Well, one check-ride down.  One more to go.  Same day.

I asked if the Examiner wanted to get a bite to eat first.  He said it was up to me.   I said let's get this thing over with!  So we jumped right into the oral...

We talked about what you need to fly IFR...on the airplane and in the logbook.  Nothing real difficult there.

Then he had me walk him through an IFR flight plan from start to finish.  I actually didn't have one prepared, so I had to make one up right there AND teach it.  But as he told me to do that, he said we should go eat and do it over lunch.  So we hopped on over to the restaurant...with me tugging all my books and charts.

More or less, NOTHING took place in terms of my oral over lunch.  The books just sat there...and we made small talk.  I shared my goals and dreams with him...he just kind of sat silent, not offering much.  I wasn't sure what to think!  So we spent about 30-45 minutes over lunch.  A nice break, really.

Then we jumped right back into the oral back in the classroom.  And I went at it with everything I had.  How to get a clearance, what to do if the Tower is closed, how to find out if the Tower is closed.  Who to call, who to talk to, what the clearance means.  How to write it down, etc.

I showed my "student" how to track our course to our destination...and at what altitude we would have to maintain.  Acting as Clearance Delivery, he told me I was clear to the Victor 4 radial at 4000 feet.  So I wrote that down.  I showed him how to intercept and proceed on course.  Nothin' real difficult.

And I showed him what all we would need.  IFR charts, an alternate if necessary, how to determine if an alternate is needed (the 1-2-3 rule), how to look up weather, and on and on.  So we treated it just like a real flight.  I picked up everything I needed for my flight to Lincoln, Nebraska...complete with an alternate (though that wasn't needed).  He asked me some questions about the IFR chart (about Alternate minimums and what all that meant), but it wasn't very extensive.

The Oral wasn't too bad on this one.  Probably lasted 45 minutes.  Then we were off to fly!  And I was to fly that exact trip I just planned out.  So on the ground, I punched all my radials and frequencies in.  Then we took off, and I intercepted my radial (under the hood, of course).  Flew up to 4000 feet and started trackin' V-4.  Pretty easy.

Then we did some unusual attitude recoveries under the hood.  That went really well.  Then he had me do some turns (and, YES, I used the rudder!).  Nothin' difficult.  Oh, but wouldn't ya know it, my vacuum system fails!  So I had no attitude indicator or heading indicator.  So I just used the compass.  Pretty simple.

From there he vectored me in for the ILS 13 Approach.  I nailed that one pretty well.  No problems really.  I am a bit rusty on ILS approaches (only having done one in the past several weeks!), but I just put my training to use.  Pretty easy with the GPS, too.  We went "missed" and went to the holding pattern.  I entered with a tear-drop entry, then went around for one circuit.  From there he had me set up for the VOR 22 Approach.  So I punched that in, flew the DME arc, then came in on the inbound course.  It has a step-down and a little 9-degree shift after the VOR, but I was all ready for that.  It was a long approach, but it went very smoothly.  I had the plane set up and configured to land at the right times.

And then I landed on Runway 22!  And that was that!  1.2 hours.  And I KNEW I passed this one!

So after two LONG check-rides in one day, I am now COMPLETELY done with my training!!!  I am now a bonafide Commercial pilot with CFI, CFII, and MEI ratings!  It has been a looooong time coming (5 months!), but the day has finally arrived.

And to be honest, it really hasn't sunk in.  At all.  It was a looooong day (I think I had seven hours of testing), and I didn't get back to Chanute until after 4:00 P.M.  Woke up at 6:30 A.M.  yikes.  Needless to say, I was pretty tired.

But it's all over!  It's all behind me!  And I'm sure it will sink in sometime!

It really is a great feeling, though.  This is what I came out to Kansas to do.  And I have finally finished it.

I guess it's on to a job next!  ha!  (who am I kidding?!)