Instrument Checkride - Practical Test - Full Video

This was my Instrument Rating Checkride in April of 2013. After working on the editing for a while and getting the approval of the Examiner here it is.

This is the full video but I clipped about 45 minutes of silence and boredom.

I put comments that will be useful for both VFR pilots and also non-pilots.

Remember to subscribe and Like. Thanks for watching.

[selimeylul]

This is an incredible resource for those of us continuing training beyond the primary level. Thank you Niko for making this checkride public - especially great to see real-life feedback from the DPE.

[davejones]

It takes a lot of courage and also confidence to video your own IR checkride. Good job man.

[sS-docr]

Passed mine yesterday. I really wanna say thank you for sharing this video. I watched this video more than 5 times a day before checkride, and it was really helpful than other videos or reading materials.Thank you so much!

[XCougarX]

Wow, watching this 5 years late. I cannot understand how you look this calm, and record it just as casual as you do today. I would likely be stressing my ass off.

[BuzntFrog]

"Great Job, congratulations" The feeling when that ticket gets signed :DDD

[willieb]

My memory of this momentous day was bouncing around over the Arizona desert sans autopilot chasing ndb radials dancing on the rudders to dampen the midday thermals hoping for leniency and appreciation for my meager yet earnest abilities. Circa 1996. Thanks for the memories and as always a great and informative video.

[capceo]

Great video! You're lucky the examiner let you off easy when you found yourself on the wrong side of the hold. Failing to stay on the protected side of the hold is usually a "critical failure" in the eyes of most examiners.

[abbieamavi]

*thank you SO MUCH for this!! It helps a lot with feeling personally prepared for the checkride, it makes it less suspicious and mysterious to see it in video. :) I'll be starting my IFR flight portion training hopefully this spring 2020, and I'm going through all the IFR videos and yours is one of the best and most helpful! Congrats on your pass!!*

[DIYPETE]

Congrats Niko! You did a great job when you took your checkride. I have mine coming up in the next couple weeks and hope I have a similar outcome. Excellent job with the video as well. It is very helpful. Keep up the good work and I'm looking forward to new videos from your channel. Cheers man. - Pete

[gsp-greenstripepilot]

I’ve only seen your most current videos. It’s super cool to go back 6 years and see you getting hammered by an inspector. You’re a boss dude. Much respect 🤘🏼

[benc]

Nice work. Single pilot, no auto-pilot IFR is the most difficult instrument flying you will do. Be prepared and organized in the cockpit. Ask ATC to clarify any doubts. In sharp contrast, airline flying (it's always flown IFR) is the easiest instrument flying (well equipped jet, crew, dispatch and training make it easy). Gain experience by flying on IFR flight plans in VFR weather until you're really comfortable dealing with ATC and flight plan changes. Only then put your mins at 1000ft. Leave the CAT1 200-1/2 stuff to the jets and you're getting paid to deal with lousy weather. Remember, it's hard to pick a good field to dead stick into when it's a 200 ft ceiling. Same for at night. Single-engine failure scenarios and bad weather and/or night and mountains don't go well together. Always consider: how will this workout if the motor quits?

Ben
25, 000 hrs USAF/Airlines/GA Tailwheel, Formation, Aerobatics
ATP, FE, CFI, CFII, CFI-MEL, USAF Instructor

[ahmadsamadzai]

Passed mine last week. I watched this video several times and it was a lot of help.

[gatorflight]

That is what I call a very thorough instrument checkride there.  Good job!!

[irongill]

All these types of videos are sooo helpful, especially from someone that’s learning out of 3CK

[giuliom]

You make it look easy! Great video!
I think if I knew I was going to film my check ride and put it on YouTube, knowing that would help me be EXTRA prepared.

[enclave]

Hi Niko, great video! Thanks for sharing.

I don’t see the zero / zero takeoff in the ACS. Was that an old requirement or just something this DPE added?

[khurramvirani]

Incredibly useful and well editted video. Thanks for putting in the time Niko!

[observer]

I was sweating watching this thing. Great !! You were well prepared.

[yogevbarshavit]

Thanks for filming this. I’m working on my instruments now over at Chicago executive. Very informative.

[donponnamperuma]

That is a fantastic video on IFR test flight. Well done mate! thank you for the sharing your experience. Thumbs up!