REAL Student Takes Instrument Mock Checkride

Gold Seal Online Ground School presents this Instrument Pilot Mock Checkride.
Examiner Todd Shellnut tests the instrument pilot applicant, Alex Hernandez, in a mock oral test. Todd also reviews Alex's performance with Russ at the end.
Head to groundschool.com for the best instrument pilot program online. You can get started for free right now! We also provide and excellent study resource and you don't even have to sign up. It's all in the following link.
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Let us know what questions stumped you.

[@jaredpierson]

I really appreciate this checkride video. Most videos seem to be prepared and perfect. This is rough and authentic and a good example of what I am sure some checkrides look like. This shows why it is important to be completely prepared. With where I am at in instrument this is probably how my checkride would go right now. This lad was brave for being willing to go on video for this in the first place.

[@drohernandeztv2651]

Thanks! It was a brutal reality check of what to study!

[@2016-m1h]

@@drohernandeztv2651 Do you have instrument ticket yet.

[@drohernandeztv2651]

@@2016-m1h yup. Got my IR a couple weeks after this

[@Sircrashalot1993]

Wow I feel much better about my knowledge now. This was painful!

[@NathanBallardSaferFlying]

Fantastic video and series! And spoiler alert… he recently passed his real checkride, this mock oral certainly helped!

[@GoldSealFlight]

Great news, Nathan. Thanks and congrats to Alex!

[@MikeWitterstaetter]

Where was he at the time of this video? Was that close to passing? I am preparing for my check ride and feel like I’m better prepared now than he is in the video but definitely still nervous.

[@davethibeault2484]

He was asked what to do when encountering icing and he said I’m not aware. This is a horrifying lack of understanding. I really hope we don’t see this guy in an ntsb report someday. Airplanes are not toys. You either know your stuff or stay out of the pilot seat.

[@Piloto-Vinny]

I’m getting ready for my check ride and out of all the mock videos I have seen this one has been the best one so far.

[@NelksLife]

@@MikeWitterstaetter he was definitely nowhere near ready in this video. Some of his responses were below the private pilot level, imo. It's normal to be nervous. Keep studying and the nerves will start to go away with time :). You got this!

[@joshstephens5330]

Loved watching the Private Pilot and Instrument Mock Checkride, I wish we could see the debrief with all of the things that Todd wanted to review with the applicant though.

[@aaronevens9086]

Brutal. I couldn't look away

[@michaelkeller9308]

Bless his soul. 😂 The thunderstorm question provided turbulence for the rest of the weather questions. I would love to see imagery pop up with answers where he fell short, similar to the red underline for the METAR, that was a good add on. Hopefully he’s like me when I fall on my face and obsessively get in the books. #failforward

[@arcanekingo5716]

Still working on my private and amen to your comment. Stumble on one thing, and it starts with "ohh okay, okay. So...."

[@bobwei6232]

It would help if the right answers (or at least the relevant FAR/AIM references) were overlaid during the video

[@bryanmontgomery4441]

“Thinking back to 7th grade science about weather” as if there isn’t a whole section of the faa ppl test focused on weather theory and he’s in his INSTRUMENT checkride. I’d definitely do some weather theory studying after this. However, if I was him, I’d be nervous too so I give him benefit of the doubt.

[@swaviator9623]

everyone saying this is bad needs to relax. My oral looked worse than this, my DPE was tougher than this, and I still became a private pilot that day and I have my instrument checkride coming up soon. Sometimes it’s just a matter of articulating but any good DPE recognizes the human factors involved and the difference between not knowing and not explaining well.

[@elstupido4686]

Private pilot is different than IR

[@ethanhiggins4887]

IR is very much cut and dry. Yes the ACS is scenario based but IR is all about regulations and theory for a lot of things.

[@lukephillips1023]

Got my instrument checkride in a few weeks! This video serves as an excellent preperation tool.

[@mwp1088]

It would have been great if they posted the debrief as well.

[@scapilot1980]

I mean... If you're up to speed in your own instrument studies you pretty much already knew from the get go what he got right and what he got wrong.

