Stage Check, or That Really Stupid Thing I Did

The day after my long IFR that went so miraculously well, I had my stage check. Now there's been some confusion as to just what the heck this stage check was about, so I'll take a moment to explain it before I tell you how it went. In the Federal Aviation Regulations, there are two different sections (Part 61 and Part 141) under which a student can learn to fly. Part 61 is sort of the norm for anyone who goes out to a local airport, hires an instructor, and rents a plane so they can learn to fly. Part 141 is intended more for flight schools. It's certainly the more clearly-defined of the two Parts, because, at least in theory, a pilot who learned Part 141 is probably going to be favored by a potential employer, over a pilot who learned Part 61. Part 141 schools have to teach by an approved syllabus, and each stage of a student's progress has to be checked by a stage check (consisting of an oral exam and an actual flight with an approved instructor). Here's where it all applies to my situation: before a Part 141 instrument student can take the check ride (the actual test that will actually earn that student his Instrument Rating), that student is required to take a "final stage check" to determine whether that student is ready to take the check ride. And that's what I took last Thursday. This regulation is both a blessing and a curse to a student. It's a blessing because failing a stage check doesn't go on any sort of permanent record, while failing a check ride will haunt a pilot when he's looking for employment. It's a curse because the stage check is more or less exactly the same thing as the check ride, so even if you pass it with flying colors, you still have to turn around and do it all again with a different person in the right seat.

I've been really sick the last couple days with some kind of respiratory infection or something. Typing everything I just typed has made me really tired, so I think I'll wait til later to tell you how my stage check went. Sorry. I didn't mean for this to be a two-parter.