Commercial Check Ride

Today I had my commercial check ride... again. The first scheduled check ride was back in September; the day the movers arrived at our house. I canceled that one because we still had a ton of packing to do and I knew I wouldn't have time to think about flying.

With CFI ground school all week, I was concerned that this check ride would not get the attention that it required. Beside that, I hadn't flown since October 20; I'd surely be a bit rusty by now.

After class last night, I came home and read as much as possible while trying to figure out what area to focus on. I couldn't sleep at all last night, so I got out of bed before the alarm and started drawing out my simulated route to Key West. I jumped in the shower, put on my uniform, and headed for the flight line a half hour early to collect the weather and finish up the performance details of the cross country route. After spreading everything out on a table, I realized that I left my Arrow Operator's Handbook at home. I started to go get it, but then realized I'd never make it back before the examiner arrived, so I decided to wait for him first.

He arrived and I told him about my book. He wanted to see my FAA forms. I told him that they were online. He looked, but couldn't find them. Apparently my instructor had not signed the forms. Finally, my instructor arrived. By now, the examiner was clearly mad and I was completely embarrassed. My instructor tried to pull my records, but he couldn't see them. I logged in and there they were, still not submitted. I tried to submit it, but it said that a school administrator needed to approve it first.

By this time, the examiner was beyond mad and had entered a resignation phase. We decided that the weather wasn't good enough anyway, so we scrubbed the check ride.

After he left, it dawned on me that the problem might be related to the type of school I entered. Looking online again, I found that the school was set to Part 141 rather than Part 61. Once I changed this, I easily submitted and my instructor easily signed it.

At least that is now cleared up and out of the way. Weather permitting, I'll get another flight in before my rescheduled check ride, and I'll have some more time to focus on what I need to know.