Commercial/CFI/CFII Checkride in the ES?

[Dan OBrien]

Anyone done a commercial checkride in an ES? I'm currently prepping for the Commercial written and am considering perfecting the maneuvers in my ES. There's a DAR in CA willing to do checkrides in it. Question is how much harder is it to be within standards in the ES than in, say, a C172, which is about the most docile/simple/ light plane ever invented. I imagine the higher speeds could make it harder to meet the standards. On the other hand, I find my ES to be as easy to fly as a C182 but faster and more fun! . I really want to do it in my ES because it will perfect my flying of that airplane.

[Ryan Riley]

Dan, this is a great question. As long as the DPE is comfortable doing the checkride in your airplane, you're good to go. I'm a CFI/CFII/LOBO instructor and the ES is faster than a Cessna 182, but similar in cockpit task loading as both have fixed gear, big engines that require monitoring, good useful load, etc. However, that speed difference we enjoy in the ES comes at cost in the slow flight/stall regime.

For your power on/power off stalls, I'd make sure you keep the power right at 65% as that is the min limit per CA.VII.C.S4. Do not do full power on stalls. Also, realize the standards say that the pilot should recover at the first indication of a stall or after full stall. For your ES, first indication is either going to be the buffet or if you have an AOA system, when the system tells you to push. There is no reason to take the ES into a full power on stall for your commercial checkride and I don't recommend it. Power offs are no different than any other plane, IMHO.

For the accelerated stall awareness, per CA.VII.D.S5, you set a 45 degree bank turn and pull until you get a buffet or AOA indication. This should be a non-event. Just realize that the laminar flow airfoil will produce a more pronounced break. This is probably the most risky maneuver in the checkride. In a Cessna, you can ham-fist an accelerated stall, get into one, get a wing drop, and as long as you stop pulling and stay coordinated, the plane will go back to flying. In the ES, the break is much more sudden and if you aren't perfectly coordinated, you could get a sizeable wing drop and possible spin entry.

All this is to say that per the checkride profile, there is no reason to fully stall the ES in a power on and accelerated stall. You go to first indication and recover. Properly done, it is a non-event. Just realize that you and your DPE need to have that discussion before you take the checkride. If he's old-school and requires pilots to do full stall recoveries, then I'd recommend not doing that in your ES and go fly the checkride in another airplane.

If you haven't read up on the Commercial checkride standards, please use this link.
https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files ... ange_1.pdf

I hope this helps.

[Dan OBrien]

Thanks Ryan, super helpful.

I’ve already told the DAR I just want to approach the power on and accelerated stalls. Totally agree with you—I personally won’t do full power on or accelerated stalls in a Lancair. My power off stall is benign when approached with the ball centered.

I have the G3x AOA. But if I’ve configured that in the approach configuration, could I stall when clean before it says to push? And isn’t the risk of this happening higher in the accelerated stall with a 45 degree bank?

[Ryan Riley]

Dan, regarding your AoA, it depends on how it is calibrated. I'm not sure how it is setup in the G3X, but other aftermarket ones show AOA regardless of flap configuration. If your DPE is good with going to first indication, then it sounds like you have a safe plan.