[tswaney]

Update.

As of noon today, I am at 12.7 hours PIC, 54.7 hours total... and the holder of a temporary airman's certificate.

Yep, passed my FAA practical, Private Pilot, Single engine land this morning! Man, was it nerve racking. Oral portion was fairly uneventful; he did trip me up on NTSB 830, Accident/incident reporting.

The wind was switching between 170-190 degrees at 20 knots, gusts to 28. 40-50 knots at 6000'. Since it was mostly down the main runway, we went for it rather than rescheduling.

Lost altitude about 50' over the limit during slow flight, but I had it to full power pretty quickly after about the first 20' drop and talked to the examiner about it the entire time, so that kept me clean. It is pretty fun to sit there at 3500', 20 degrees of flaps, 50 mph indicated airspeed and see your shadow below parked in one spot.

Everything else went great. XC, simulated instrument, ground reference, simulated emergency, radio nav., stalls, in-flight diversion, departures and landings. The flight lasted 1.7 hours. And the debriefing was very beneficial.

I just may sleep tonight for the first time in a week.