Taking a checkride in a technically advanced aircraft
| The FAA practical test, or checkride, in a technically advanced aircraft is structured the same way as a practical test in any other aircraft. Before the applicant and the examiner walk out to the ramp, there will be an oral examination. There, the aspiring pilot will answer questions about aviation regulations, flight maneuvers such as turns about a point, flight planning, aviation weather, and other topics. The applicant with a glass-cockpit aircraft must still understand pilotage and flight planning--and he or she should know the TAA and its systems extremely well. |
| A student who learns to fly in a technically advanced aircraft cannot rely on the technology alone. For one thing, it's a pretty safe bet that some of the sophisticated avionics--or maybe even all of it--will "fail" during the flight test. That's when your flight log (top) will come in especially handy. If the examiner simulates a primary flight display failure in your Cirrus cockpit (above), and you need to divert to another airport, remember that the Garmin GNS 430 operates independently of the Avidyne system and can be used to locate, and navigate to, an alternate destination. |
| The amount of fuel aboard the aircraft must be properly set at the beginning of a flight if the fuel range management system is to operate properly. A screen on the Avidyne MFD allows Cirrus pilots to adjust the quantity of usable fuel (top). Pilots flying aircraft equipped with the Garmin G1000 glass cockpit will find the nearest airport function, accessed with the NRST softkey, to be helpful in the event of a diversion (above). If a G1000's PFD is failed by the examiner, the pilot will use the reversion function to depict PFD data on the MFD screen; then, pressing the FPL key will display flight plan information in the lower right corner (middle). |
The big day has arrived. After learning how to fly in a Technically Advanced Aircraft, and becoming extremely knowledgeable about its avionics and navigation systems, you're ready to take your practical test.
How should you prepare to take an FAA checkride in a glass-cockpit aircraft? For the record, the list of designated pilot examiners (DPEs) able and willing to fly these aircraft is somewhat limited, but the FAA is making a concerted effort to offer specific model training with an emphasis on administering the private pilot and instrument rating practical tests (commonly called checkrides).
Pilot applicants for the checkride must recognize that most of these DPEs are qualified in a wide variety of sophisticated Part 135 and Part 121 aircraft including jets, many of which have had TAA-like glass-cockpit panels for many years. They may not know all the intricate details of the Cirrus SR20, Diamond DA40, or the Garmin G1000-equipped Cessna 172 that you have presented for your checkride, but they will know the common pilot errors, how to ask the right questions, and will create suitable distractions for you during your ride--regardless of what aircraft and panel combination you arrive in. The FAA has been helping DPEs by creating special seminars about these aircraft and providing them with guidelines for the administration of practical tests to applicants presenting technically advanced, glass-cockpit aircraft.
Let us look at some areas to expect on your checkride so that you, the examiner, and the flight instructor who might read this are all on the same page. First of all, let us establish a general baseline of things to expect from any technically advanced aircraft and then we will conclude with some specific details for the G1000 and the Avidyne Entegra systems.
The practical test for both the private and instrument checkride consists of two parts: an oral exam and a flight test portion. (Keep in mind, however, that you will be asked questions throughout the process, and your answers to questions proffered in flight are every bit as important as those answers provided on the ground.) The FAA has instructed designated examiners to look at the special emphasis areas in the front of the Practical Test Standards as guidance to evaluate an applicant. The current PTS does not specifically address glass-cockpit panels and autopilots per se (although I have seen drafts of new PTS documents that do), but it does seek both a demonstration of system knowledge and application of that knowledge in terms of situational awareness and aeronautical decision making (ADM). You will demonstrate this knowledge as the examiner quizzes you during the oral and the flight. The examiner will ask you questions about the systems of the aircraft; consider any question about the glass-cockpit primary flight display (PFD) and multifunction flight display (MFD) fair game.
One would already expect the examiner to ask questions about the aircraft itself and its performance--such as V speeds, fuel quantity and type, range, endurance, performance, oil quantity and type, and basic questions about the engine. The question is whether he or she is going to ask you a series of specific question about the advanced avionics that you would be expected to know in order to safely operate the aircraft in a variety of conditions. These questions could cover topics such as normal and abnormal electrical system voltage, number and location of batteries, whether there is a vacuum system and what it does, and basic questions about the autopilot. The pilot applicant should be able to describe the process of entering the planned trip into the flight plan function of the glass-cockpit system and how that plan could be modified to divert the aircraft to an alternate destination in the event of an emergency.
Once the oral examination is complete, the examiner will watch the applicant perform the preflight inspection. The applicant must use the checklist, and the examiner will ask the applicant questions about the various systems of the aircraft, both inside and outside the cockpit. The applicant should understand systems like the airframe parachute system installed on a Cirrus aircraft, and he or she had better include that in the passenger and crew briefing.
Both the Garmin G1000 and the Avidyne Entegra systems incorporate fuel range management systems that must be checked at the beginning of the flight, to ensure that the fuel onboard the aircraft matches what the fuel range system thinks is in the tanks.
I recommend preloading the flight plan before starting the engine by inputting key waypoints for the trip into the Garmin GNS 430 partnered with the Avidyne Entegra or directly into the G1000 and then saving it into the flight plan catalog for easy recall after engine start. This allows the applicant to focus on key checklist items after engine start, rather than sitting in the parking spot for five minutes entering information while the engine runs.
