Common Errors on Private and Commercial Check Rides

Check rides often reveal the same weak areas again and again. This guide outlines common trouble spots for private and commercial applicants, along with practical recommendations to help you prepare more effectively and demonstrate sound judgment.

Aircraft Airworthiness

Applicants must prove to the examiner that the aircraft is airworthy both on paperwork during the ground portion and by preflight inspection before takeoff. Many applicants have memorized AVIATE-A and AROW, but are not familiar enough with the logs to demonstrate that they can actually verify airworthiness.

1. Produce originals or facsimiles of the airworthiness certificate, registration, weight and balance, and POH/AFM. Aircraft manufactured after March 1979 must have an aircraft-specific FAA-approved POH.
2. Tab the engine, airframe, and propeller log entries for required inspections so they are easy to reference.
3. Be ready to explain Airworthiness Directives. Owner-operators are required to keep a log of all applicable ADs, including how and when they were complied with, recurrent AD status, and next due dates. This AD compliance report is usually updated every annual.

Weather

Review the ACS requirements carefully. In short, the applicant must be able to retrieve enough weather information and interpret it correctly to build a picture of current and forecast conditions and make a sound go or no-go decision. If you use an aviation app briefing, make sure you know where the legends are and how to interpret the symbols.

1. Understand the basic concepts of how weather is created and how air masses and fronts produce different conditions.
2. Become familiar with onboard weather products such as ADS-B In, TIS-B, FIS-B, and XM weather, along with their limitations.
3. Know what radar can and cannot tell you, including how to identify thunderstorm activity and interpret color returns.
4. Be able to explain low-level wind shear, what causes it, and the risks it creates.
5. For every chart in a weather briefing, know what the symbols mean or where to look them up quickly.

Cross-Country Planning

A common error is taking a course directly from Garmin Pilot or another app without understanding whether it is a true course, magnetic course, magnetic heading, or compass heading. Some applicants then apply wind correction or deviation to a number the app has already corrected, creating navigation errors they cannot explain.

Know what your app is telling you and what each number means. You should also understand how to determine a true course from a VFR sectional and convert it to a magnetic heading and then a compass heading. Use the expanded PAVE checklist as part of your planning process.

Diversions for Emergencies and Malfunctions

Applicants often begin troubleshooting while flying away from a perfectly good airport. If you face a malfunction that may threaten the safety of flight, prioritize getting pointed toward a safe landing option first.

1. Turn toward the closest airport.
2. Then begin troubleshooting or use the checklist.
3. If the engine is still running, use the available power to reach a safe landing area.

Aircraft Performance

Cross-country planning often leads directly into aircraft performance questions. Applicants should be comfortable using charts and applying the numbers in real situations.

1. Know how to use performance charts, including how to calculate pressure altitude anywhere the aircraft may be, including cruise.
2. Know how to convert TAS into groundspeed.
3. Understand the practical relationship between IAS and TAS as altitude increases.
4. Know what takeoff and landing speeds to use at high-density-altitude airports and how density altitude affects performance.
5. Understand the relative effects of weight, pressure, temperature, and altitude on performance.
6. Know how to lean for maximum performance at high-altitude takeoff and cruise, and what the POH recommends.
7. Understand how grass, wet, dry, and sloped surfaces affect takeoff and landing performance.
8. Know how bank angle and aircraft loading affect stall speed, and whether your aircraft can stall at 100 knots.
9. Understand how CG location affects aircraft performance.
10. Use the ACS to review the full range of possible questions.

Night Operations

Because many applicants have limited night experience, this area can turn into a difficult memorization exercise. Think through every phase of flight, from preflight planning and aircraft inspection to taxi, takeoff, en route operations, airport identification, and landing. Consider the risks in each phase and how you would prepare for and mitigate them.

Use the PAVE checklist to organize your thinking. Consider how you would maintain aircraft control with reduced visual references, especially over featureless terrain, and what visual aids you would use in the cockpit and airport environment.

Private Pilot IMC Judgment

For a private pilot, flying into IMC while operating VFR is an emergency. Good judgment means planning a rapid exit, such as a 180-degree turn, and calling for help or declaring an emergency if needed. Pilots should know the emergency frequency, 121.5, without having to look it up.

Several students try to pull up weather on an iPad and then navigate on their own to a VFR airport while in IMC. That demonstrates poor judgment and may violate regulations. Know how to use the onboard navigation equipment so you can follow ATC instructions and get back to VFR conditions safely.

Emergency Descent and Engine Failure

Know the reasons for an emergency descent and be ready to execute it correctly.

1. Clear the area first.
2. Perform memory items.
3. Execute the maneuver as described in the Airplane Flying Handbook and ACS.
4. Use the aircraft configuration recommended in the POH.
5. Review the ACS guidance, including the use of 30 to 45 degrees of bank and power-off technique where appropriate.

For engine failures, remember that the approach to landing is not the same as an emergency descent. Think ABCD: airspeed for best glide, best place to land, checklist if time permits, and door cracked open. Do not waste time debating between unsuitable landing spots. Land into the wind when possible and use flaps as appropriate.

1. In a high pitch and power situation such as takeoff, put the nose down immediately after an engine failure.
2. The turn back to the runway should only be attempted if you have practiced it and know your aircraft can do it safely. It is called the impossible turn for a reason.

Takeoffs and Landings

1. Do not forget crosswind correction on every takeoff and landing.
2. A common mistake is carrying excess speed on final, then pulling power late and destabilizing the approach.
3. Go-arounds are always a smart option if the approach is unstable.
4. Do not improvise something new on a check ride.
5. Do not force the aircraft onto the runway to salvage a short-field landing. Go around.
6. All landings are graded on touchdown attitude, which should be nose high on the mains.
7. Soft-field landings are often easier with a small amount of power carried into touchdown to reduce sink rate.
8. Excess speed creates float, ballooning, skipping, porpoising, and missed touchdown points.
9. Unless instructed otherwise, all landings should be full stop and taxi back. If you are used to touch and goes, be cautious.
10. Be on target approach speed no later than final. If you are high and fast or low and slow, a go-around may be the better choice.
11. Diving for the runway never works. Extra altitude simply turns into extra speed and float.

Stalls

Insufficient pitch attitude can lead to a waffling or falling-leaf effect without a clear buffet or break, making it difficult to identify the stall and recover promptly. On the other hand, pulling too aggressively can create dramatic wing drops and a more difficult recovery. Slow down, take your time, and use the pitch attitude you were taught.

For private pilot applicants, stalls are to the full stall. For commercial applicants, stalls are to the first indication.

Steep Turns

Read the ACS and the Airplane Flying Handbook carefully. This is an outside-reference maneuver. Practice with the instruments covered to improve your visual references, and always scan for traffic. If you have synthetic vision, turn it off and look outside.

The strongest check ride preparation combines knowledge, judgment, and disciplined flying. Study the ACS, know your aircraft, and avoid trying to rescue unstable situations.

Final Preparation

Use the ACS as your master checklist, organize your materials before the practical test, and practice making calm, conservative decisions. Strong preparation is not just about memorizing answers. It is about demonstrating that you can think clearly, manage risk, and operate safely.