Checkride/mission superstitions or rituals?

[nsplayr]

I feel like I've read this thread and seen this video somewhere on Baseops before....

+1...I've definitely posted on this before but can't remember where the thread was.

Anyways, lucky underwear is a must (disregard for spot/no-notice checks). Always have a gouge folder. I don't normally fly with it, but for checkrides I like to have everything I can possibly think of numbers wise written down in case you get that crazy-ass question that you need to look up. May or may not apply depending on platform (fighters probably don't have a desk they sit at where then can peruse through pubs...).

[Guest Crew Report]

I study.

Word

[B*D*A]

What if the IP's name is Ditka?

[Spoo]

Why wouldn't you do those things every night? Why wait for a checkride?

Touché sir.

What if the IP's name is Ditka?

No amount of preparation will help. You start with a Q-3 and it goes downhill from there.

[Napoleon_Tanerite]

What if the IP's name is Ditka?

What if the jet noseart says Ditka?

[BQZip01]

What if the jet noseart says Ditka?

Make sure he's just not a Bears fan...then panic...

[Learjetter]

I heard an graybeard tell me once: If you don't have at least one Q3 on your 942, you're not flying enough. Don't sweat the small stuff and don't suck on the big stuff (sts).

[BQZip01]

To whomever managed to find the old thread

(FWIW, I did a search and couldn't find anything...must work on my internet skilz)

[Guest Okawner]

You guys are forgetting the best prep of all - getting the gouge on your examiner. ALL FEs have a favorite EP scenario or GK line of questioning tht is their personal way of exhibiting superiority over you ("So, tell me about the hydraullically modulated pneumatically operated fuel-oil cooled mixing check flow control valve...)

[Guest]

I love giving checkrides to people like that.

DOUCHEBAG ALERT

Any SEFE that says something like that should get a gallon of ape estrogen pumped up his six and thrown into the gorilla cage for a month.

If you need practice to pass a checkride, I have a job for you. It is called a dumb ass copilot. Not to be confused with hard working copilots that know their shit!

Check yourself. Not sure Huggy needs that kind of advice.

This is why also when I'm evaluating- I don't get in the seat.

DOUCHEBAG ALERT

Get a gallon of ape estrogen...you know the drill.

I WILL be taught something new (EPs were IPs first and they probably like instructing better than evaluating).

Shack. You are the kind of guy that should be a SEFE. Based on that statement you will hate every checkride you have to give and you'll probably help the guy out in lieu of being a douchebag.

if you bring me a playboy from 1993 you're showing low SA and at best, you're looking at a Q2.

DOUCHEBAG ALERT

[Guest Rubber_Side_Down]

Good on whoever found this old thread. I read it from the beginning, and the only thing I can't understand why the camp is so divided between those with rituals and those without. I don't personally have any, but I never thought that those who did didn't prepare/fly like they would on a normal day/study, etc. I thought some of the ideas in this post were hilarious--having superstitions/rituals doesn't have to be mutually exclusive from studying hard and preparing well for an eval.

[BlackKnight]

My ass!

First of all, I have a 12 yr old T-shirt that I only wear on checkrides so it will last another 8.

"Lots of flying the week prior" Oh, so you are one of those guys that refuses to take there check ride because they haven't been able to "memorize" the profile. I love giving checkrides to people like that. Change one thing on the profile and they screw themselves right thought the ceiling.

The best check rides I have ever had were ones where I didn't fly at all prior. If you practice your profile you are only trying to learn how to pass, not learn how to fly.

Someone once said fly everyday like you are on a check ride. Well, he was dumber than shit. I say fly a check ride like you fly every day.

Last time I took a check ride without any prep the scheduler asked me if I wanted to postpone and get some practice. I said, no. I am an IP and if I cannot pass a checkride without practice the DO probably needs to know that and fire my ass.

If you need practice to pass a checkride, I have a job for you. It is called a dumb ass copilot. Not to be confused with hard working copilots that know their shit!

For the most part, shack. If flying a checkride makes you tunnel to the center of the earth, you've got issues. While being an EP that on checkrides seeks to screw a guy over is being a douchebag, flying with the weak swimmers who probably deserve to be highlighted and told to find another job and throwing them a curveball to highlight how much they suck is not a bad thing. But that should be handled by leadership, not necessarily (only) by checkrides. As my mentors tautght me (some who have already commented on this board)- a guy who can prep for 24 hours straight and have the weather turn out beautiful and the profile go as planned isn't showing me sh!t. The guy who has a checkride change 9 times before step and 69 times during the flight, still getting the job done without crying, becoming a stressed out ahole, and rolling inverted and pulling is showing me they can f'n fly. And I'm not talking about me as an evaluator (I'm not one), I'm talking about on daily rides or most importantly, during combat ops.

Barney

Edited April 10, 2010 by Barney A-10

[amcflyboy]

My goal is to bore the evaluator to death. If he's struggling to stay awake(like what happened on my last Qual check)not to mention my Engineer, than some would say you're doing something right. This was also because the entire ride was in IMC. But in any case, you're not highlighting yourself in a negative sense. Some of you may disagree and call me a pussy. Well I don't give a shit. I typically try to have fun on normal rides. On checkrides, I'm all business because this is not the time to be smokin' and jokin'.

