted V1, I turned on autopilot
and he called with holding instructions shortly after. They were, hold SW of EDTAJ
on the 237 radial off ORF VOR he gave me an EFC time. I loaded the hold into the
flight plan. He then called and said I could expect the LOC 4 CTL 22 into SFQ.
Autopilot was still flying the plane and I briefed the approach just before entering
the hold. He amended the EFC time once and when I told him I was entering the
hold he said no response. I then suspected lost comms and briefed my lost
comms procedure. I shortened a leg of the hold to make me hit the fix as close to
EFC time as I could and activated a leg direct to IAF OLUCE. Upon reaching OLUCE
I disengaged autopilot and hand flew the hold at OLUCE and began the approach.
Just before reaching circling minimums, we regained comms, made sure not to
descend past MDA. Steve made traffic calls while I performed the circle to land.
Just before touchdown he said deer on runway and I went missed. I flew the
missed procedure and he started giving me vectors and told me to expect ILS 10
into PVG. Put autopilot into heading mode as he gave me vectors and I briefed the
approach. He failed my PFD and I reported that I had a failed PFD, He asked if I
declared emergency I said not needed because I had a working backup. Steve told
me He would have declared emergency and requested non-Gyro approach. So I
did just that. He simulated the non-Gyro approach and I flew to minimums before
going missed again. He gave me my PFD back and he took controls after going
missed. We did 2 unusual attitudes which were no different from what I’m used
to in training. After that I was given the controls and he called Norfolk approach
and had me talk to them. I requested the RNAV 28 into PVG full stop. They gave
us vectors and I briefed the approach. There were zero surprises here, I flew the
approach and he told me we were clear of clouds about 100 feet above
minimums. Took off my foggles and landed the plane. Taxied back to the ramp
and we did the debrief in the cockpit where he told me I passed.