Hi, I have had my private for quite a while. I see a couple of you are prepping for your checkride. The one thing many people mentioned to me but I failed to handle adequately on my first check was:

--the examiner will pull the power on the engine at some point

--always be ready for this

--always have a spot picked out where you can make a safe approach for an emergency landing

I thought I had this in top of mind awareness, but when it happened, I set up my approach with a first turn out over water.

As he told me, "I'll take the aircraft."

I made sure of that next time.

Good luck to all of you!

Mark