Patrick O'Connell

Verified pilot · PPL · Nov 2018

5/5 experience with Pat. I took my check ride with him about two months ago for Private ASEL. Pat was extremely fair but thorough. I was warned that the oral would be on the longer side and it was (about 3.5 hours including a couple of breaks). He went in-depth into systems and really made sure I knew a lot about the questions I missed on the written. He seemed to be a fan of drawing the systems out on the whiteboard and hinted that me being able to teach it to him assured him that I really knew what I was talking about. I also recommend that anyone preparing for a checkride with Pat should study up or at least be familiar with NTSB 830. I think he asked me to show him how to use the E6B on the ground as well as in the air; in the air he gave me a scenario that if I was diverting to a different airport he wanted me to use the E6B to give him an estimate of how long it would take, fuel burn, and speed etc...so practice mental math and being able to use the E6B while flying. I thought my taxiing was amazing (it was the slowest I have ever taxied and was just about riding the brakes the entire time) but in the debrief afterwards he told me to be a little slower (I'm not sure if he was just saying it to make a point about taxiing slow or if I was actually on the fast-side).

Verified pilot · CPL · Apr 2019

I had Patrick for my commercial and like the instrument I was stressed and wanted to do good. When Patrick showed up he started off with a very good and positive calm demeanor and maintained it the entire checkride. his checkride was fairly long but it should be a long one being you're staring you're a competent pilot that can take people for compensation. I won't go into details because I'm not going to give away tips on how you can prepare because that's on you to open your books but I can say know your ACS and know how to fly in any environment. The oral was involved and took around 4 hours but honestly the way it was conducted I didn't realize it and only felt like an hour or so. The flight portion is about 2 hours and know your maneuvers and be proficient with navigation. I had the GPS actually fail because it got hot but that's why we have CH and VOR's. All In all i highly recommend Patrick o'connell for your checkride and wish all the best to anyone getting ready to take theirs.

Verified pilot · PPL · Nov 2019

Pat was great. Everyone that is said about him here is true. He's thorough so his checkrides are lengthy - but they are worth it. My oral was around 5 hours. And my flight portion was about 2.5 hours in the air, and another 2.5 hours of post-briefing. All in, I had 10 hours of checkride with him spread across two days.