[@linka1886]

"things that make you go hmmm", haha. I appreciate the student putting himself out there. There are plenty of videos of mock checkrides where students nail each question. This is very helpful to learn from. I hope and wish the student good luck and hope they prepare appropriately for the real thing and acting on IFR flight plans

[@londonmoren9611]

this is a hard watch who let this man go into this knowing it was going to be on youtube

[@treezy2x31]

Nice my checkride is tmr so this is great. Please start saying the answer to the incorrect questions. Only way we learn

[@erinfreeman28]

Did you pass?

[@gendaminoru3195]

They highlight the incorrect responses to make you think about it. Almost answer themselves. They really aren't trick questions.

[@scapilot1980]

If you had a check ride scheduled for the day after you watched this and still needed correct answers posted on the screen then you probably weren't ready. You should be able to tell on the spot which questions he got right and wrong with very little help.

[@scapilot1980]

Todd: Asks very basic question about cloud groups. Alex: "not lenticular... I don't think..." Todd: "and where would you find lenticular clouds?!". And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you start digging yourself into holes in a check ride.

[@gratefulpilot]

Thanks for sharing this! Would love to see the debrief portion as well.

[@DocPeabody337]

Very helpful video! The student was struggling and it makes me learn more, cause I find myself answering those questions and trying correct. Hope this guy was able to get passed his weaker areas and go on to get IFR certified. Thanks!

[@gregsmith1089]

Who would subject themselves to this kind of unprepared torture?

[@jamesyang5739]

he is not ready for his check ride.

[@lifebeginsat5062]

Thanks for this video. It forced me to go look up some answers. One thing I learned about was Marked Positions in Foreflight. You can drop waypoints while enroute and Foreflight will auto record the times. Then you can compare those times against your planned route to see if you are ahead or behind on that segment.

[@mikestanzel1192]

I went back and polished up on cloud types. This video was excellent in preparing for the direction the exam might go.

[@golfbravowhiskey8669]

Man when i got my Instrument rating it was what seems a lot easier, of course that was in 1991 when I was 22 years old. I guarantee you some of us old heads that are in our 50s that had it for 30 years if we had to sit down like he's doing right now across from the examiner we would receive an unsatisfactory report. Especially ones like me that just barely stay current, oh I'm definitely not talking about the proficient guys and commercial guys

[@DismaliciousX21]

Refreshing to see this when going for my CFI-I and getting to those aha moments where you either clarified something or i had forgotten such as the -TSRA ( i thought it was light thunderstorm with rain showers)

[@crazy10seven]

It is Thunderstorms with Rain showers, the (-) indicate slight intensity, TSRA would indicate moderate and +TSRA would indicate heavy TS and severe rain

[@lyingcat9022]

The plus and minus only apply to the intensity of the precipitation not the weather phenomenon itself. +TSRA directly translates to Thunderstorms with heavy rain. It doesn’t necessarily mean severe Thunderstorms.

[@KevinAround]

Don’t watch this if you’re preparing for your oral. The “applicants” answers are t corrected and the “DPE” accepted quite a few very spotty answers.

[@thejackbox]

Yea right from the get go he misses the obvious IPC question and “DPE” accepts it…

[@tommymorris7245]

Yes. I wouldn’t use this as a learning reference, rather take the questions and come up with my own answers, and write down ones I don’t understand to study with other resources.

[@scapilot1980]

​@@thejackbox that was such a give me too! Two years since last instrument flight and this guy starts rattling "6 hits". 🙄. Read the room, dude..

[@JonathanDavis78701]

I've loved your content in the past but didn't find this one helpful. Todd does a good job of not bailing the student out but his lack of understanding around weather made me start to question even what I knew. And without any immediate feedback from Todd about what he got wrong I need to go back and research every part. It would be great if there was text at the bottom of the screen showing when he was wrong (similar to what you did when he failed to accurately read the METAR)

[@youthfulambitionya]

These are very helpful to self test. I love reviewing them to recall information. -

[@jorgejaredserrano7917]

Did he passed? It seems he’s not prepared

[@GreenGuyDIY]

Only would know that from the debrief that was not included here.

[@Jane-hh7gh]

Why wouldn’t you guys get a student who’s actually prepared and confident? Y’all are recording this for people to learn from yet I barely learned anything because of how unprepared he was

[@kylefarrer1417]

It's a MOCK checkride not a real practical test for him

[@joeblowjohndoe206]

@@kylefarrer1417 yea but it would have been a better video if he answered correctly. Then we could have learned. We didn’t learn anything from incorrect answers. We didn’t even get the correct answers. It was an hour and a half of uhhh ummmm uhhh im not sure.

