Commercial Check Ride

Whew.  Have I got a story for you!  Monday this week I had my commercial check ride scheduled.  The day started at 5am and I had to take the plane from KMIC (Crystal, MN) to KMKT (Mankato, MN) to meet the examiner.  I've been so nervous about this check ride.  Most people compare it to the private pilot check ride with a few differences, yet I felt overwhelmed...still not feeling proficient in my knowledge on some of the aircraft systems.  It was also my first check ride at a different airport which just added on a lot of details not necessarily related to the check ride.

Ten miles out from KMKT I heard an emergency declared over the radio.  I had to fly past the airport for a few miles to stay out of the traffic pattern before entering.  Not sure the result of that situation, but hope everyone was alright.

Finally got inside the terminal at Mankato and got to see Mankato State University's setup with Redbird Simulators, which look sweet.  I met my examiner--he was really approachable and made the check ride start off smoothly.  I passed the oral exam after a couple hours and then it was time for the flight.  My aircraft had been in the hangar thankfully, to keep it out of the cold.  Had a hard startup, but didn't think too much of it at the time.  We taxied out to the runway and started our run-up when I noticed the faintest illumination of the alternator annunciator backed up by the slightest discharge on the ammeter.  The examiner asked me what he thought we should do and I said, "I think we should discontinue the flight and head back to the ramp."

With some further inspection, we found the alternator belt sticking out of the cowling.  My wife
asked me later, what's the big deal? Well... basically the alternator provides electricity to the aircraft.  So if we don't have the alternator we will lose the electrical system once the battery dies...which means no lights, no radio, landing gear won't retract, etc.  Not good.  We discontinued the check ride and I had to wait in Mankato for the chief pilot and another instructor to come rescue me.  The sweet thing was that they picked me up in the Seminole, which is what I'm looking forward to training in next.

On Wednesday, I finished the check ride flight with the examiner and glad to say that I passed!

Onto Multi...