Lost for words

I have flown over a quarter of a century by now, and I still don’t feel super comfortable every time I do a checkride with the FAA. I have done more of those than I can count over the years but getting quizzed and observed still makes me feel uneasy. For some weird reason I always thought this feeling might go away with time and having it done enough. Turns out it doesn’t. Talking to retired airline pilots, it sounds like it may never go away your entire career.

Of course, since I don’t have quite as many violations as Chuck and tend to start studying a fair bit sooner than him, I seem to function a little better around “the feds” than Chuck does come checkride-day. But comfortable I am not.

I can, however, say hello to them in a social setting without breaking out into a sweat. I consider that a win.

Mike