[@rayclau8940]

@@joeblowjohndoe206 Because its your responsibility as a pilot to study the ACS and required information along with it, not theirs. They upload these to give an idea of what will be asked of you know and how it will be formatted, not to answer everything. Its on you to use the source material provided by various sources to find the answers to those questions. The questions and answers are all there, you just have to look.

[@joeblowjohndoe206]

@@rayclau8940 right, but they’re the one making an educational video… I need a video to tell me what I should study? I can just skip the video and study. That’s my point.

[@-The-Stranger-]

Thank you guys!

[@aviatrixantics]

Did not know EMAS - Engineered Materials Arrestor System - absorbs kinetic energy of an aircraft that overruns the runway.

[@claybarnes4901]

Not a Satisfactory oral IMO

[@mockingbird_redacted]

Unsat

[@dominic9028]

He either really stepped up his game or it's become much easier to pass IA

[@CareerOcean]

Wait if the g1000 navigational database is out of service can you not just use other means of ground based navigation for IFR like the ILS or vor ?? You just wouldn't be able to complete GPS approaches. Correct me if I'm wrong but idk I feel like his answer wasn't accurate.

[@collinkeethler5808]

You're correct. Per FAR 91.205, there is no requirement to have a GPS. So all you would have to ensure is that you have a VOR, and that it has been checked within the preceding 30 days. However, if you were to conduct a flight on an IFR flight plan the GPS database would have to be current (28 days).

[@roan1025]

I don’t fly with a G1000, so I’m not sure the operating procedure there, but I assume that the GPS and VOR are using the same “system” so to speak, and that would be why the database needs to be current even for ground based navigation. I’m probably completely wrong so if anyone knows please tell.

[@daniellamb7828]

@@roan1025 Yes, you are completely wrong. The VOR has 2 Nav radios, just like your 6 pack does. It is entirely independent of the GPS system. - CFII

[@raym984]

@@daniellamb7828couldn’t you still fly with an outdated GPS database if you manually verified every waypoint along your route against a current database? I remember seeing this in the red oral exam guide book.

[@daniellamb7828]

@@raym984 technically this is correct. But you can’t fly using the IAPs in the database, has to be raw data

[@hmrbruce]

Very helpful that you for putting yourself out there

[@jeffdo9195]

Guy needs to study wx alot more° simple questions on clouds etc he has issues with

[@bugcorrell9359]

We can all study *a lot more.

[@jeffdo9195]

@@bugcorrell9359 specially the auto correct on the cell phone

[@jeffdo9195]

@@bugcorrell9359 that's your best shot?

[@marobistric1999]

Awesome video! When is the new one dropping?

[@PickleRickSanchez]

Why’s the debrief not included?

[@atxpilot]

1:28:30

[@2016-m1h]

Would be a long debrief.

[@voxsacrachoir]

50:27 I about died laughing at this guy. The student was utterly confused I'm sure

[@GreenGuyDIY]

How about increased drag caused decrease in airspeed, assuming no increase in power, which then causes decrease in lift.

[@jorgejaredserrano7917]

Hey bro seems like you know a lot. You an instrument pilot or cfi? I just passed my private pilot and I’m looking by myself at instrument and is a bit overwhelming. Any chance I can get your insta or something to chat a bit?

[@GreenGuyDIY]

@@jorgejaredserrano7917 there are plenty that know more than I. I am not comfortable with giving out private chat info here. However, there loads of you tube resources to help you. Just plug along at your pace and eventually you will get there.

[@thekay305]

Omg……

[@badgerfishinski6857]

Upon arriving craig, fly to IAF @5K' then fly published approach

[@GreenGuyDIY]

Wow increased drag causes decrease in lift? They might be related in so much that the ice has multiple effects but the lift equation does not depend on drag induced or parasitic.

