A Cold Ending to a Good Checkride

I no longer fly, thanks to the lingering side effects of chemotherapy—but I’m now seven years cancer-free, so that’s a win. I still get to work airshows around the country, including 19 years at AirVenture, so while I may no longer be one of the “cool kids,” I still get to hang out with them.

Back in my flying days, I worked hard to stay proficient—not just legal. Some might say I overtrained, but I always viewed the extra preparation as insurance. Along those lines, I made a point of taking checkrides with different examiners. My thinking was that variety would expose any bad habits I’d picked up. Maybe it worked—over the years I only declared one emergency, and it turned out not to be one. Still, better safe than sorry.

Early on, when I was based at Clay County Airport in Brazil, Indiana, I was given the moniker—call sign—“SOB.” Of course, it stood for Sweet Old Bill, and I accept no substitutes, although a few have been suggested over the years. When email came along, it seemed only natural that my address became flyinSOB@… It’s inspired plenty of smiles, and I’ve never regretted it.

Speaking of call signs, I was once flying with a friend—an A-10 pilot and check airman—who asked if I had an “official” one. I told him I didn’t think so. After listening to my radio work and enduring nearly an hour of my nonstop talking, he assigned me the call sign “Chatter.” Fair enough.

Then came colon cancer. After my first resection (11 inches), followed by a second (another 7 inches), I was clearly not as full of it as I used to be. Naturally, my new call sign became “Semi-colon.” Call signs—you’ve got to love them.

But back to the main story.

I was taking a checkride in my ’58 Comanche 250 with an examiner I knew well—I’d even taken instrument instruction from him. Since we were friends, it turned into an over-the-top evaluation that went well beyond the practical test standards. We flew very steep turns, aggressive stalls, ILS and VOR approaches, Dutch rolls, lazy eights, turns about a point—plus a few maneuvers that were probably not in any manual.

We even practiced the “impossible turn,” figuring out the minimum altitude needed to make a 180 back to the runway after takeoff. I still can’t believe he trusted me with all that, but we both survived—and I’m convinced that workout paid dividends later in my flying.

I’d previously done stall/spin training in a Citabria and Super Decathlon, along with aerobatic and upset training in a Pitts S-2C, but nothing quite like this “checkride” in my Comanche.

Afterward, during the debrief (which went pretty well), he glanced at my paperwork and said, “That’s a great email address. Ever consider selling it?”

“Nope,” I replied. “I like it too much. But you can have it when I die.”

He didn’t miss a beat: “From what I’ve just seen, I may not have to wait long.”

A pretty cold line—but we’re still friends. Although I’ll note that his email address is extremely boring. Mine is not.

Years later, I ran into him at Air Ops during AirVenture. We caught up, and I brought up this story.

He didn’t remember it at all.

I guess he was that hard on all his “students.”

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Bill Foraker

Bill Foraker has been an FAA-certificated private pilot since 1994, with high-performance, complex, and tailwheel endorsements and more than 2,200 hours of flight time. He owned and flew a 1958 Piper Comanche 250 for 23 years and later a 1942 North American T-6D Texan in Navy SNJ markings, and has flown more than 30 aircraft types ranging from aerobatic airplanes to warbirds, including the Extra 300, Pitts S-2C, L-39, P-51, C-45, C-47, and B-17. An EAA member since 1990, Bill has held numerous leadership roles within Chapter 83 and flown 118 Young Eagles. He is also a member of EAA Warbirds of America, EAA Vintage Aircraft, the Commemorative Air Force, AOPA, and the Air Force Association, and previously flew Angel Flight missions. Bill has organized and supported many aviation events, served as a logistics coordinator for B-25 crews during the Doolittle Reunions, worked ground operations for the 2013 Super Bowl in New Orleans, judged NIFA competitions, and served on the board of directors—and as president—of Terre Haute International Airport, later becoming its executive director in 2014.

Latest posts by Bill Foraker (see all)

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