What is happening, MZeroA Nation?
Jason Schappert here, and I hope you're loving this Mock Checkride Series.
So, if you're just hopping into this,
there's four Tuesdays in the month of May for Mock Checkride May.
We have previously covered it at the private pilot checkride,
the instrument pilot checkride.
We're now diving into the commercial pilot checkride.
And, please, don't forget, our four amazing podcasts
are all related to checkrides as well.
You can find those on Apple's iTunes.
Anyways, we want to chat a little bit today about, well,
the commercial pilot checkride itself.
And, honestly, one of the biggest mistakes I believe
commercial pilot applicants make is
is following the advice I was given so long ago.
And, that was, "Hey, Jason, listen.
Your commercial pilot checkride, it's a glorified private pilot checkride."
Show of hands, put it in the comments below,
who has ever heard that statement said?
Can we squash that phrase from your vocabulary?
Because nothing could be further from the truth.
In fact, if you compare our commercial book with the private book,
this is almost 150 pages more.
I went into my commercial pilot checkride with that mindset of,
"It's just a private pilot checkride, maybe, turned up a notch or two."
Let me tell you, I almost failed my commercial pilot checkride.
I went into it just so unprepared.
We started diving into the different types of hydroplaning.
I had no idea.
Then, we got into,
if your tire pressure is x, at what speed would you hydroplane at?
And, I remember thinking, "What is this gentleman talking about?"
My commercial checkride literally got to the point where he said,
"Okay Jason, if you don't get this next question,
we need to call it a day."
And, I thought I've never been that close to failing a checkride in my life.
Thankfully, I got the question right and we made it to the airplane,
but I had this negative mindset, I guess.
My mindset was, "If I could just get to the airplane."
Has anybody else ever had that mindset?
And, that is a self-deprecating mindset to have of,
"Man, if I can just get through this oral exam.
If I can just get into the airplane, everything will be okay."
And, that's a terrible mindset to have,
especially, going into your commercial pilot checkride.
So, let's talk about it here a little bit.
Obviously, you have the book already on Audible as well,
or anywhere else you can get an audiobook.
That's really where I recommend diving into that in greater detail,
just beyond the scope of this video as well.
But, I assume you're going to become a commercial pilot
because you're probably going to go on to CFI.
And, there's a small subset of the market.
Jeff, I'm thinking of you.
Jeff's one of our phenomenal lifetime members who said,
"Jason, I just want to be a commercial pilot,
just to be a good pilot who's always learning."
And, I love that mindset, too.
But, the majority of the market,
you're becoming a commercial pilot because you want to truly fly for hire.
You want to become a flight instructor.
You want to be a Delta Captain one day.
You want to fly for NetJets.
Whatever that may be,
this is that first step towards it.
And, what are some focus points of the commercial pilot checkride?
Well, before you even show up to the checkride,
we've talked about this, and again,
I would encourage you to humble yourself enough to go back
and, hey, will you watch the private pilot version of this video,
the instrument pilot version of this video?
Because there's some tips in there that transcend no matter which checkride.
We were talking earlier about how to dress for a checkride.
And, while a button-down may be overkill a little bit,
it depends on where you live, geographically.
Maybe, this is appropriate fall time weather.
I don't want you sweating like crazy.
I always say, dress like you're going golfing.
No, I am not a golfer, but you know how a golfer dresses, right?
Decent slacks, decent golf shirt.
That's how you want to treat this.
Again, from private pilot all the way on up,
but especially, at the commercial pilot level,
we need to begin dressing.
We need to begin thinking like the pilot,
and not just the pilot but like the person you want to become.
You have to start acting like that person that you wish to become.
Start dressing like that person.
Start thinking like that person.
Start living your life like this person, because let me tell you something.
And, if I can just go into dad mode just real quick.
I see people throw away
amazing careers in aviation
because of lifestyle and poor decision-making.
And, I know the goal right now.
I will get to the checkride content,
but I need to preach just for a half a second.
And, let me hear in the comments, too, if you agree.
Or, you can always disagree with this, too.
But, if you are choosing aviation as your career,
you're going to have to make certain lifestyle adjustments as well,
because let me tell you something.
One medical mishap and your flying career is gone, right?
If it's high blood pressure, if it's an over-consumption of alcohol--
I watched, and I'm just preaching from this because I saw it happen,
I went to an aviation college and I saw friend after friend
wash out of the program because of things like underage drinking,
DUIs, all the just dumb little things that, when they were 18, 19, 20, 21 years old,
whatever it was,
and they got kicked out of the aviation program.
They got that stamp on their record, and they kissed their dreams
and their investment and everything else goodbye.
So, I just share with you that, if you have any unhealthy habits,
this is the opportunity to straighten this ship up.
And, I said "ship," not a bad word.
You never hear me say a bad word.
But, this is your opportunity to straighten the boat,
straighten the ship up, because this is your career.
I'm sorry to preach to you.
I know you came here for checkride knowledge.
You didn't expect Jason to go into dad mode
and preach to you for a second, but I just care about you
and I want you to be such a success in aviation.
