Kenny Keller (speaker) advises helicopter applicants to thoroughly follow the Practical Test Standards (PTS) practical test checklist before a checkride. He emphasizes preparing weeks in advance, bringing every item listed on the checklist, and not waiting until the night before—relaying instructor/examiner anecdotes about applicants who arrive unprepared.
You. So let's talk about your checkride day and your appointment with examiner and what I think is the most important page of all applicants. Practical test checklist for helicopters. When I first started training a long time ago, when the company sent me out to fly a little bit with the designated pilot examiner that we were using on the way out to the aircraft, I said, so as a new instructor, give me some tips on, you know, how to prepare people and how to be a good instructor. And he said, I have a lot of problem with people showing up and not having what they need. And that was it. He said, make sure you go through the PTS and everything that's in there. You have. And I can tell you 12, 13 years later and doing a ton of checkrides with the same examiner, I've seen it happen over and over again. I can give you a horror story after horror story. You got to go through the checklist in the pts and make sure that you have everything and don't pull the old, well, do I have to have this? Do I have to have that? Well, why do I have to have this if it's in that checklist, make sure it's there and with you and start preparing a couple weeks ahead of time. Don't wait to the night before to be trying to round this stuff up. I can tell you it's a major pain.
