Page 36 - Volume 20 Number 9

He and Mike Freeman quite obviously know each other, and have a pleasant conversation re- miniscing about old times, airline flying, and strangely enough, anti- que John Deere farm tractors.
Initial social niceties over, we go into an air-conditioned classroom in the back of the hangar where Rothfus begins working his way through a very tedious and long FAA computer program before being able to start the official proceedings. It soon becomes apparent that because I completed and sent in the IACRA form first, and also planned to add the ‘single pilot’ additional qualification to my existing CJ rating, I am the lucky guy to go first. Finally, at 08:40, all the FAA computer preliminaries are filled out, and Rothfus formally puts me on notice that “the test has begun”.
He then returns to his laptop, pulls up the ATP Practical Test Standard (PTS), and begins to methodically ask about all the
checkride in an older Cessna 414, with its six power control levers, cowl flaps, lack of a flight director, and randomly-scattered switches. The CJ, by comparison, was actually designed with solo pilot operations in mind, so everything is within easy reach and clearly labeled. You can leave the two lonely power levers set at about 65% for most of the ride, and use about 100 and 110 knots as reference speeds, and it will generally work out just fine. Use of the autopilot is also encouraged, with the lack of one being a grounding item for single pilot operations.
Returning from completing all the airborne items required by the PTS in very crowded, hot and bumpy Southern California airspace, Rothfus seems to conclude I had not scared him too badly and announces that I had indeed passed.
The next day when all our checkrides were over, Rothfus invites us over to his house for the evening. We arrive to find he does indeed have a garage full of perfectly-restored antique John Deere farm tractors. Having apparently already drawn some conclusions about our competence, he has us crank them all up and sally out in caravan fashion, waving like parade participants to envious onlookers in the neighborhood. Upon return, between telling flying stories of dubious veracity, we finish off a keg of cold beer, an extensive BBQ, and fresh strawberries and ice cream, nicely put together by his attractive wife.
In the morning, black box nightmares now a distant memory and FAR 61.58 fully qualified in the CJ for another year, we fly the airplane home in spring weather so clear you could almost see the Canadian border from California. Ground-bound baseball players just don’t get to do things like this... maybe jet pilot annual training isn’t that bad after all.
“elements” and “tasks” outlined in that document. Although I knew most of the answers from our earlier ground school, the computer-based format and test terminology were somewhat of a new experience for me. When we finished with this, he hands me the “Airport and Runway Markings” test currently in vogue with the FAA, which, having just renewed my CFI, I do reasonably well on. All this “oral exam” portion of the checkride takes until nearly noon, by which time I have gone through two bottles of water, and definitely need a trip to the head before being ready to fly.
The flight portion of the CJ single- pilot ATP check ride is somewhat more challenging than the two-pilot version, but, nevertheless, I think much simpler than taking the same
34 • TWIN & TURBINE
SEPTEMBER 2016