[TreeA10]

Don't do anything dumb, different, or dangerous and employ the K.I.S.S. principle. My personal favorite was a young flight lead who got confused and lost IN HIS BRIEFING. If your tactics/techniques don't work at 0 KIAS and 1 G, those tactics will not survive contact with the enemy/threat/weather. Or a checkride.

[slacker]

DOUCHEBAG ALERT

NO SENSE OF HUMOR ALERT

Humor, look into it.

Edited April 12, 2010 by slacker

[Guest]

NO SENSE OF HUMOR ALERT

Humor, look into it.

Nice try. No shortage of humor coming from me.

So what you're saying is all these comments you are making are supposed to be a joke?

Bullshit.

Even if they were supposed to be a joke, they're not funny. Any SEFE that jokes about hooking guys on a checkride is a total douchebag. I have always been amazed that commanders wouls allow douchebags to be SEFEs, especially when you consider the impact their judgement can have on a person. The FEF is part of an officer's permanent record. It is not a gradebook. Form 8s are not a place for bad judgement. I would fire any SEFE on the spot if they even hinted that they would bust a guy on a checkride for any reason.

Checkrides are an evaluation of the training system. It is the training system that should identify problems requiring removal from flying status, not a checkride. I can't even count the number of times I've seen SEFEs tube a guy on a checkride for something minor that could easily been overlooked. I know this, there is never a ride that the SEFE couldn't hook a guy so the most important factor for a SEFE is good judgement.

Joking about hooking someone on a checkride is poor judgement so even if that's what you are now claiming you are still a DOUCHEBAG.

[slacker]

Nice try. No shortage of humor coming from me.

So what you're saying is all these comments you are making are supposed to be a joke?

Bullshit.

Even if they were supposed to be a joke, they're not funny. Any SEFE that jokes about hooking guys on a checkride is a total douchebag. I have always been amazed that commanders wouls allow douchebags to be SEFEs, especially when you consider the impact their judgement can have on a person. The FEF is part of an officer's permanent record. It is not a gradebook. Form 8s are not a place for bad judgement. I would fire any SEFE on the spot if they even hinted that they would bust a guy on a checkride for any reason.

Checkrides are an evaluation of the training system. It is the training system that should identify problems requiring removal from flying status, not a checkride. I can't even count the number of times I've seen SEFEs tube a guy on a checkride for something minor that could easily been overlooked. I know this, there is never a ride that the SEFE couldn't hook a guy so the most important factor for a SEFE is good judgement.

Joking about hooking someone on a checkride is poor judgement so even if that's what you are now claiming you are still a DOUCHEBAG.

I didn't know my jokes required a rainman sign off to make them actual humor. Should I start running all attempts at humor through you first? How 'bout all future jokes/ sarcastic remarks from me on this board will come with the implied disclaimer that it hasn't been pre-approved by rainman and he may/may not find it funny?

Here's some news for you: Joking about checkrides on an internet forum and administering one in real life are a little different. Maybe they were one and the same back in "your day." But nowadays, folks actually kid around sometimes on the internets. If you think that I'd actually Q2 someone for a vintage Playboy, you're a little dense.

I'm not sure how you've made me into the SEFE we all know and hate. I haven't / don't hold the hook joke over evaluee's heads during before/during/after an evaluation. I'm sure you'll call "Bullshit," and that's fine. Your approval is nothing I need or seek.

I still think that the Playboy remark is sage advice, if you're going to bring reading material on a checkride, make sure it's current and not back from "rainman's day."

If your next reply is going to be something like - "Bullshit douchebag," do me a favor and save the bandwidth.

[FourFans]

"...everyone grab a beer and throttle back." Internet forum. Ad hominem ill advised.

FF

[Guest]

I'm not sure how you've made me into the SEFE we all know and hate.

Hey, don't blame me. The question was about checkride superstitions and you piled on with a bullshit SEFE comment. People don't like checkrides, hence the extremes some guys go to wrt superstitions. Checkrides suck enough without a SEFE making a joke about wanting to be treated special because they're a SEFE.

Your approval is nothing I need or seek.

That's good news because I'm not here to give you sanction.

If your next reply is going to be something like - "Bullshit douchebag," do me a favor and save the bandwidth.

Take your own advice and ignore what I say if bandwith conservation is a concern for you.

[Napoleon_Tanerite]

yet another thread becomes nsfw.....

[B*D*A]

yet another thread becomes nsfw.....

Unless you work in a topless female ninja office....

[slacker]

Unless you work in a topless female ninja office....

If I was a ninja commander, I would fire any one of my silent assassins that even joked around about topless female ninjas. That is a total douchebag remark.

[Napoleon_Tanerite]

Unless you work in a topless female ninja office....

what kind of a homo would i be if i was on here if I worked in such a place?

[Guest]

It really gets the point across.

and it gets the whine flowin'...

[Hercster]

Did somebody say wine?? :D