It was the 28th April 2010, I had an aircraft and the CFI booked out for my final practical skills test.  As I checked the weather from home I conclude this is going to be a good flight as the wind is within limits and the cloud base was around 5000 feet. Ideal for VFR flight operations.

As I got to the airport at 09:00 I cracked on with the paperwork including printing off the NOTAMS (Notice To Air Men), Low Level Weather charts, Low Level Spot Wind Charts, TAF’s and METAR’s for all airports in the south east.  Filling in Weight and Balance, Performance graphs which includes how much runway I will need with the current data of the payload and today’s current temperature.  Whether it sits ISA +/-.

The next step was to ask for the town I need to navigate to as part of the navigation section. I needed to plan a route from Shoreham to Hartley which is just South West of Gravesend.

11:00 came and I walked out to the CFI and took him through all of the paperwork I have been working on for today’s flight.  He was happy with the route, weather, weight and balance and performance and we went on our way.

I felt fairly calm for the exam and knew if I could do the navigation section I would be fine with the general handling.  The navigation actually went perfectly, we passed over the correct turning points at spot on the right times.  This made me more relaxed.

Fig 1.1 - Mikes PPL License Issued, ink still drying!

I have attached an official checklist of how I had to perform to pass the practical exam (Page 16 onwards).

PPL Skills Test Requirements.pdf (1.99 mb)

Now I have gained my PPL I can now start flying as a student under careful instruction on Aero Alliance's  Piper PA31 Chieftain and Piper Seneca aircraft.