# Help me study for the Private Pilot oral exam **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 15, 2011, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-study-for-the-private-pilot-oral-exam/606325 "2011-12-15T19:38:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-study-for-the-private-pilot-oral-exam/606325/21 "2011-12-19T15:18:03Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > The star is a rotating beacon at night. The hashmarks denote “services available”, usually meaning fuel. I can’t believe this one’s been missed. They are not called hash marks, they are tick marks. They mean that the airport has fuel AND is tended during normal working hours which means Monday thru Friday 10am to 4pm. This is from the FAA’s Aeronautical Chart User’s Guide 9th edition, page 3. It’s the only thing I know from this thread since I make the charts and I learn a bit about flight from reading them. ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-study-for-the-private-pilot-oral-exam/606325/22 "2011-12-19T16:07:34Z")
> [@Edward\_The\_Head](#): > > I can’t believe this one’s been missed. They are not called hash marks, they are tick marks. They mean that the airport has fuel AND is tended during normal working hours which means Monday thru Friday 10am to 4pm. This is from the FAA’s Aeronautical Chart User’s Guide 9th edition, page 3. It’s the only thing I know from this thread since I make the charts and I learn a bit about flight from reading them. Some of the examiners can be hard asses, but I doubt anyone would pink slip him for calling tick marks hash marks. 🙂 Anyway, it was my fault because I called them hash marks in my question. This reminds me of the time I sent in a very minor correction about something on the sectional chart - maybe your office handled it. The small town where I live was misspelled. I sent an email with the correct spelling, while also noting that I doubt anyone had gotten killed because of this error on the chart. It was correct in the next version! About your go / no-go decision **Chessic** … That’s an important part of the checkride, and you could be pink slipped for choosing to fly if the conditions don’t warrant it. There are three factors to consider: 1. Do the conditions satisfy VFR requirements, will they stay that way, and are they within the performance envelope of your aircraft (particularly crosswind component)? 2. Are the conditions within your capability? 3. Even if you can get by on factors 1 and 2, is it good judgement? If the answer to any of those is no to either, tell the examiner so. If you choose to fly, it is assumed you can handle the airplane in those conditions. The examiner is not supposed to help you. I once made the mistake of bringing a student to a checkride on a windy day because he had had scheduling problems for weeks and that was the only available time for a while. Turned out he couldn’t handle the winds and needed help from the examiner. He was pink slipped, although somewhat reluctantly because the examiner understood the situation. However, once it was clear the situation was out of the applicant’s league, he had no choice. Later, as a more experienced instructor who told this story to his students, I sent a girl for her checkride on a calm day that turned windy as hell during the oral exam. When asked for a go - no/go decision she said, “It’s VFR and the winds are within the capability of the airplane, but this is beyond my ability. I wouldn’t fly in this.” The examiner said, “That’s correct. If you had said go, the checkride would have been discontinued. Now let’s go fly.” The examiner elected to let her fly having made the correct decision, and made allowances for the wind. Not sure if every examiner would do that, but he did and she passed. I’ll try to think of some regs questions for you later. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-study-for-the-private-pilot-oral-exam/606325/23 "2011-12-19T16:15:34Z")
> [@Mach Tuck](#): > > _winces_ Not wrong I guess, but a front is a boundary between two different air masses. This CAUSES a pressure gradient, but I don’t think I would use that as a definition. Maybe a meteorologist could set us both straight on this one. I am neither a meteorologist nor a pilot, but it seems to me that since an air mass is defined as being separate from another one based upon it’s density, there will, by definition, be a pressure gradient at the boundary between them, so labelling the front as the zone of pressure gradient doesn’t seem incorrect to me. It’s a bit like defining your property line by either pointing to yours and your neighbour’s area of land, or pointing to the fence between them. In any case, this is a fun thread. I’d love to learn to fly one day, but that’s not going to happen in the near future. I do, however, have a ground school manual from an unknown flight school and occasionally flip through it. It’s hard to motivate myself to actually _learn_ anything, though, because there’s no reason for any of this information to stick in my head! There is an examination guide at the back… I can post some of those questions if you’d like. They are multiple choice and may be skewed towards Canadian regulations, though by and large, I know they are the same as American ones. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-study-for-the-private-pilot-oral-exam/606325/24 "2011-12-19T16:24:56Z")
