Got Instruments
After three aborted attempts, I finally passed my IFR checkride today. For the first attempt, I completed the oral examination, but there was too much wind for me to fly safely back into San Carlos (KSQL). For the second one, I had to cancel the checkride because of a scheduling conflict. And for the third one, the designated examiner got stuck in traffic for more than an hour and had to cancel. Everything felt right for this fourth attempt scheduled on a weekend, until my instructor told me that the autopilot on N824JA was inoperative. Flying one approach on a Cirrus SR20 without autopilot is challenging in a by itself, but flying an entire checkride with three approaches and a hold is a whole different story. Nevertheless, I felt ready for it, and tired of waiting for this ticket to fly in the clouds, so I decided to go for it. Mike (the designated examiner) and I flew the hold at SUNOL, then the Localizer DME Runway 28 Left (LOC/DME RWY 28L) in Hayward Executive (KHWD), followed by the quite familiar ILS Runway 32 Right (ILS OR LOC/DME RWY 32R) in Moffett Federal Airfield (KNUQ) and GPS Runway 31 (GPS RWY 31) in Palo Alto (KPAO). Everything went perfectly, until we came back to San Carlos, where my landing was one of the worst I ever made on the SR20. Nevertheless, we made it back to the ground safely, and I finally got my instrument rating, just about one year after having started my training. Next step: multi-engine commercial on Piper Seminole and Diamond DA42 Twin Star.