Private Pilot Checkride Prep
Use the FAA ACS to plan your review. For each task, explain the rule, apply it to the airplane and conditions you will fly, and decide what you would do if something changed.
Choose what to review
Private Pilot written study path
Work through one topic at a time: solve the example without opening the explanation, check the source, then practice that subject. Bring your mistakes back to the lesson. These nine study groups organize review for an airplane single-engine land student; they are not a complete ground-school syllabus or a substitute for aircraft-specific instruction.
93 Private Pilot practice questions. The lessons and examples are free to read. A free account saves Written Prep answers and missed questions. A high score describes this bank, not readiness for every FAA test objective.
Pilot qualifications and privileges
ACS study group: PA.I.A
Separate the certificate you hold, medical eligibility, flight-review status and recent experience for the operation. A current review does not prove night passenger currency, and being current does not establish proficiency in today’s conditions.
Try this case
You and one passenger share an otherwise permissible common-purpose flight. Allowable expenses total $180. What is your minimum share, and what does paying that share fail to prove?
Show the explanation
Two people split the allowable expenses, so your minimum share is $90. The arithmetic does not establish that the proposed flight meets all compensation and common-purpose requirements. Separately check privileges, medical eligibility, review status and the applicable recent experience.
Watch for: A paid fuel bill is not a flight-review endorsement. Recent daytime landings do not establish the separate night passenger requirement.
Practice pilot qualifications questions →
Check the source: 14 CFR 61.113, 14 CFR 61.57, 14 CFR 61.56.
Airworthiness and inoperative equipment
ACS study group: PA.I.B
Use maintenance records, the airplane’s required equipment and its approved operating information together. An inspection entry answers one question; it does not establish that every installed item is serviceable or that a new discrepancy may be deferred.
Try this case
A normally certificated training airplane is eligible for the no-MEL process. Its landing light is broken before a proposed daytime flight. Is placing an “Inoperative” label beside the switch enough to dispatch?
Show the explanation
No. Determine whether the item is required by the relevant certification and equipment documents, operating rules or an AD. If deferral is permitted, complete the required removal or deactivation, placarding and applicable maintenance records. An appropriately qualified person must also determine that the failure is not a hazard. The daytime label alone does not answer those checks.
Watch for: “Not needed today” is not equivalent to “not required.” The 100-hour inspection overrun is for reaching an inspection location, not an extra local lesson.
Practice airworthiness questions →
Check the source: 14 CFR 91.213, 14 CFR 91.409.
Weather reports, forecasts and decisions
ACS study group: PA.I.C
Start with the observation time and the period you expect to fly. Decode the report, then compare departure, en-route and arrival conditions with terrain, legal requirements, your personal minimums and available alternatives. A flight-category color alone is not a briefing.
Try this case
A hypothetical observation is 6SM SCT015 BKN035. The arrival forecast also has a temporary period of 2SM BKN009 overlapping your ETA. Which layer is the observed ceiling, and why does the temporary forecast matter?
Show the explanation
The observed ceiling is the broken layer at 3,500 ft AGL; the scattered 1,500 ft layer is not a ceiling. The forecast temporary conditions are a separate arrival risk: two-mile visibility and a 900 ft ceiling could occur during your arrival window. Compare the forecast with the route and alternatives rather than treating the current six-mile observation as a promise.
Watch for: METAR describes observed conditions at a station and time. TEMPO is part of the forecast; it is not permission to disregard worse conditions.
Check the source: PHAK Chapter 13: Weather Services, PHAK Chapter 12: Weather Theory.
Cross-country navigation, time and fuel
ACS study group: PA.I.D / PA.VI
Keep true, magnetic and compass directions separate. Use groundspeed for elapsed time and fuel planning, then update the plan from actual checkpoint progress. Cruise fuel is only one part of the budget; start, taxi, climb, diversion and reserve allowances need their own treatment.
Try this case
A 30 NM checkpoint leg takes 20 minutes. There are 45 NM left and the simplified cruise burn is 8 gal/hr. Assuming the observed speed continues, estimate the remaining cruise time and fuel.
Show the explanation
Observed groundspeed is 30 ÷ (20/60) = 90 kt. Remaining time is 45/90 = 0.5 hour, or 30 minutes. The remaining cruise burn is 0.5 × 8 = 4 gallons. Add required reserves and other allowances separately; if wind or routing changes, recalculate rather than preserving the original ETA.