[@icepoop20]

Silly interpretation

[@willnorth5934]

How not to checkride 😵

[@2016-m1h]

Try not to say the acronym. Just name what’s in the acronym

[@MelisaRebeccaDougal]

Lol he will not carry a hand wrote flight log lol never he just said that bs to sound good to the dpe

[@jj6457]

Many many many people do not carry hand wrote logs anymore

[@georgehardie2016]

In a checkride 100 percent he will obviously you are not a pilot

[@GreenGuyDIY]

Interesting in so much that it gave me the chance to edify by mistakes rather than correctness. The biggest problem I have with the candidate is that he offers too much information. It is best to keep the answers to the point and concise. Never second guess in the middle of a point or sentence. RELAX! The examiner is really glossing over inaccurate and incomplete answers. For instance, the answer, "personaly I would not", does not answer the legality or requirement. You are free to note the difference between legal and safe but you do not get any brownie points for doing so. The examiner is not there to assess what you will choose to do later on your own as that is not in the standards.

[@badgerfishinski6857]

Hello. How would you answer this question? Gold Seal or any CFII welcome to try to answer. I earned my Instrument Rating in a Twin Engine. Checkride was in a Twin. Can I legally fly IFR in an Airplane Single Engine airplane??? btw... I earned my Private Pilot Certificate in an Airplane Single Engine Land. So the big question is "Can I legally fly IFR in an Airplane Single Engine airplane??? " If not, then what would i need to do so that I can legally fly IFR in an airplane single engine land?

[@rayclau8940]

Neither GS or CFII here, but are you certified in ASEL? If not the answer is no, as you are not certified in ASEL, you are certified AMEL only. You would need to get your ASEL add-on before you were to attempt a flight in a SEL aircraft. As for me, my credentials would read "PPL ASEL w/ IR and AMEL add-on"

[@rayclau8940]

apparently i cant read and typed all of that for nothing lol. Yes, you can legally fly IFR in ASEL because you are instrument rated which carries across aircraft Classes

[@luisdiaz2148]

Hey - CFI/CFII here. Let’s make this as simple as possible to understand. You are a certificated ASEL/AMEL pilot. That means you can legally operate both planes. You obtained an instrument rating for *Airplane. That means you are legally allowed to fly IFR in any airplane you’re legally able to operate. In this case, you can fly IFR for both, Single or Multi engine *Airplane only. Because it’s an airplane rating you may not operate IFR in any other category (I.e Rotorcraft, powered-lift, etc..) Hope this helps answer your question and provides you with a little bit of an understanding of the limitations of your instrument rating.

[@badgerfishinski6857]

7600 lost comm

[@hmrbruce]

Did not Know Emas Cool

[@shawnnance3670]

Weather kills more GA pilots than anything else, yet it's still the weakest area for pilots, dont understand.... Wonder how many people have actually read AC 00-6B AC-045H. The Weather handbook is free, and it costs nothing but intellectual curiosity to learn it.

[@GoldSealFlight]

The AC was replaced by a new weather textbook: FAA-H-8083-28

[@michaelkeller9308]

Preach!

[@pedromesseder192]

I stopped watching when he was struggling with GRABCARD

[@mukhiddintashpulatov8865]

👍

[@wyattmaxwell7735]

I hate the answer “uh foreflight”…

[@HonestOutletBooms]

Child of the magenta line

[@jackpeterson9551]

I wish they picked a different student for this nobody learned anything from this video bummer

[@scapilot1980]

Talked about lost comms for ten minutes and, unless I missed it, never made a single mention to squawk 7600... Big time fail. Also, boys and girls - if you're at a instrument oral exam and still can't fire off what's required for the development of a thunderstorm - then you're in the wrong place. This should be something you can recite in your sleep by ifr check ride time. I get that there's a lot of pressure with cameras and examiners firing off questions, but this looked more like someone who has spent more time in the rote recital of answers. The fact that he was allowed a note book with all the common acronyms right there at his disposal was shocking. I venture to think that if a real examiner probably wouldn't be too keen on that approach. If anything, it was good to hear basic questions from an examiner and kinda get a feel for what to expect. My check ride is in six days and after watching this - I feel prepared to do just fine.

