Brad

I was quite lucky to find clear skies and calm winds the morning of my check ride. All of the hard work that me and my flight instructor had put forth was about to be tested and, admittedly, I was a little bit nervous. I flew N439LP over to Santa Monica and taxied to Justice Aviation. Once I parked the airplane, I was met by the examiner, Joe, who immediately made me feel welcome. The first part of the checkride was going over the necessary paperwork and then, after a short break, we started the oral exam portion. The oral exam covered all the expected areas, which my awesome flight instructor Mike made sure I was ready for. The oral exam ended up being just over two hours, but was a great experience. The examiner made sure the exam was also an opportunity for me to learn new things as well, which I thoroughly enjoyed. After a short break for lunch, I performed the pre-flight of the aircraft and we took off for my planned destination of Big Bear. Just a few minutes into the flight, Joe had me break from the flight plan and do most of the exam maneuvers near El Monte airport. Those all went well and then he had me divert to Whiteman. After a normal landing there, we flew the short sector to El Monte, where I performed the soft field landing. The last portion of the ride was the flight back to Santa Monica, which would include the type of landing that had given me the most trouble in my training: the short field landing. After performing a slip to burn some altitude, I set it down on the 1000 ft markers and knew right away I had passed. What a great feeling!

I’m so grateful to have such an excellent flight instructor in Mike, who made sure I was well-prepared come the day of the checkride. His patience and calm teaching style made each lesson not only educational, but fun as well. I’m really looking forward to building more flight time and starting the instrument rating soon. Thanks to Mike and all of the awesome staff at PSA!
-Brad