About

“Of course I remember my Private checkride…but it’s a bit fuzzy. I didn’t sleep the night before; not a bit. I was so nervous. I’d spent the better part of two years preparing to become a pilot, and it was now just about showing the examiner I knew enough. But to be honest, I didn’t know what to expect from the exam, and that was where the nerves came from. I’d only ever been ‘tested’ by one instructor, and that was the one I’d worked with for all my training.”

Scott Kinney has been flying for about 15 years. He earned his Private Pilot certificate [despite a lack of sleep] and found that he was enjoying flying so much that he wanted to share the joy by teaching friends and family. A CFI-Sport Pilot certificate was next; followed by an Instrument Rating and a Commercial certificate, and then a CFI certificate. 

He purchased an airplane and worked for a while in the unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) business with SOAR Oregon and the Oregon UAS Test Range Complex, before returning to teaching and writing about aviation.

Scott enjoys teaching primary students, and has taught numerous in-person ground schools out of Creswell Hobby Field (77S), near Eugene, Oregon. His emphasis is on practical real-world flying skills, and believes that if you’ve received proper training and preparation, FAA checkrides should be just another flight (albeit with a highly paid passenger). 

In 2016, Scott began contributing to Cessna Flyer and Piper Flyer magazines. Scott now works as Managing Editor for these two magazines, and continues to fly around the Northwest in whatever airplanes he can get his hands on.

MockCheckride.com is Scott’s attempt at helping the next generation of pilots overcome some of those all-too-frequent pre-checkride nerves.