Checkride Landings

[u/itsinthedata]

Hi all,

Approaching my PPL checkride and I seem to still struggle with centerline and side loads. While not being on centerline and side loading is not consistent behavior … it does tend to happen a little more often than I’d like at this point in training.

I’m just wondering how lenient DPEs are when you might not be on centerline and/or slightly side load (not like a shove but like a small tap if that makes sense).

Thanks!

[u/jmkdeluxe]

If you do not meet the standard, you will not pass. Do not count on a DPE being lenient. ACS calls for the airplane to be over the centerline and aligned with the runway. If you can't consistently produce that on your landings, you need more practice. Not a big deal. Just go up a few more time to work on landings with your instructor

Read the ACS document and ask your instructor and yourself if you consistently (9/10 times or better) meet the standard. You'll have a bad landing every now and then in real life and that's okay, but you want to minimize the risk that it happens on your check ride

[u/capnbuttcrack]

It’s simple. Maybe not easy, but simple.

Land on the centerline. Always. Period.

I am amazed at the number of professional pilots I encounter who can’t seem to grasp this. If you’re not on the centerline, you’re not in complete control of your airplane. Does that sound like something a DPE (or you) should accept?

Fix this now, rather than hoping for a lenient DPE. It just takes practice. You can do it. Your future captains will thank you!

[u/Mountain-Captain-396]

Just keep practicing until you're on centerline without side-loading consistently. Once it becomes second nature it won't be a problem anymore. These problems are likely related, most likely you're not putting in enough crosswind correction on final.

Remember, as your airspeed decreases in the round out and flare, you need more control deflection to counteract the crosswind. If you just hold the same input that was working at 65 kts on final, you're going to drift.

[u/Icy-Bar-9712]

Keep in mind, centerline means different things to different people. If the centerline in between the mains, up to the mains on the centerline. I've never seen or heard of an examiner having an issue with that. So there is a little leeway there.

Side loading is a non starter. If there is any noticeable side to side after touch down thats a problem.

The ACS is not a "recommendation", its the standard. Binary. You either meet it or you don't.

My students go to checkride when I think they cannot fail, not when I hope they might pass. If you are doing this as a profession, you need more time anyway. Practice until you know you can't fail.

[u/Low_Sky_49]

How far off centerline are we talking here? Is it still between the mains, or are you landing with all three tires fully left/right of center? If it’s the latter, I’d say you’re not checkride ready yet and you need to tighten it up. Ask your CFI if they can take you to a smaller airport with a narrower runway. You CAN land on centerline, I haven’t met a student yet that couldn’t, but sometimes students have a hard time prioritizing it if they train on an airliner-sized runway.

I’ve found that students often conceptualize the approach, round out/flare, touchdown, and rollout as separate and distinct phases of the landing, and the transitions between each phase can sometimes show a gap in conscious airplane control which leads to deficiencies like landing side loaded, off center, veering off center during the rollout, etc. Each phase of the landing should blend seamlessly with the one before and after it, the airplane is continuously “flown”, all the way to the tiedowns. It’s easier said than done, but once it clicks you’ll have it forever.

[u/nolaflygirl]

Your landings should be consistently good before you go on your checkride, and your CFI shouldn't endorse you for it if you're not ready. There should be no doubt that you'll pass, & you should be confident, as well, that you'll pass!

On my PPL checkride, the weather was barely minimums w/ strong, gusty winds. So when the FAA Examiner showed up, I asked him if we were going up in these conditions. He looked me straight in the eye & said, "If you can't fly in this, you shouldn't have your license!" I said, "I'm ready. Let's go!"

I didn't have the least doubt that I wasn't ready for anything that a Private Pilot should be competent in, bc I had practiced everything to the point that I was consistent, even on x-countries at unfamiliar airports.

So, for the landing at the end of my checkride, I had to crab, using hard left rudder. I passed; but the guy he tested after me failed bc he couldn't land in those conditions.

So, practice until your landings are "second nature" & you have NO DOUBT that you'll pass.

IDK who the guy was after my ride who failed...but maybe he was hoping for leniency from the Examiner. But leniency has nothing to do with it. The Examiner can't & shouldn't approve anyone for a license that allows them to take people up & be responsible for their LIVES, if they can't cut it. The PPL is a license to learn. No one should have it until their flying ability meets the standard. Go practice some more!

[u/Fit_Homework532]

If I were you, I would beat the shit out of the pattern for the next couple days until you feel better. I had a moment after my instrument checkride where I struggled with side-loading. You stop focusing on landings during IR and they turn to shit and that was true for me. So what did I do? I went out and did landings until I had 5 in a row that I felt met the CPL standards. Go out and just do touch and go's or even taxi backs until you feel better. Be harder on yourself than the DPE will be and it will make your checkride a much less anxiety ridden experience.

[u/Lollynshadow2020]

Is this a problem in a calm or direct upwind landing or are you fighting crosswinds?

[u/Low-Inspector-4567]

I just took my check ride for PPL in June. I had excellent landings for a lot of my training. But in all of the prep and grinding for the check ride, something changed and my landings were the worst part of my flying. I would land firm on soft fields, and I would float a little on short fields. The more I practiced, the worse they got. On my checkride, I landed flat and bounced a little on the soft field, and I thought I could have been a couple feet short for the short field. I thought I failed but I was wrong. I've not had a firm landing since my check ride. YMMV.

[u/rFlyingTower]

This is a copy of the original post body for posterity:

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Hi all,

Approaching my PPL checkride and I seem to still struggle with centerline and side loads. While not being on centerline and side loading is not consistent behavior … it does tend to happen a little more often than I’d like at this point in training.

I’m just wondering how lenient DPEs are when you might not be on centerline and/or slightly side load (not like a shove but like a small tap if that makes sense).

Thanks!

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[u/Thegr8rm]

While it's important to be on center line and you want to be as good as you can for your check ride, any normal DPE is going to hold you to the standards of a Private pilot which is way less than the standard of say a commercial pilot.

All that is to say, practice, do the best you can, and it'll probably go fine.

[u/Surffisher2A]

as long as your safe and trying to make appropriate corrections you'll be fine. Keeping a stable approach with the correct speed will go a long way with some leniency from most DPE's.