ismael chang ghalimi

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.

Congrats!

Thanks mate!

I hope you’re still up for being my safety pilot on the SR20…

Best regards
-Ismael

Fantastic news! Congratulations!

Well done mate! Patience is virtue.

Congratulations! That’s a hard checkride for sure. Well done. My invitation for a flight in New Zealand still stands if you make your way down here…

Late as always, but congratulations from me, too! I suppose “envy” is the right word here… simply amazing; I wish I was that far. Alas, I got my tiny little tailwheel endorsement the other day, and I am not even scared anymore enjoying the view from a spinning Citabria!

[...] It’s been a month and a half since my IFR checkride, and I have not flown since then, at least not as pilot in command. I am back in the air today, for a quick refresher and some additional training required for my endorsement to fly solo on the Cirrus SR20. Eliot and I did two approaches, one in Half Moon Bay (KHAF) under actual instrument conditions, and one in Hayward (KHWD) so that we could check the Piper Seminole on which I am supposed to do half of my multi-engine commercial training. On one hand, the two approaches went surprisingly well, and I am really glad that six weeks on the back seat did not make me forget everything. On the other hand, I was not really impressed by the FBO operating the Piper Seminole we were planning to use, so we decided to do the entire training on the Diamond DA42 Twin Star. The systems on this aircraft are so complicated that I will need a couple of months of ground lessons in order to get familiar with them. Actual training should start toward the end of the Summer. In the meantime, just one more lesson before I can solo on the Cirrus. Awesome! [...]