> [@Mach Tuck](#): > > Some of the examiners can be hard asses, but I doubt anyone would pink slip him for calling tick marks hash marks. 🙂 Anyway, it was my fault because I called them hash marks in my question. I was just having a bit of fun. I did however want to make sure he knew both things the tick marks stood for. I’m almost 100% sure that my office would have handled any change that you sent in. Your name has now been forever been attached to that chart. ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-study-for-the-private-pilot-oral-exam/606325/25 "2011-12-19T19:25:05Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > Regulations. I try to read the FARs, but my eyes gloss over and I mentally fall asleep. I sympathize. A lawyer friend of mine said he felt he had some advantage learning the FARs because he’s used to that kind of language. I said I’d probably kill myself if that’s the sort of thing I had to deal with in detail every day. You’ve done pretty well on the regs questions so far, but here are a few more: Can you drop objects from an aircraft? When do you as the pilot need to use a seat belt and/or safety harness? Same question for passengers. What aircraft has right of way over all others? Suppose you’re flying in Class B airspace and the controller gives you a vector for traffic avoidance that will require you to fly into a cloud. What should you do? List all situations in which you need to have an operating Mode C transponder. What inspections are mandatory on your aircraft and its equipment? Aircraft wing and tail position lights have specific colors: list each. What documents have to be on board the aircraft? What documents do you as the pilot need to carry? What elements should be included in a passenger safety briefing? What type of accidents or emergencies must be reported to the FAA? ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-study-for-the-private-pilot-oral-exam/606325/26 "2011-12-19T20:48:48Z")
> [@Mach Tuck](#): > > Can you drop objects from an aircraft? The pilot must take proper care that dropped objects don’t damage property or people. > [@](#): > > When do you as the pilot need to use a seat belt and/or safety harness? Same question for passengers. Passengers must be buckled up for taxi, takeoff, and landing. Crew must have their harness and belt on at those times, but must keep the lap belt on during cruise. > [@](#): > > What aircraft has right of way over all others? Non-powered aircraft have the right of way. Then it’s refueling planes, then balloons, then everything else in order of maneuverability. > [@](#): > > Suppose you’re flying in Class B airspace and the controller gives you a vector for traffic avoidance that will require you to fly into a cloud. What should you do? “Potomac approach, Cessna SDMB, Unable while maintaining VFR.” > [@](#): > > List all situations in which you need to have an operating Mode C transponder. Within 30 nm of a Class B, inside Class B, C and D, and while inside the DC SFRA. What inspections are mandatory on your aircraft and its equipment? > [@](#): > > Aircraft wing and tail position lights have specific colors: list each. I’m not sure if by “tail”, you mean the beacon, but it’s a flashing red light. The left wing is red and the right is green. From behind, the wing lights are white. > [@](#): > > What documents have to be on board the aircraft? A.R.O.W. Question- do you have to have done the W&B computations or are the charts enough? I think the charts are enough. > [@](#): > > What documents do you as the pilot need to carry? PPL, photo ID, valid medical. > [@](#): > > What elements should be included in a passenger safety briefing? Operation of the fire extinguisher, exits, air systems, and sealbelts. A request for assistance looking for traffic and if there are any questions. > [@](#): > > What type of accidents or emergencies must be reported to the FAA? This is something I missed on the written test. I don’t really understand the contradiction between “only file a report if requested” and “Must report this, this, and that.” There must be some key word that’s easy to overlook by the uninitiated, such as “category” and “class” distinctions. I think it’s that you only report deviations from part 91/given clearance if requested, but you report damages and accidents. I know you report the failure of a required piece of equipment or an in-flight fire immediately, as well as damage over a certain dollar amount ($25,000?), but that’s all I know about this. On the test, I answered “a generator failure”, thinking it was important, but I guess that’s the same as an alternator or battery or something. I also don’t know what “immediately” is defined as. Like, in flight on the radio? Upon landing? Before the next flight? ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-study-for-the-private-pilot-oral-exam/606325/27 "2011-12-19T21:19:20Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > Non-powered aircraft have the right of way. Then it’s refueling planes, then balloons, then everything else in order of maneuverability. Good answer, but not complete. Aircraft in distress have right of way over everything else. > [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > Within 30 nm of a Class B, inside Class B, C and D, and while inside the DC SFRA. You don’t need a transponder inside Class D (assuming the airport is not itself within Class B or C). And you missed above 10,000 feet, and above Class C. > [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > A.R.O.W. Question- do you have to have done the W&B computations or are the charts enough? I think the charts are enough. Correct for Part 91 flights. > [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > Operation of the fire extinguisher, exits, air systems, and sealbelts. A request for assistance looking for traffic and if there are any questions. See 91.519. It lists specifically: 1. Smoking 2. Use of safety belts and shoulder harnesses and location and means of opening the passenger door and emergency exits. 