Watch for: Distance divided by knots gives hours, not minutes. A heading points the nose; a course describes the desired ground track.
Practice flight planning questions →
Check the source: PHAK Chapter 16: Navigation.
Airspace and airport operations
ACS study group: PA.I.E / PA.III
Read the vertical limits at your actual horizontal position and use the stated altitude reference. Before entering, check the relevant communication or clearance requirement, weather, equipment and any current restriction. Radar contact alone does not authorize entry into every airspace class.
Try this case
You approach a Class B shelf and receive an assigned squawk plus a callsign acknowledgment. ATC has not issued a Class B clearance. Is it time to enter? What changes if the airspace is Class C and ATC explicitly says “remain outside”?
Show the explanation
Remain outside Class B until the required clearance is received. A callsign acknowledgment or transponder code is not that clearance. Class C normally uses a two-way-communication entry requirement, but an explicit instruction to remain outside still controls. The airspace class and the actual instruction both matter.
Watch for: Do not apply the Class C callsign test to Class B. A charted MSL floor is not height above the ground.
Check the source: AIM Chapter 3, Section 2: Controlled Airspace, AIM: Airport Marking Aids and Signs.
Loading, CG and aircraft performance
ACS study group: PA.I.F
Identify the exact chart, aircraft configuration and units before calculating. Check loaded weight and CG against the aircraft’s envelope, including relevant changes during flight. Distinguish takeoff ground roll from total obstacle-clearance distance, and apply the published corrections.
Try this case
A hypothetical training table gives 800 ft ground roll at 10°C and 1,000 ft at 20°C. Its instructions permit linear interpolation. What is the 15°C estimate, and can you use it as distance over a 50 ft obstacle?
Show the explanation
Fifteen degrees is halfway through the temperature interval. Add half the 200 ft distance difference to 800 ft: the estimate is 900 ft ground roll. It is not the total distance over an obstacle. Use the correct obstacle-distance data, actual aircraft conditions, prescribed corrections and an appropriate margin.
Watch for: Being below maximum weight does not establish acceptable CG. A generic interpolation is not a substitute for the actual POH/AFM procedure.
Practice performance questions →
Check the source: PHAK Chapter 11: Performance, PHAK Chapter 10: Weight and Balance.
Aircraft systems, instruments and aerodynamics
ACS study group: PA.I.G / PA.VII
Trace the source of each indication rather than memorizing only a failure label. Know which equipment depends on the electrical, pitot-static or vacuum system in your particular airplane. For aerodynamic questions, keep angle of attack, load factor and indicated speed distinct.
Try this case
A conventional magnetic-ignition piston airplane’s electrical master is off. A person concludes that moving the propeller cannot produce ignition. What is missing from that reasoning?
Show the explanation
Engine-driven magnetos can generate ignition power independently of the battery and master switch. Master off therefore does not prove ignition is disabled, especially if an ignition switch or grounding circuit is faulty. Treat the propeller using the approved safety procedures; this explanation is not a hand-propping instruction.
Watch for: The master switch does not mechanically lock the engine. A pitot blockage with its drain open behaves differently from an inlet-and-drain blockage.
Practice aircraft systems questions →
Check the source: PHAK Chapter 7: Aircraft Systems, PHAK Chapter 8: Instruments, PHAK Chapter 5: Aerodynamics.
Human factors and decisions under pressure
ACS study group: PA.I.H
Assess your condition before judging the airplane or route. Fatigue, stress, illness and medication can affect attention and judgment. Preselected personal minimums are most useful when they remain meaningful after passengers or a deadline start pushing the decision.
Try this case
You planned to delay below your personal ceiling minimum. The forecast now falls below it, and a passenger needs to reach an appointment. What new information would actually justify changing the decision?
Show the explanation
A passenger’s deadline changes the consequences of delay, not the weather or your capability. Reassess the route, terrain, forecast, proficiency and alternatives. A considered revision needs defensible evidence about risk; lowering the limit solely to preserve the schedule defeats the reason you chose it before the pressure developed.
Watch for: Feeling confident is not proof of unimpaired performance. Coffee is not evidence that lost sleep has stopped affecting judgment.
Practice aeromedical factors questions →
Check the source: PHAK Chapter 17: Aeromedical Factors, Private Pilot ACS: Human Factors and Risk.
