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Private Pilot Checkride Preparation: A Practical Checklist

Good checkride preparation starts long before the week of the test. By the time you meet the examiner, the paperwork should be in order, the airplane's records ready, and every maneuver flown to the standard enough times that it feels routine. Here's a practical checklist for the private pilot practical test.

Check the prerequisites first

Under 14 CFR 61.39, before you can take the practical test you need:

• A passed knowledge test, taken within the 24 calendar months before the month you complete the practical test, and the original test report to show the examiner
• All of the training and aeronautical experience the regulations require for the certificate, which for a private pilot in an airplane is the 40-hour minimum in 14 CFR 61.109
• At least a third-class medical certificate, if one is required
• The minimum age, which is 17 for a private pilot certificate in an airplane
• An endorsement from your instructor certifying that you've received and logged training in preparation for the test within the 2 calendar months before the month of your application, that you're prepared for it, and that you've shown satisfactory knowledge of the areas you missed on the knowledge test
• A completed and signed application, which you'll do in IACRA with your instructor

Go through your logbook with your instructor line by line. Missing night landings, a solo cross-country that came up short on distance, or a towered-airport landing that was never logged are much easier to fix two weeks out than on the morning of the ride.

Know the standard you'll be held to

The test follows the FAA's Private Pilot – Airplane Airman Certification Standards (ACS). The ACS lists every area of operation and task, along with the knowledge, risk management and skill elements for each, and the tolerances for altitude, heading and airspeed. Read it, not just a summary of it. The examiner will use it to plan and grade your test, and it tells you exactly what "satisfactory" means.

Prepare for the oral

The ground portion usually comes first. Expect a conversation built around scenarios, often based on a cross-country flight the examiner asks you to plan in advance. Be ready to talk through:

• Your pilot and medical certificates, and what they let you do
• The airplane's documents, required inspections and equipment, and how you'd decide whether it's airworthy
• Weather: the reports and forecasts you'd use and what they mean for your flight
• Airspace on your route, and what each class requires of you
• Performance and weight and balance for the actual flight
• Systems, emergencies and how you'd manage risk on the day

Practice explaining things out loud. Knowing the answer and saying it clearly are two different skills, and the second one takes practice too.

What to bring

Your examiner may send a list of their own. A typical one covers:

• Government-issued photo identification
• Your student pilot certificate and medical certificate
• Your logbook, with every required endorsement
• Your original knowledge test report
• Your IACRA application, completed and signed
• The examiner's fee
• For the airplane: its airworthiness and registration certificates, the operating handbook with current weight and balance, and the maintenance records showing that its required inspections are current
• Your planning for the cross-country the examiner assigned, current charts or an approved electronic source, and any view-limiting device you'll need for the instrument tasks

Fly a mock checkride

A mock checkride with an instructor who hasn't been training you is the closest thing to the real test. It shows you how you do with someone new watching, and it finds weak spots while there's still time to work on them. Stage checks along the way serve the same purpose earlier in training.

Schedule smart

Designated pilot examiners set their own schedules, so book the date as early as your instructor recommends. Plan your final training around that date, and remember the 3 hours of practical-test preparation have to fall within the 2 calendar months before the test. Pick a time of day when you're usually at your best, and build in a backup date for weather.

The day of the test

• Sleep, eat, and arrive early with everything in one folder.
• Preflight the airplane carefully, and say what you're checking.
• If you don't know an answer, say so, then say where you'd look it up.
• If you make a mistake in the air, correct it, fly the airplane, and keep going.

If weather or a mechanical problem cuts the test short, the examiner can issue a letter of discontinuance, and you finish another day.

Checkride preparation at Cornerstone

Cornerstone Flight Academy offers stage checks, mock checkrides and practical test preparation at Redlands Municipal Airport, in the same Cessnas you train in. Learn more on our training page.

Call or text (909) 330-4748, or visit flycornerstone.com.

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