Relaxing Before Checkrides

Author: Neil Stringer

Newbie here. I enjoy reading the stories and the memories that they evoke. Reese 69-05. Unfortunately, too many of my brain cells are red X’d and lost to time. But I do have one memory that lasted me throughout my military and civilian flying career. Let’s just say that I was not the ace of the base. It took a lot of studying for me to make it through, though I did reasonably well despite 4 UnSat rides: 3 in the T-41 phase where I had difficulty mastering slow flight with a screamer civilian instructor, and 1 in the T-38 phase where I was more engaged with an SR-71 flying an engine out final on a parallel runway and I got 1 knot slow on a single engine base leg in the pattern. My only strong recollection is of my Final Instrument and Navigation check in the T-38. I studied hard….until I found out the next day that my evaluator was a guy with a reputation as the base prick. I figured I wouldn’t pass, so I stopped studying and spent the evening before at the O club, enjoying a good meal with a few libations. Much to my surprise, my checkride was one of the best rides I had during the training program — I got a 98.07% on it. The technique of relaxing before a checkride served me well throughout the remainder of my military flying on the C-130 and subsequent civilian career flying B-727, B-737, B-747, B-757, MD-80, DC-9, A-320, and Jetstream 31. 22,000+ total hours and never failed another checkride again.