Checkride Insights: Expert ACS Annotation

Just in time to prepare for my Flight Review the latest manual from PilotWorkshops, Checkride Insights, arrived. It’s a collaboration with Sporty’s that goes well beyond what you’ll find in the FAA’s Airman Certification Standards (ACS) not only because it spells out the knowledge and flying skills you’re expected to demonstrate on a checkride, but it’s unique and insightful for also having expert annotations throughout the book.

In addition to the ACS material, the no-nonsense guidance from designated pilot examiners and chief flight instructors is intended to reduce checkride anxiety and gives the reader a candid, firsthand look at what examiners are looking for on the private pilot checkride.

Beyond the checkride, there’s something here for everyone. Priced at $39 ($49 for the spiral-bound book and a digital PDF) I think it’s a worthy addition for any pilots’ resource library—including flight instructors. It’s also a good tool for preparing for a flight review and for sharpening up procedures.

Annotated ACS

Checkride Insights gathers all the material an applicant should review for a private pilot checkride and marks it up with specific comments that the PilotWorkshops authors had with flight instructors and the examiners who give checkrides. I found the material and overall presentation engaging and useful because it starts with the actual FAA text (in black and white) for the private pilot ACS on the upper left of each page, and as you read through the FAA text there are colored note flags with a number after some of the elements. The number flag has a matching annotation placed on the same page using the same number and color, and the comments in the matching annotation are directly related to the elements marked by a number in the ACS. Here’s one of many examples.

In the ACS’s Task A for Normal Takeoff and Climb, PA.IV.A.S4 says to determine wind direction with and without visible wind direction indicators. Note flag 3 sends the reader to the annotation box titled Use Crosswind Correction in Even Light Winds. A CFI explains that you should consider the ATIS/AWOS report an indication of the probable wind and to verify it with a windsock or other available indicators as you taxi and prior to turning onto the runway. But for the takeaway, the CFI goes on to explain that while proper crosswind control input matters during taxiing, it’s the failure to position the controls properly on crosswind takeoffs that really causes problems on checkrides.

Sometimes you’ll get insight/comments from more than one instructor or DEP for one note flag (maybe there’s something an examiner wants or doesn’t want to see for a given task) and there may be tips to better prepare you for the task. Some instructors and examiners wanted to remain anonymous and others are credited by first name and last-name initial. Some of the comments come from PilotWorkshops and Sporty’s staff members—respected experts who have taken their share of checkrides. Some comments are used multiple times throughout the manual (i.e., appearing in multiple tasks) and these are noted graphically with a star, which is a cue to look in the beginning of the section for the comment that’s applicable to several items.

Limited to ASEL …

PilotWorkshops says it tried hard to keep the manual as simple as possible and in doing so, limited the material to single-engine land flying, and it really isn’t teaching anything. Check with your flight instructor on stuff that doesn’t make sense.

I like that the manual limits example aircraft (the test aircraft) to ones that the majority of private pilot applicants might fly for the checkride, though many task examples include modern avionics and tips for using them to your advantage on the checkride. Maybe it’s using some of the autopilot’s functions to increase situational awareness or using a digital checklist in your app of choice.

… But Not Limited in Real-World Advice

Even if you aren’t going for a checkride, the manual is a good source for cleaning up some of the slop in our day-to-day flying. For example, the objective for the ACS Area of Operation II (preflight procedures Task D, which references AC 91.73) is to determine that the applicant exhibits satisfactory knowledge, risk management, and skills that are associated with taxi ops and especially runway incursion avoidance. A note in the section sends you to an annotation that advises to stop before getting too deep into avionics programming. You know, sort of like don’t text while driving.

“It’s a rare pilot who has ever heard of AC 91.73 and Parts 91 and 135 Single Pilot, Flight School Procedures During Taxi Operations. The big emphasis in it is the importance of being eyes outside during ground ops. Save tasks, such as setting up avionics, for times when you’re stopped, such as before taxi or in the runup area,” a CFI commented. Not only does this show an examiner that you have good cockpit habits, it could keep any of us from running into something when we least expect it.

And, in the Navigation Systems and Radar Services Task B, I spotted some good advice for not getting too complacent by relying on onboard tech. PA.VI.B.S2 says to determine the airplane’s position using the navigation system. A DPE weighed in, pointing out that it isn’t always about GPS navigation:

“During the flight portion’s cross-country segment, I turned off the GPS in the applicant’s iPad and his moving map in the Garmin G1000, simulating a GPS outage. I asked the applicant to find his position using VOR in preparation for a diversion, and the applicant couldn’t do so,” he said. In a world where signal jamming and spoofing is real, the point is not to count on a GPS for determining position and to have another reliable way to find your position. In my airplane, only equipped with a GPS and not with a VHF nav radio, I guess I need to look out the window. Frankly, it’s something I hadn’t thought a lot about until I read this manual.

Always Room for Good Material

PilotWorkshops has a good track record for cranking out useful reference material, with a growing list of pilot-friendly manuals. Perhaps one of the best resources in my library is the Pilot Workshops Airplane Engines. It puts a focus on getting the most longevity, dependability, and performance from common aircraft powerplants. It has good images and graphics, plus straightforward explanations and examples of an otherwise complicated subject with lots of moving parts.

Another good read is Pilot’s Legal Guide, with 115 pages of aviation legal tips for a diverse group of topics, including accidents, logging flight time, sharing costs, and FAA ramp inspections to name a few. Other manuals focus on avionics, pilot communications, IFR procedures, and technique.

As for the Checkride Insights annotated ACS, PilotWorkshops says it could have included more material in this manual and it’s possible there might be later editions (for one thing, the ACS changes and evolves) as more examiners catch on and offer their tips for applicants. Some of the comments in the manual are blunt, and they really need to be.

“Seeing avoidable mistakes over and over gets frustrating because the examiner really wants to see you pass, and all of the comments in the book should contain a tip or takeaway to help keep you out of the pink-slip club,” the manual says in the introduction. Moreover, it also points out the good news: Most applicants pass the private pilot checkride.