Trying to Finish Up

I'm so close to finishing up that I can almost taste it. I went up twice this week with H., doing instrument flight and slow flight and stalls and short- and soft-field landings, and then I headed out for yet one more cross-country solo. At this point, I've fulfilled the FAA requirements to get a private pilot's certificate, and I just need to make sure that I can pass the practical test.

For the practical test, I need to plan an assigned flight, take an oral exam that covers the flight and pretty much everything else I've learned, and then go up and demonstrate that I can fly a set of required figures with reasonable accuracy. Everybody will tell you that the accuracy requirement for the private pilot's test is pretty forgiving -- pretty much within a 100 feet of altitude, 10 degrees of heading, and 10 knots of airspeed for most maneuvers -- but I'm still working on getting my flying precise enough.

I had no trouble making yet another two-hour flight cross-country, communicating with air traffic control, navigating to a remote field and making a landing there, but I'm still struggling to perform the required figures accurately enough. I'm hoping to do a couple more lessons and couple more solos and get everything up to snuff. Pwhew, no pressure...

(And I'll post a few thoughts on the cross-country next.)