Overview

As students get closer to the much anticipated checkride, they want to know what they have to do, and have to take with them, on the checkride. This page is intended to pull together information regarding that final phase of flight instruction.

Most syllabuses end with the "Prepare for Checkride / 3 hours" task. And, as far as the FARs are concerned, that is the last item. But there are a number of steps that must be done to get ready for the checkride itself, other than flying.

I have a Checkride Prep Checklist I use to ensure that we cover all the possible tasks that can arise on the checkride. It includes the minimum standards for those items which have objective measures. I want to stress that those metrics are only a part of what is being evaluated during the checkride. Understanding the full ACS details (objectives, risk factors, etc.) is extremely important.

One Week Before Checkride

Well before the day of the checkride inspect the aircraft logbooks, find all the various items that the DPE will want to see (i.e. aircraft annual inspection, the ELT maintenance entries, 100 hour inspections if relevant, etc.). Make certain that everything is in order, and correct any discrepancies well before your checkride.

The first thing that must be done is a complete review of the student’s logbook to ascertain that all portions of aeronautical experience required by 61.109 (a) have been satisfied. For each of my students I create a Google Doc with the language of that far cut/pasted into it, and as we satisfy items in that regulation I make notes in that document. This allows us to keep track of progress as we go. Near the end of training that Google doc should be validated against the student’s logbook itself, as the logbook is the source of all truth.

Confirm that the aircraft has no maintenance issues, isn’t scheduled to be down for any reason around the checkride date. Also confirm that the airworthiness certificate, registration, and POH are actually in the aircraft. Yes, we should check that every flight. And you do that, right? Sure you do.

Four Days Before Checkride

There are a number of activities that are best done a number of days before the checkride itself. I’d suggest four days in advance, but no closer than two days would be recommended. Any closer and there simply might not be time to resolve any problems or issues detected by the DPE.

IACRA Submission

The student, working with the instructor, should log into the FAA IACRA website and enter the private pilot certificate application data into the website. The following items need to be brought to the IACRA submission session :

Required Items

  • IACRA login (i.e. username and password)

  • Your logbook, for endorsements

  • FAA Private Pilot Written Exam Results

Understand that the FAA wants you to slice and dice your logged hours in ways that we often don’t organize it, so be sure to tally up your hours in advance of this session. A screen-capture of the grid from the IACRA application webpage is shown here :

IACRA Aeronautical Experience Grid

You will only be entering information in the "Airplane" section. Since you are only applying for a Private Pilot Single Engine Land certificate. That is shown above with a green outline. The remaining columns will be left blank.

IACRA Prep Homework

I will strongly suggest that you will complete this in advance of our meeting to fill out your IACRA form. I don’t want to sit and wait while you dig through your logbook and scratch your head. I’ve done it too many times and find it tedious. :)

If you are a private student it is reasonably easy to get the numbers needed above. All the numbers can come straight out of your logbook except the two that are outlined in red. You need to separate the hours flown dual from those flown solo. The "instruction received" box are dual X/C flight hours. The "solo" hours are obviously those flown without an instructor in the plane with you. These are the same hours you’ll enter for the PIC entry, with zero entered for the SIC hours.

However, if you are a commercial student your logbook is likely a bit more complicated. Go through each number in the Airplane column above and have it ready to enter into IACRA when we meet. Be conservative, and if a flight is in a gray area …​ don’t count it, unless that will cause you to come in under the minimum requirements. Honestly, in that case go fly some more so there are no ambiguous flights needed to get you over the minimum.

I’m serious. Do this homework!

Finishing the Application Process

When you complete the 8710 IACRA you submit it and send your FTN (along with other items) to your DPE. Then they can login and pull the application down and check it. You can do that at any time, so you want to do it soon as possible. If they find a problem they can bounce it back to you for corrections. Get it to them at least a day or two early, preferably earlier.

Many worry/wonder if doing it early is a problem because they expect to fly some more prior to checkride. This is not an issue, as all the FAA wants is to confirm that you have met the minimum requirements.

