Hotdog

CPL Skills Test


Many years of dreaming about the day that I would eventually sit my CPL skills test to give me my professional pilot status finally arrived at the start of December; 15 days after my 20th birthday. Hundreds of miles away in the scenery of New Zealand I found myself flying the DA42 Twin Star next to the examiner who had my future in his hands.


The day started with the 5am wake up and a big breakfast to fill my nervous stomach. Planning began at home and my first point of call was to check the day’s weather forecast for the flight and in preparation for the met briefing I would be giving to the examiner in just a few hours time. NOTAMs were checked for the area and a flight plan was created with the routing left blank to save time at the airport seeing as the allowed time for planning was a strict 45 minutes. The planning would need to include initial drawing up of the given route, plotting of the drift lines and wind, calculation of a a suitable PLOG and fuel plan, assessing suitable alternates, filing a flight plan, producing several different performance charts with “what if” scenarios, producing a calculated mass and balance table and if time a pre-flight of the aircraft checking that all of the documents are on board and in order- a lot to cram in 45 minutes!


On arriving at Hamilton my first task was to check the tech log for defects and give the aircraft a full pre-flight inspection before even meeting the examiner. Upon completion I greeted the examiner at the specified report time who then gave me his initial brief and the navigation route he wanted me to fly for the first part of the test. After the navigation was planned and flight plan filed the examiner took me back into a briefing room where he talked through the flight profile and what he expected to see from me and what each of our responsibilities would be throughout the test. He then started the ground questioning probing my knowledge on JAR OPS regulations and airspace met minima. He questioned me on license privileges of the CPL and asked for all of the aircraft’s operating speeds and the ones I would be using in the flight. His questioning continued and he asked further questions about performance, one of which I couldn’t answer. At this point the examiner perked up a bit and I felt even more nervous knowing that if I couldn’t answer the question it would ultimately go against me. I kept my cool and explained where I might find this information, and I was always taught as long as you know the source of the info and you can find the answer then it will be ok. I looked up the question I couldn’t answer in the AFM and luckily I found it easy enough in the performance section- job done and no more questioning for now.


After the ground work was complete I took the examiner through a full passenger briefing: operating airside, aircraft safety equipment, forced landing procedures, brace position, electronic devices, smoking, comfort and standard operating procedures he needed to be aware of. Once the brief was complete he asked me some technical questions on the aircraft systems and controls. Question time was over and the flight finally got underway- my head already saturated from the grilling I was just given on the ground!


The CPL skills test profile was conducted as follows: Visual departure, navigation, diversion, instrument flying (inadvertent IMC, position fix, unusual attitudes, compass turns, partial panel IF), visual general handling, emergencies, VOR / NDB tracking, engine shutdown and restart, circuits (normal, flapless, short field asymmetric and asymmetric with go around) and the final rejoin for landing. The total flight time was approximately 2.2 hours and it did become mentally exhausting towards the end of it.


The visual departure was no problem at all. Departure briefing on the ground covered the basics of the departure and during the departure leg I requested further climb to that published in attempt to get to my cruising altitude whilst still in the zone, but this was denied due to instrument traffic. The navigation leg to follow started well but soon became more intense. The first plan of action was to get to my target altitude, then call a local aerodrome with my position and intentions, then call flight information to get the area QNH and amend my SARTIME. Not only this but I also squeezed in the ATIS of a nearby controlled aerodrome as a precaution encase I was to be diverted through it by the examiner at my turning point. Somewhere in all of that I also had to fix my position and apply corrections in order to arrive at my destination in the most expeditious manner.


Eventually I arrived overhead my turning point by which time the examiner had decided to divert me to another tiny airstrip 50nm away in the opposite direction I had started to anticipate. I very quickly estimated a track, applied variation and drift corrections, noted the time and turned onto it. My next task was to consider immediate airspace (of which there wasn’t any) and to draft out a fuel plan. During the leg I had a bit more time to readjust heading and consider an MSA, leg time and fuel burn. Within minutes of this I noticed my altitude was insufficient to avoid a small peak up ahead so I started a small 15 degree hazard avoid; not the most commercially expeditious method of avoidance but I had no choice as a climb was out of the question due to cloud. During the leg I turned the autopilot on to do some cruise checks and a VOR/DME position fix but within 2 minutes the examiner gave me a ‘Trim runaway’ scenario meaning I had to disengage the autopilot and not use it again. The time soon arrived and I successfully located my diversion point, this completed the navigation section.


The examiner took control and I then put up some screens to simulate being in IMC. I then retook control and carried out the inadvertent IMC procedure with simulated radio calls for radar vectors and terrain clearance. This lead me into the IF section where I then had to demonstrate basics in climbing and descending, unusual attitude recoveries and partial panel compass turns. Upon completion of the instrument work the screens were then taken down and the general handling started- stalls, steep turns, and emergencies. My first emergency (excluding trim runaway) was an engine fire where I then had to carry out the drills, shut down the engine consider an emergency descent. The engine restart procedure shortly followed along with a talk through scenario of fluctuating RPM on the number 2 engine.


With the general handling part completed I was instructed to track a radial inbound to join at my starting aerodrome where we would then do 4 circuits. The tracking was easy enough with a nice PFD display to work with, at the same time listening to the ATIS and recalling the tower for join. The arrival clearance was given and I then conducted an airborne arrival brief.


The first circuit was a normal circuit in order for me to get a feel of the wind and apply appropriate corrections and to settle down in the standard circuit pattern. The second circuit in the downwind leg I was given a scenario which lead to be making the decision to not use the flaps for the next one- i.e. flapless. After the touch and go I was given an EFATO (engine failure after takeoff) which meant I had to carry out more drills and fly the circuit on simulated one engine. I demonstrated a practice pan call and passenger brief and continued the approach on one engine, delaying flap until ‘committal height’. Just prior to committal height the examiner told me that an aircraft had pulled out on the runway so I then demonstrated an asymmetric go around retracting the gear straight away and climbing out at Vyse. The next circuit continued asymmetric until the final landing. Just as I thought the test was over I was given an aborted takeoff. I was told to take off again and then the examiner pulled the door handle sounding off a warning to which I braked and called stopping. This completed the flying and I taxied back in giving the company a call for fuelling and parking instructions.


When the after landing checks and shutdown checks were complete and brakes engaged the examiner made me fill in the tech log, before shaking my hand and congratulating me with a pass! First time pass on the CPL- I was over the moon! Many hours of preparation for the test had seen me through it. Some fairly nice weather, nearly a year of training and some luck on my side enabled me to complete the second big step to one day sitting in the cockpit of an airliner with stripes on my shoulders!


For those of you interested in becoming a commercial pilot or those of you who are sitting the test soon then my advice would be this. Be safe, be practical, be commercially expeditious- in this order. These are the words that came from a very experienced pilot and if you can remember to do this during the flight then not much can go against you. Prepare endlessly, know your aircraft and your air law, and above all relax, enjoy the flight and think of the rewards at the end of it all… Best of luck.