Emergency planning and night operations
ACS study group: PA.IX / PA.X / PA.XI
Keep control of the airplane and a viable landing plan while applying the approved procedure. For glide planning, use height above the candidate landing area, not MSL altitude alone. Wind, turns, terrain and the height needed to land reduce what an ideal still-air calculation suggests.
Try this case
You are at 5,500 ft MSL and the landing area is at 2,500 ft MSL. Using a hypothetical 8:1 glide ratio, estimate still-air horizontal reach before maneuvering allowances. How would a headwind affect it?
Show the explanation
Available height is 3,000 ft. Multiply by eight to obtain 24,000 horizontal feet, then divide by about 6,076 ft/NM: approximately 3.95 NM. A headwind reduces ground reach for the same airspeed and descent performance. Do not treat the calculated edge as a reachable landing guarantee; account for turns, terrain, approach height and aircraft-specific guidance.
Watch for: Using all 5,500 ft ignores the landing area’s elevation. Do not let troubleshooting consume the attention needed for control and the landing plan.
Practice emergency planning questions →
Check the source: Airplane Flying Handbook, Chapter 18, Private Pilot ACS: Emergency and Night Operations.
Check whether the lesson transfers
- Explain the relationship without referring to an answer letter.
- Change a condition: a different wind, landing-area elevation, loading, arrival time or aircraft system.
- Recalculate or explain how that change affects the decision.
- Open the source and record the assumption you missed.
- Return to missed questions after studying, then use a mixed session without the topic cue.
Keep a short error log: topic, the mistake, the correct relationship and the source you checked. Correct answers on familiar wording can hide a gap when the situation changes.
What still needs separate study
These lessons sample the subjects; they do not cover every ACS knowledge element, flight skill, aircraft limitation, weather product, chart symbol or regulation. Use a complete ground-school resource and the current ACS. The figures already linked in Written Prep are official FAA testing-supplement material; the numerical cases on this page are hypothetical teaching examples.
Help review the Private Pilot track
If you are studying for PAR, try one lesson and its practice subject. Note any unclear wording, missing assumption, explanation that did not help or source that failed to support the answer. Send feedback with the topic, question ID when available, the issue and the source you used.
Instructors reviewing this material should also check the keyed answer, alternative choices, ACS mapping, aircraft assumptions and usefulness for an unfamiliar scenario. Independent CFI review has not been completed. Source checks and automated tests are recorded separately from instructor review.
Open mixed Private Pilot practice → · Check the broader FAA coverage matrix
Private Pilot ACS topics
The Private Pilot for Airplane Category ACS (FAA-S-ACS-6C) covers knowledge, risk management and flying skill. Pick a route and airplane, then work through the applicable regulations, weather, loading and performance. Be ready to explain your decisions.
Subjects to review
- Airworthiness, required documents, inspections, equipment, and pilot privileges and limitations.
- Weather products and the difference between reading a report and making a decision from it.
- Cross-country planning: course, wind correction, groundspeed, time, fuel, alternates, airspace, and runway considerations.
- Weight and balance and performance using the actual aircraft data, not generic numbers.
- Aerodynamics, stalls, load factor, maneuvering speed, and the reasons behind the maneuver standards.
- Emergency planning, diversion thinking, systems knowledge, and risk management.
Practice the calculations
Online E6B
Work wind, time, fuel, altitude, and conversions without hiding the relationship.
Crosswind component
Set up runway and wind examples, then compare the answer with your aircraft and personal limits.
Density altitude
See how pressure altitude and temperature change the density-altitude number before going to the POH performance chart.
Weight & Balance Builder
Practice the arithmetic, then verify the point against the exact aircraft envelope.
METAR Decoder
Use it to check your decoding, not as a replacement for a weather briefing.
Oral-review prompts
Practice answering these aloud: What makes the airplane airworthy today? What weather change would make you delay this trip? Which performance number in the POH worries you most on a hot day? If the alternator fails in cruise, what equipment do you still have and how long can you reasonably expect it to last? If your planned runway gets a stronger quartering tailwind, what changes?
FAA references
For other ratings, open Written Prep and choose the appropriate track.
Find the current standard for your certificate on the FAA Airman Certification Standards page. Use relevant chapters from the FAA handbooks, the AIM, current regulations, and aircraft documents.