And, part of being a success,
especially in a career like this, is longevity,
because airlines are all about seniority, which is all about longevity.
You need to have a long, fruitful, stable, blessed career in aviation.
You yourself have to be the epitome of health
and everything else to make that happen.
Enough on dad mode.
Let's switch out of that mode real quick.
Let's talk some checkride questions.
I know that's what you came here for.
You didn't come here to get preached to on things.
I am just going to open up some pages here and just speak from the heart.
And, let's work through some of these things.
What are some of the errors that can affect an attitude indicator?
What are some errors that can affect an attitude indicator?
You see, the private pilot level, the question is, well,
how does the attitude indicator work?
And, you're flying G1000 and you get into AHRS and everything else
and all that goes into that, or you get into the vacuum system,
but that's not the question.
The question here is, what are some errors that can affect our attitude indicator?
And, this transcends G1000 vacuum system.
It doesn't matter.
There are things like our turning errors with centrifugal force.
There are things like our acceleration error,
that, when we accelerate,
we can cause a dip, either above or below the horizon,
because there's the acceleration and the deceleration error.
You also have to think about when doing spins.
And, again, if you go on to CFI, you're going to earn your spin endorsement.
When you go on to do spins, well, that's going to tumble.
Actually, one of our--
It's an old video now.
I did spins with Ariel Tweto from "Flying Wild Alaska."
Maybe, you've seen that video.
If not, you can go dig it up on the channel.
What you don't know behind the scenes on that video is,
after that, she wanted to do so many.
We're was just having a great time.
And, I loved doing spins.
It's a lot of fun.
I had to go buy a new attitude indicator after that,
because we traumatized the attitude indicator on the way down.
It tumbled so much.
It's not always good for that.
Hey, speaking of that, when are spins likely to occur?
Give me some scenarios.
When are spins likely to occur?
Now, you can give me the classic, "Base-to-final, Jason."
And, you're not wrong.
That absolutely is right.
But, let me tell you something.
Anytime you stall the airplane in an unequal manner,
what is the definition of a spin?
Well, for a spin to happen,
one wing must be stalled more than the other.
Base-to-final is a classic example of that, but it could be a,
"ATC, give me an immediate left turn out on takeoff."
You could spin the airplane.
And, then, you add factors like weight.
Well, weight and balance, for that matter.
Some wind to that.
All this other performance, density, altitude,
all these other things, they sound so tiny,
but they all compound, and they all add up.
So, the real answer, yes, you can give examples base-to-final,
the immediate climb out on takeoff, but the real answer is,
anytime I put the airplane in a scenario, in a situation,
where one wing can be stalled more than the other.
There's probably some uncoordination in there as well.
We're going to get into this more with the Commercial Pilot Podcast.
I know you all have the book and the audiobook as well.
And, also, you can dive into our amazing commercial pilot online ground school.
I encourage you,
take a two-week free trial, no-strings-attached.
MZeroATrial.com, to check that out and learn more on that.
And, just again, make sure you like my teaching style,
this plain English, real-world teaching style.
You're going to pass your written test, your knowledge test.
You're going to pass your checkride.
I have no doubt in my mind.
We have one of the highest success rates out there.
But, my goal, ultimately, is to make you the safest pilot,
especially as a commercial pilot
with 200 paying passengers sitting behind you one day,
or the boss man, the boss lady, sitting behind you,
if you're a charter captain or pilot, whatever that may be for you.
And, let us help you on that journey, too.
We have such an amazing team here
that's willing to mentor you on your career journey,
just hold your hand and show you the options that are available to you.
Originally, I thought I was going to be a military pilot.
Then, I thought I'd be an airline pilot.
Then, I thought I'd be a charter captain or something.
And, I ended up being a flight instructor.
And, I am so thrilled.
I am so happy where I'm at.
Don't let anyone ever tell you,
"You can't make a good living as a flight instructor."
Don't let anyone ever tell you.
You know what statement I really hate.
And, I'm almost done.
I'm sorry, I'm back to preaching here.
"Hey, to make a million dollars in aviation, you start with two."
Those are spoken by people who have never done it, by the way.
You talk to those people, I guarantee,
they've never made a million dollars in their life.
Again, they're not speaking from experience.
They're just giving old rhetoric of what they heard.
Aviation is full of blessings and abundance.
It takes hard work, just like any other success in life.
But, when you can take a passion with hard work ethic,
it doesn't feel like you have a job now, does it?
Aviation is so rewarding.
I know we've been through some weird seasons now through COVID,
through 2008, but you know what?
It always comes back, right?
You have an amazing career opportunity ahead of you.
And, I just pray that you seize it, and you just get laser-focused on that.
And, I hope we can be an asset to you.
I hope we can play a small part in your big success with aviation as well.
Sorry to speak so much from the heart.
If that was too much, let me know in the comments below.
If you liked it, you want more of it, also, let me know in the comments below.
I read every single comment you all post.
You're a blessing to us.
Have an amazing, outstanding rest of your day.
And most importantly, remember,
that a good pilot is always learning.
Have a great day, everyone. I'll see you.