[@danielreuter2565]

It's hard to imagine this guy passing the written test... How do you get to this point in your flying career without knowing the first thing about aviation weather? I would be embarrassed if this was my student

[@Michael-fk3oo]

You must be a very impressive individual

[@danielreuter2565]

​@@Michael-fk3oo if you mean that I take the safety of my flights seriously, then yes I suppose I am. Every time there's a fatal accident, everyone says "how could anyone make that stupid mistake". The answer is they're just like this guy. They don't take their own proficiency seriously and they get people killed with their ignorance. This guy shouldn't be allowed to carry passengers. Maybe you also?

[@job5662]

Dog this is a mock checkride. It’s supposed to give the audience an idea of what to expect for the oral portion of their checkride. I bet you’re a fun co-pilot.

[@danielreuter2565]

@@job5662 forget the checkride. This guy shouldn't be flying. I bet you're a cool copilot. Totally ignorant. But cool man. Just cool.

[@debt1351]

You should be embarrassed, as a pilot, as to decisively hate against a person trying to further themselves. Just because someone doesn’t know enough information in regard to a subject, doesn’t mean they aren’t still learning. Also, this is literally a MOCK check-ride for a STUDENT. Get your macho ego down & gaze at things with an insightful perspective, not a massive a**hole perspective. Also, whenever there is a fatal incident/accident no respectful human being looks at it and says: “How could someone do something that dumb?” Overall, what I’m trying to say is, stfu & look at others with an appreciative & kind paradigm, then grow.

[@helicopter2992]

Both are so obnoxious... 😂

[@Remythebully]

this would 1000% be a disapproval....

[@uhohDavinci]

It may be usefull to overlay the correct answers to the questions in text on one side of the screen. For those studying along to know what the expectations are for the answer(what the DPE is expecting to hear) He really fell apart on Met, which is unfortunate met is obviously super important to IFR.. It's just one of those things that catches you from time to time.. you study all of this stuff for you IFR, then they ask you a basic PPL question from years ago and you go blank :)

[@basel9898]

its least say wind shear

[@treezy2x31]

Yea

[@Jose_Ossa_dg]

I have seen two Gold Seal mock checkrides and both students were nowhere near ready, which makes watching the video difficult. It would be great if Golf Seal chose folks who had at least passed the written.

[@doobchec]

OMG 🤦‍♂️😂. One of my DPE’s said these words that have stuck with me for many years: “Think twice. And answer once.” And don’t go overboard with elaborating or “reaching” when answering 🤦‍♂️ . Great video to learn from though! I hope to see more vids 👍

[@NJay380]

I feel like confusing myself by listening to this candidate..😮😮 he is just guessing and giving very doubtful answers all the time..

[@KevinAround]

I agree fully. I wouldn’t recommend someone who’s preparing for the oral watch this.

[@scapilot1980]

You'll know you're ready for the check ride when you KNOW what answers he's getting right and getting wrong. Only when you know the answers without a doubt will you be able to discern the difference. But yes, he was very unprepared in a lot of his answers.

[@JustPlaneSilly]

This was great. I am so glad you did this!

[@llllllllllll79]

How do I hire Mr. Shellnutt to give me a mock checkride over Zoom and tell me where to improve before my checkride? I tell you, I’d pay handsomely.

[@bbwxqx]

Always good to see Todd. He was my CFI for my private certification back in 04. "Outstanding"

[@NVFlyer]

I have an instrument student nearly ready for his checkride and have asked him to watch this. Really nice to see a real world example where the student is actually struggling with some of the answers. There is a much older mock Instrument checkride video on YT but the student in that one has nearly perfect answers for everything.

[@AJpro88]

it starts getting fun at 17:17 😅

[@gendaminoru3195]

I couldn't stop cringing. wow what a nice guy Todd is. I finally had to stop at 24:05. ROTFLMAO. OK I soldiered on later and now I am sad. I hope this guy doesn't sit for his check ride any time soon. Someone needs to teach him some things.

[@basel9898]

@@gendaminoru3195 thanks .

[@freddyfreeloader1200]

In a Shellnutt this was a good video (stolen from ppl version) 😆

[@joeblowjohndoe206]

Why not put an instructor up so we can actually get the answers to the questions?

[@rayclau8940]

Because its your responsibility as a pilot to study the ACS and required information along with it, not theirs. They upload these to give an idea of what will be asked of you know, and its on you to use the source material provided by various sources to find the answers to those questions. The questions and answers are all there, you just have to look.

[@chriscappy6540]

You guys release this a week before my IRA checkride thank you!!!!!

