January 10, 200916 yr Bearing any OPSEC issues in mind, any superstitions or rituals anyone does for checkride or major league mission prep? Mine, as goofy as it sounds, was to crank up some bagpipe music on the drive in. My German ancestors would be proud...
January 10, 200916 yr Bearing any OPSEC issues in mind, any superstitions or rituals anyone does for checkride or major league mission prep? Mine, as goofy as it sounds, was to crank up some bagpipe music on the drive in. My German ancestors would be proud... Lucky underwear and t-shirt under the bag...always a must
January 10, 200916 yr I rock out like my man Dwight...in the first part, replace "Why are you going to give me a raise?" with "Why are you going to give me a Q1?"
January 10, 200916 yr Is that too much info? Chuck Yes. But that explains the xlarge thong panties I kept finding during my FOD checks.
January 11, 200916 yr My wife makes baked goods. The one time she didn't I hooked my low level check for the localizer approach. Easy superstition as it requires no effort on my part.
January 11, 200916 yr 4. Chew only Polar Ice flavored Extra chewing gum. It helps me air refuel... Wow, I use that one too. I definitely have to chew gum during AR. Polar is the most refreshing & helps the concentration. I'll give you a zero breakaway guarantee.
January 11, 200916 yr I don't believe in superstitions, or "lucky" underwear. Lots of flying the week prior (and always), and a good night sleep. You don't need "luck" in that case.
January 11, 200916 yr I don't believe in superstitions, or "lucky" underwear. Lots of flying the week prior (and always), and a good night sleep. You don't need "luck" in that case. Whatever dude! Being a former baseball player and a hockey player too, Im way superstitious. It helps! Chuck
January 11, 200916 yr I don't believe in superstitions, or "lucky" underwear. Lots of flying the week prior (and always), and a good night sleep. You don't need "luck" in that case. 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! Edited January 11, 200916 yr by Nole_96
January 11, 200916 yr I just fly shit hot and don't f<ck up. My last 2 checks were as a staff guy with no flying 58 days prior- Warm ups are for p#ssies. It also helps to make sure the evaluator get an assualt after yours- it humbles their ass and I find most of the time they'll suck. This is why also when I'm evaluating- I don't get in the seat.
January 11, 200916 yr I listen to Metallica on the ride to the squadron and I take a big sh!t before I fly. I do this everytime I fly.
January 11, 200916 yr Then I imagine myself having the self-confidence of Rick James. "Flaps 50, Bitch!" I'm not sure that it helps, though. Follow that up with a bitch slap to the evaluator, I'm sorry Mr. Evaluator I was having too much fun.
January 11, 200916 yr I've gotta say I'm with Huggy on this one. Checkride superstitions are silly. Good habits are different. You should do the same things on a checkride that you do on any other flight. If your daily rides wouldn't pass a checkride, you need to re-think some things. You want to do good on a checkride? Fly as much as you can and attempt to master every flight regime of the airplane. Be a master of your craft. sex, sleep, and sustenance are important, and all statistically proven to help you focus. But proper prior preparation is paramount. On the day of a checkride I remind myself of three things. Something weird WILL happen. I WILL make mistakes (no matter how small). I WILL be taught something new (EPs were IPs first and they probably like instructing better than evaluating). That's the closest thing I come to a ritual. FF
January 12, 200916 yr sex, sleep, and sustenance are important, and all statistically proven to help you focus. Sorry, but that claim definitely needs a source to back it up... ...so we can all show it to our wives and girlfriends (God help us if they ever meet each other...).
January 12, 200916 yr Pre-check night before sex, morning sex, lucky boxers... then loud Disturbed on the way to work, followed last minute by 'I stab People' by ICP. Then a quick shot of coffee before step. Edited January 12, 200916 yr by soflguy
January 12, 200916 yr I usually like to volunteer at the local food pantry the day before, wake up the day of the checkride and do a little yoga and have a chai tea...I also dont believe in "sex" but instead spend about 2 hours listening to my girlfriend and "sharing our feelings." Then I get in my PT Cruiser, drive to the squadron, go into the bathroom and have a good cry.... Then Im ready to go.
January 13, 200916 yr I always schedule the aircraft parked on spot Q3. I figure what are the chances I would Q3 on the aircraft parked on Q3...that would just be way to big a coincidence.
January 13, 200916 yr Nope. Wouldn't help me on a no-notice anyway. I'd rather get my AR and cargo checks done on the same mission, but the scheduling doesn't always work out that way.
January 14, 200916 yr Fly as much as you can and attempt to master every flight regime of the airplane. Does such a world exist? I haven't see those days since UPT. 2 week trips where you get a few sets of 1+1+1 and 33 hrs of cruise, helps a lot on checkrides. Lucky to get a local every month. If AMC has there way, everything will be SIM SIM SIM!! I prefer "black-cherry shasta" before AR (no caffeine, makes me jittery), and mint-millano cookies during the brief, nonchalantly passing them to the EP (trust me, they love 'em). For Crew acft, do everything required before the EP asks for it, i.e. discuss overrun, PAR, etc... procedures in brief, then brief everything at ground speed 0, so during the checklist everything is brief complete. Over do everything so the EP can't think of any questions. And lest you all forget, the EPs favorite hobbies, no matter how stupid discussing "Cat Fancy" is on a flt deck.
January 14, 200916 yr My only ritual is getting nervous...kinda a "good" nervous though. If I ever stop getting nervous, I think it's time for me to move on to something else.
January 14, 200916 yr Seems like a good topic for a first post... For combat missions, I always fly with a pocket-sized copy of the Constitution. I usually also have a US flag in my helmet bag but that's more for post-deployment gifts than superstition. I don't usually do anything special for checkrides since I'm usually too concerned with getting my pubs up to date, etc.
January 14, 200916 yr My only ritual is getting nervous...kinda a "good" nervous though. If I ever stop getting nervous, I think it's time for me to move on to something else. True. True.
January 16, 200916 yr No rituals...just eat a solid breakfast right after brief so I don't get sick on the low level. Worked today, Q1.
January 16, 200916 yr Marinate a big, juicy ribeye the night before a checkride. If I Q1, I have a large slab of celebratory cow flesh waiting for me. Other than Q1, at least I have a steak (hasn't happened yet, knock on wood). Also, I carry a 1903 Morgan Silver Dollar on important flights.
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