The aircraft starting sequence should follow the checklist and should include a prestart briefing with a discussion about "positive exchange of flight controls." The applicant should check for proper oil pressure indications immediately after engine start, and then the alternators should be brought online; verify a sufficient charging voltage. Before starting to taxi, the applicant should perform a brake check and then should ask the examiner to check the brakes using "positive exchange of controls." Once the taxi is begun, the applicant should not be distracted by any inside tasks. The FAA cautions examiners to watch for pilots who fiddle with radios and GPS controls during taxi and to break them of this habit. Taxi is a primary task, and the applicant should focus on staying on the centerline.
Once airborne, the applicant should initiate the assigned trip demonstrating pilotage, dead reckoning, and electronic navigation. The examiner is required to determine the applicant's ability to operate all of the equipment installed in the aircraft presented for the checkride. It is acceptable for the applicant to use the autopilot to maintain a specific rate of climb or airspeed, and program the unit to level off at a chosen altitude. Fully expect the examiner to fail the autopilot to determine if the candidate can hand-fly the aircraft or to manage system failures while maintaining situational awareness.
The applicant should fly the aircraft as he or she would fly any other aircraft; be sure to have a good handle on the avionics and autopilot control aspects while you perform other PTS tasks. The examiner has a plethora of generic questions he can ask in a TAA aircraft, even if he is not intimately familiar with that particular panel. The applicant must be aware that many of these questions are asked intentionally at inopportune moments of the flight to see if the student will take the bait and become distracted. The applicant must know that sometimes the right answer is to say, "Please hold that question a moment while I finish this task." The examiner will be impressed if the applicant can stay focused. During a stage check or graduation ride, I will ask questions like this during a checklist process or when inbound to an airport terminal area to see if the student can stay on task. Flight instructors quickly recognize this pattern and they teach to it, so the stage check feedback process does work to modify teaching techniques and encourage learning.
The effective use of a TAA cockpit should include the areas discussed throughout this "Glass Class" series. Keep your eyes moving in a logical scan flow; don't spend too much time staring at any one area--and by all means do not focus on the glass at the expense of your outside scan; doing so is an invitation to fail the checkride. Fully expect system failures during the flight as the examiner determines your ability to manage the automation. Know the avionics and the switchology cold so that there is no doubt that you are in charge. If you make a mistake or forget how to perform a certain function, come up with an alternative way to accomplish the same thing, even if it is manually by using a sectional chart or the Airport/Facility Directory. Many students freeze up when they feel they have made a mistake and this leads to a downhill slide on the rest of the checkride because now they have fallen behind the aircraft. This can be remedied by a good flight instructor using lots of scenarios during training.
For a flight test in a G1000-equipped aircraft the examiner can look for some key areas of knowledge. First, he will simulate a PFD failure by dimming the PFD using the brightness control on the PFD menu bezel key. The applicant should respond by pressing the red reversionary button on the GMA 1347 audio panel and then directing his attention to the MFD. Engine instrumentation still is displayed there, but the moving map is lost. The applicant should press the FPL key to bring up the flight plan in the lower right area of the screen. If the fields displayed in that box do not show distance and estimated time enroute, use the menu key to reassign the fields to those items. This process takes a minute, but as long as the applicant keeps up a scan flow outside the aircraft, it can be accomplished with ease.
A failure of the magnetometer, air data computer, or attitude and heading reference system (AHRS) is also evaluated by dimming the PFD or simply by oral quizzing while in flight. The applicant's response should be to direct his attention to the standby instruments. The examiner should not fail systems by pulling circuit breakers. The FAA discourages this practice in advisory circulars that caution about long-term degradation of circuit breakers' effectiveness when used as switches.
For a flight test in an Avidyne Entegra-equipped aircraft, there are a number of key things that the examiner will look for. First, he will look for a solid knowledge of the Garmin GNS 430 and how to get information from this unit to the Entegra PFD and MFD. The examiner will simulate failures of both the PFD and the MFD by dimming those units with the bezel-mounted brightness controls. The applicant should respond appropriately by referring to remaining standby instruments or by configuring the GNS 430s to display map information on one and navigation information about the flight plan on the other.
With a failure of the PFD or a failure of ADAHRS, the applicant could attempt a hot restart of that unit by stating that he would pull and reset the two circuit breakers within 10 seconds. The examiner might be satisfied with the knowledge of what to do, but he may want to observe the applicant perform the process while keeping the aircraft under control.
In addition to the basic tasks set out in the current PTS, the pilot must learn these avionics systems and become completely skilled at normal and emergency operation modes in order to meet the PTS standards for the certificate or rating sought. The examiner will ask questions and seek appropriate responses demonstrating knowledge of the systems installed in the aircraft. Preparing for this standard of examination is not difficult as long as the flight instructor has incorporated these areas into a scenario-based instructional syllabus. Pilots should seek a flight school and a flight instructor that understand these areas and are skilled in the delivery of this training philosophy in order to avoid a costly learning curve at checkride time.
The primary objective is to understand the avionics functions well enough to ward off distraction, both during the checkride and in your subsequent flying. After all, these are the aircraft of tomorrow, and the examiner is just trying to make sure that pilots who fly these aircraft will be able to operate them safely.
Michael G. Gaffney is president of Skyline Aeronautics at Spirit of St. Louis Airport in St. Louis, Missouri. A Master CFI and a Master Ground Instructor, he was named the 2007 national Flight Instructor of the Year. Gaffney, author of ASA's The Complete G1000 Course, also holds airline transport pilot and airframe and powerplant certificates. He has more than 3,200 flight hours.
See accompanying multimedia at ft.aopa.org/glassclass6/.
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