I finally decided to go for it and after 50 hours I called to schedule my check ride with a grizzly old flight instructor by the name of Red. Of all the instructors to draw, he was the worst one!
The first thing Red said to me was “Girls can’t fly!”
Behind his back I rolled my eyes and took a deep breath. He was famous for making women student pilots cry. He wasn’t much better with men.
The normal oral exam is about 20 minutes, mine lasted 55 minutes. The normal walk-around usually takes less than 10 minutes, mine lasted 30 minutes.
Red decided to head out to Antioch first and I had mapped out the first leg while he watch me. I adjusted my heading a couple of times for the cross wind. For some reason I looked out of the corner of my eye and said to Red, “I don’t know how you do it. You willingly go up in the air with student pilots just to make sure they know enough to be safe in the air.”
He merely harrumphed!
We flew over the bridge then headed toward Byron, one of the favorite airstrips for check rides. I made the designated adjustments for a standard three-legged approach.
Red was looking down at his notes when I declared on the final approach, “I’m going around!”
“No” he declared. “I told you to land!”
“Sorry, I won’t land!”
“I’m in control here and you’ll land when I tell you to land!”
“I won’t land when there are parachutists at the end of the runway!” I parlayed back.
Of course I went around and gave the parachutists plenty of time to land before I made my landing.
When we got back to the Concord airport Red said, “I’m not sure you’re ready for this, but I’ll pass you.”
I begrudgingly thanked him and he began to fill out the paper work. When it got to the point of my hair color I replied “Red”.
He said “I’m putting brown.”
Regardless, I got my shirt tail ripped off!