Private Pilot Checkride Oral Questions, Organized by ACS Area

Your pilot certificate, a photo ID such as a driver’s license or passport, and a medical certificate, each in your physical possession or readily accessible in the aircraft (61.3(a), (c)). Under BasicMed the medical is replaced by a valid U.S. driver’s license plus the completed medical examination checklist and the course completion certificate in your logbook (61.113(i)(3)).

Follow-up: “Your pilot certificate is at home. Can you fly solo today?” No. The requirement applies whether or not you carry passengers.

To act as PIC you need a flight review — at least 1 hour of ground and 1 hour of flight training — since the beginning of the 24th calendar month before the month of the flight (61.56(a), (c)). Passing a practical test for a certificate counts as one (61.56(d)(1)), so passing today resets the clock.

Three takeoffs and three landings within the preceding 90 days, as sole manipulator of the controls, in the same category and class; and, because passengers are aboard between 1 hour after sunset and 1 hour before sunrise, three takeoffs and three landings to a full stop in that same period within the last 90 days (61.57(a), (b)). In a tailwheel airplane, the day landings must also be to a full stop.

Follow-up: “When do the position lights have to be on?” From sunset to sunrise (91.209(a)). That is a different night from the one you log, which runs from the end of evening civil twilight to the beginning of morning civil twilight (14 CFR 1.1). Three definitions of night, three rules.

They can share, but you may not pay less than your pro rata share of the operating expenses, and only fuel, oil, airport expenditures or rental fees count (61.113(c)). A private pilot may not act as PIC for compensation or hire outside the exceptions in 61.113.

Yes, if I have held an FAA medical at any point after July 14, 2006, complete the online medical course every 24 calendar months and get a comprehensive exam from a state-licensed physician every 48 calendar months (61.23(c)(3)). The limits: an aircraft authorized for no more than 7 occupants and 12,500 lb maximum takeoff weight, no more than 6 passengers, not above 18,000 feet MSL, not faster than 250 knots indicated, and within the United States unless another country authorizes it (61.113(i)).

An airworthiness certificate, displayed, and an effective registration certificate (91.203). Registration now expires seven years after the last day of the month it was issued (47.40).

A landing light is only required at night when the aircraft is operated for hire (91.205(c)(4)). If it is also not part of the type-certification VFR-day equipment and not required by the equipment list, the KOEL or an AD, it can be deactivated or removed and placarded “Inoperative” under 91.213(d), with a pilot or mechanic determining it is not a hazard. Whether you want to land at night without it is the risk-management half.

Observations — METARs, PIREPs, radar — are history. TAFs, the GFA’s forecast panels, winds aloft and the outlooks are forecasts (the GFA shows both observations and forecasts). An examiner who asks how you will know the weather at your destination two hours from now does not want to hear “I’ll listen to the ATIS.” The full decoding drill is in the weather guide.

Enough, considering wind and forecast weather, to reach the first point of intended landing and then fly at normal cruise for 30 minutes by day or 45 minutes at night (91.151(a)). That is the legal floor, not a personal minimum.

Follow-up: “The winds aloft are 15 knots stronger on the nose than forecast. Recalculate.” This is literally a skill element (PA.I.D.S4). Do it on paper or in your EFB, out loud.

Above 3,000 feet AGL in level cruise, VFR, below 18,000 feet MSL: magnetic course 0–179°, odd thousands plus 500; 180–359°, even thousands plus 500 (91.159). Then terrain, glide distance, airspace and the winds, which is what the ACS actually lists.

Not required, but strongly recommended; filed with Flight Service on the ICAO format (FAA Form 7233-4) and activated after departure. A proposed VFR plan is normally kept for two hours after the proposed departure time (AIM 5-1-5). If you do not close or extend it within half an hour after your ETA, search and rescue procedures start, and towers do not close it for you (AIM 5-1-14).

From the cruise performance chart in the POH for the altitude, temperature and power setting planned. A designated pilot examiner describes exactly this trap: suspiciously round numbers like 10 gallons per hour and 110 knots tell him the applicant never opened the chart. For takeoff and landing, the regulation itself requires you to know the runway lengths and the POH distance data before flight (91.103(b)).

Pressure altitude corrected for nonstandard temperature. Higher temperature, higher elevation and humidity all raise it; the airplane then produces less power and lift, and takeoff roll gets longer while climb rate falls (PHAK, Ch. 11).

Follow-up: PA.I.F.R3, the difference between calculated and actual performance. The chart assumes a new airplane and a test pilot; say what margin you add.

Less longitudinal stability, lighter control forces and a lower stall speed, but stall and spin recovery become harder. A forward CG does the opposite: more stable, higher stall speed, harder to flare (PHAK, Ch. 10).

In a fixed-pitch airplane, RPM drops because warmer, less dense air enters the engine. If ice was present, RPM drops and then rises as the ice melts. Carburetor ice is most likely below about 70°F with high relative humidity, and can form well outside that range (PHAK, Ch. 7).

The altimeter freezes at the altitude where the port blocked, the vertical speed indicator reads zero, and the airspeed indicator is wrong: low in a climb, high in a descent. The fix is the alternate static source, if installed (PHAK, Ch. 8).

Not within 8 hours of drinking, not while under the influence, and not with an alcohol concentration of 0.04 or more (91.17(a)). The AIM recommends 12 to 24 hours between bottle and throttle, because alcohol can still impair you after 8 (AIM 8-1-1).

Hypoxic (not enough oxygen available, as at altitude), hypemic (the blood can’t carry it — carbon monoxide, anemia), stagnant (poor circulation, for example from G-loads or cold) and histotoxic (the cells can’t use it — alcohol, some drugs) (PHAK, Ch. 17).

Follow-up: “When do you need oxygen?” Required crew must use it above 12,500 feet cabin altitude for flight of more than 30 minutes there, and at all times above 14,000; above 15,000 every occupant must be provided with it (91.211(a)). The AIM encourages oxygen above 10,000 feet by day and 5,000 feet at night (AIM 8-1-2).

The AIM recommends waiting at least 12 hours after a dive that did not require a controlled ascent before flying up to 8,000 feet, at least 24 hours after one that did, and at least 24 hours after any dive before flying above 8,000 feet (AIM 8-1-2).

Know all five with their antidotes: anti-authority (“Follow the rules”), impulsivity (“Not so fast, think first”), invulnerability (“It could happen to me”), macho (“Taking chances is foolish”) and resignation (“I’m not helpless”) (PHAK, Ch. 2). The honest answer to “which is yours?” scores better than “none.” New in ACS-6C: confirmation and expectation bias (PA.I.H.R4) — hearing the clearance you expected instead of the one you got.