Checkride outcomes tend to get treated like they’re about one day. One ride. One performance. But we all know that’s not true. What happens on a checkride reflects how that pilot was trained leading up to it. Stress, pressure, and performance breakdowns aren’t necessarily checkride problems; they are training problems. And the upside to that is we have control over it. Instead of treating checkride stress like something students just need to handle, we should be looking at performance under pressure as a skill. Something we should be teaching, practicing, and building throughout training. The focus is on how the training environment we create either sets students up to perform, or quietly works against them. For instructors, this is about getting more intentional with how we train. Not just checking boxes and running down a list of elements, but building lessons that translate to performance. We’ll talk about how to introduce pressure in a productive way and how to keep training consistent with how students are evaluated. And we’ll call out some of the common things we do that accidentally make stress worse, like overcorrecting, shifting expectations, or suddenly flipping into checkride mode at the end. We’ll also discuss how to talk about the checkride, because how we frame it and prepare students has a huge impact. Whether students see this as a threat or just another step often comes directly from us. For students, this gives you a way to approach training and checkrides that’s a lot more structured and a lot less reactive. We’ll cover how to manage stress, prepare in a way that sticks, and build confidence that shows up when it matters. Not just on a good day. These are valuable skills that will help you throughout the rest of your career as a pilot. This is about closing the gap between they know it and they can actually do it when it matters. You’ll leave with a clear way to identify where stress is showing up in training, how to manage it, and how to build pilots who are not just proficient but can consistently perform under pressure. A pilot who performs under pressure is a safer one. NAFI Session type: Forum — Skyfarer is not affiliated with the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) or EAA AirVenture Oshkosh. This session is listed for informational purposes from the official AirVenture 2026 schedule. Times and locations can change during the event — verify on the official session page: https://events.rdmobile.com/Sessions/Details/3567752