[@WalidFeghali]

How'd it go?

[@mikestanzel1192]

Channel 7 news is a great source of a 7 day outlook forcast...

[@petermerry6123]

So comm failure and the candidate doesn’t talk about the lost comm squawk and no follow up from the dpe?

[@cherissegoodrich5058]

I found this to be a very helpful video. It is eye-opening for a fellow student to see how we can sometimes dig ourselves into holes when we are nervous, and even doubt our own knowledge. Having cameras and knowing others will see you be tested would just add to my nerves 😬 I truly appreciate the authenticity of this video. A good pilot is always learning, and learning from others! A lot of the comments did not pass the vibe check. Thanks Alex for your authenticity and for your nerves even! It helps me immensely! Congrats on your pass as well ☺️

[@Blake44622]

25:38 talking about clouds he says "man, I'm not there right now" I think he meant to say "I'm not prepared right now". Sad that one can't take anything from this due to an unprepared candidate.

[@ELARMOOTEE]

More ifr mocks please

[@djaceboogie404]

I had to pause the video. I'm not even done yet... As someone with an enthusiasm for aviation, trying to stack money just to cover ground school, and to be able to pay for In-Air-Training separately. This just made my heart beat...

[@Part61Pilot]

Good luck man. I tried doing the whole pay as you go flying while paying rent and only ended up flying once a week. By the time your next lesson rolls around you are playing catch up trying to remember how to do everything again. If you can, save up some money, find a college that has a aviation program, enroll and possibly take a loan out. I got my private within 4 months of starting. Its a hard expensive road but its worth it if you can make it work. Hope this helps.

[@djaceboogie404]

@@Part61Pilot Thank you. I’ll definitely go that route. Blessings 🙏🏾

[@BiggusDuckus]

So if the air intake in front of the engine gets iced up. What other source of air does the engine have

[@llxlxllxlxll]

Alternate air door

[@BiggusDuckus]

​@@llxlxllxlxllthank you!

[@eatingcheese1447]

my CFII said that the filterd air will automatically drop and you will get unfiltered air.

[@FlywithTy_]

This kid was STRUGGLING. He repeatedly states he isn't confident enough to "rely on himself" or "trust himself" and doubts himself in his answers. We as pilots CAN NOT AFFORD to have this mindset. Should've discontinued in the first 15 minutes

[@cyppy7473]

It’s a mock check ride… At the end of the day they needed to find his weak points.

[@AerachCherry]

My mocks are always rough. By doing the mocks, I know (1) what to expect and (2) what I’m weaker on or what I need to work on saying better. I stutter and stumble and screw up on what I’m trying to say. I’ve ALWAYS had a rough time with articulation when put on the spot. That being said, on my actual grounds I’m always told that they have to really dig to find something I don’t know and it’s usually something that’s in a gray area of relevance (“you might not know this one in private” or “this might not be a stage 2 question buuuut…”) Mocks look rough but they’re critical, at least in my opinion

[@christianforero.]

This are so helpful, i hope CPL drops before my checkride! thank you for this series!

[@MelisaRebeccaDougal]

Strange many of the weather questions were things you had to know for private he seemed to just not know or forget

[@t-forcepro335]

Well yea, you learn it for pilot and then have months before your IFR checkride, its reasonable you would forget stuff.

[@georgehardie2016]

So just know it to pass a test but not necessarily know it for actual flying lol oh my god obviously are not a pilot

[@t-forcepro335]

@@georgehardie2016 Most pilots are fine just getting a standard weather briefing and making sure there are no big weather events incoming.

[@Cosme422]

when he started off, it appeared as he was going to do fine but halfway through you know, this guy is going to need a lot of work to learn this stuff lol… it was a little painful to watch when it got to how the instruments work lol… but he looks determined to learn so things don’t look too bad in the future skies haha… good luck buddy! study hard for at least another 6 months! Great video! thanks!

[@GoldSealFlight]

Yes, he did have his stumbling blocks. But he passed his instrument checkride about a week later.

[@LifeWithMatteo]

@@GoldSealFlightheck yes! Congrats to him! Well done

[@drexplordinaire]

maybe it is lenticular hahahah... SMH

[@scapilot1980]

(hands him a shovel)