Once the application is submitted the instructor should log into IACRA and, using the student’s FTN, will retrieve the application for further processing. This will include attaching the student’s FAA written exam results to the application as well as electronically signing the application. Do not neglect to sign the student’s application! The examiner can not access the application until it has been signed by the referring instructor.

Once the checkride is scheduled, and the IACRA submission is done, email a number of items to the examiner (Zenda, at least, wants/needs these items). They are :

  • Candidate’s FTN Number

  • Picture of Driver’s License

  • Photos of MX Log Entries

  • Picture of student pilot certificate

  • Picture of student medical

The log entries can actually wait until you are there that day, but since they should be in hand by the time the IACRA is sent, there is no down-side to sending them early. Doing so will remove the possibility of getting there and not being able to find then on your device.

Endorsements

All the endorsements and documentation of ground training received must be in the student’s logbook. This includes an endorsement for a cross-country flight if the checkride is to be held at an airport more than 50nm distant.

The endorsements needed for the private pilot certificate application are included in the following PDF. Endorsements for the commercial certificate are much simpler. Some of them may be pre-printed in your logbook, and if the language matches we will just use those. Otherwise, if this sheet is printed on a sticky-back Avery sheet you can cut out the desired sections and stick them into the logbook.

The final three endorsements in the document above are taken straight from Certification: Pilots and Flight and Ground Instructors (AC 61-65H), which is the document to which all instructors refer for the latest endorsement language. The detailed list of ground instruction has been provided to me by another instructor who encountered a DPE who now wants to see all ground instruction referenced in 61.105 enumerated in the student’s logbook.

Day of Checkride

Finally, the ACS has a checklist that can be used by the applicant to ensure that nothing they need for the day of the checkride gets overlooked. I have abstracted out that page for your convenience. Feel free to print it out and use it as you collected all the items needed for your checkride. The direct link to that checklist is :

Please examine this list days before your checkride, and insure that you have every task completed (i.e. IACRA done, endorsements from your instructor done, all suggested documents in hand, etc.). Waiting til the day before is a recipe for disaster. Your instructor can’t cover every base, and it is your responsibility to ensure you are ready.

Perform a last verification that the candidate has all needed materials by doing a scan of the checkride checklist.This last check will ensure that nothing required gets accidentally left behind.

I’ll note that the need to provide this detailed list of ground instruction is somewhat new. According to Zenda Liess this requirement has always been in the regulations, but only in the last few years has the FAA been enforcing that part of the regs. This has lead to some confusion, but the confusion was clarified by email from Zenda, who also confirmed that the list provided above is adequate to meet the requirements.

Head out for your checkride knowing that you are thoroughly prepared.

Instructor Checklist

This is a list of those things that I want to ensure I don’t forget. This is mostly for me, but feel free to read over the list and help me not forget any item.

Activities

  • Review written oversights/errors

  • Fill out and submit IACRA application

  • Check aircraft for required documents (AW cert, registration, POH)

  • Review student X/C and W&B for the checkride flight

  • Note "prep for checkride" in student’s logbook

  • Email the following to the examiner

    • The student’s FTN number

    • Pictures aircraft MX records (mentioned below)

    • Picture of the student’s driver’s license

    • Picture of the student’s pilot cert

    • Picture of the student’s medical

  • Last minute oral prep, 'cause I’m paranoid. :)

Endorsements

  • Ground instruction endorsement sticky, preprinted and signed

  • Solo endorsement current

  • Checkride endorsements

    • Checkride prep endorsement

    • Knowledge test review endorsement

    • Checkride endorsement attesting to 61.107/61.109

Documents

  • Student’s specific Aeronautical Experience printout

  • Pictures of the following MX items from aircraft logbook

    • Annual inspection

    • ELT inspection (usually in the annual)

    • Transponder inspection

This list is likely to grow as I realize things I’ve forgotten, or simply discover new things worth doing.