3. Survival equipment, ditching procedures, and O2 use if applicable > [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > This is something I missed on the written test. I don’t really understand the contradiction between “only file a report if requested” and “Must report this, this, and that.” See 49 CFR 830.5 I would characterize the distinction as being between “notification” and “providing a written report”. If I have an engine failure, declare an emergency to ATC and perform a successful dead stick landing to an airport I don’t need to notify the NTSB about it. They can ask for written documentation later if they want, but they don’t have to. But certain accidents and failures do require notification - not necessarily a written report. That’s requested afterward. These include (but are not limited to): - Flight control system malfunction or failure - Inability of a crew member to perform their duties due to illness or injury - In-flight fire - Aircraft collision in flight - Damage to property other than the aircraft exceeding $25,000 - Death or serious injury (and there is a specific definition of “serious”) Quick story… I was at a seminar some years ago about safety. The speaker digressed at one point and asked who among the 50 or so pilots there had ever declared an emergency. About a dozen hands went up. He then said, “Keep you hand up if you had to provide a written report afterward.” Every hand went down. He advised us never to hesitate to declare an emergency for fear of the paperwork or whatnot afterword. I once declared an emergency for another aircraft. It was a situation where he was too low to communicate with ATC and I was relaying messages. No paperwork required of me or the guy in the mayday airplane afterward. Another time I lost comm during an IFR flight in clear weather. I squawked 7600, turned around and landed without incident. But because I had used that transponder code, I got a call from the FSDO asking for more information about what happened. An inspector talked to me about it on the phone, but didn’t ask for anything in writing. It sounded sort of ominous to me, and I remember asking, “Have I done something improper?” The inspector said, “No, but since you squawked something starting with 7, we have to check on it.” ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-study-for-the-private-pilot-oral-exam/606325/28 "2011-12-19T21:40:13Z")
> [@Mach Tuck](#): > > - Flight control system malfunction or failure What is a “flight control system”, then? I guess a generator is not one. ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-study-for-the-private-pilot-oral-exam/606325/29 "2011-12-19T21:46:04Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > What is a “flight control system”, then? I guess a generator is not one. I assume you mean the engine is is not part of the flight control system, which is correct. A “generator” is a different piece of equipment, also not part of the flight control system. There was some debate years ago about what should be considered part of the flight control system for certain purposes. It came up when one of the regional FSDOs threatened to revoke the licenses of anyone who had trained at a certain flight school because they used a plane with no brakes on the starboard side (where the instructor usually sits). The regs say that the PIC has to have access to all flight controls, and an instructor with a non-rated pilot is the PIC. So this FSDO got a bug up their ass and was actually going to de-certify anyone who had gone through that school. The national FAA eventually got involved and settled the matter through correspondence that declared brakes are not considered a flight control. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-study-for-the-private-pilot-oral-exam/606325/30 "2011-12-21T14:25:09Z")
So my test was today…Low ceiling. Have to go tomorrow instead. The anticipation is killing me now. So yesterday, I went back to the school to fill out my paperwork, practice some soft-field landings, and retake the failed parts of my oral exam. I passed those easily. But something came up in regard to the landings. My instructor told me to add the power before the mains touch down. The “dean” told me to add it when the mains touch and to keep power at idle before that. So now I’m confused. I usually leave the power a little in anyway, so I can come in at a lower pitch since I’m too short to see outside at high angles of attack. But I still bump the power when touching down just to soften it out. So I’m not really sure on what I’m supposed to do to pass, now. ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-study-for-the-private-pilot-oral-exam/606325/31 "2011-12-21T18:30:50Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > My instructor told me to add the power before the mains touch down. The “dean” told me to add it when the mains touch and to keep power at idle before that. So now I’m confused. I usually leave the power a little in anyway, so I can come in at a lower pitch since I’m too short to see outside at high angles of attack. But I still bump the power when touching down just to soften it out. So I’m not really sure on what I’m supposed to do to pass, now. I’m not sure what to tell you on this. It falls into the area of personal technique, IMHO. In a plane like a 172 I prefer to land with no power at all most of the time. In reasonable conditions, if you judge the round-off and flare properly there’s really no need. Not to say there’s anything wrong with a little bump of power just before the mains touch though. This is not addressed in the Pilot Test Standards to my knowledge. Ask your instructor for clarification, or if possible, the examiner. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2011, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-study-for-the-private-pilot-oral-exam/606325/32 "2011-12-22T11:59:14Z")
It depends on the airplane - some land more smoothly with a touch of power, some just extend the ground roll. Just do whatever seems to work well in the plane you’ll be flying in the test. You’ll be asked to demonstrate short-field technique, where it does make a difference, but again do what you’ve been trained to do and what you know works. I’d wish you good luck, but I don’t think you need it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2011, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-study-for-the-private-pilot-oral-exam/606325/33 "2011-12-22T22:47:09Z")
Well, that was easy. The oral was a piece of cake. The hardest question was probably the one that Mach asked about the alternator failing: > [@](#): > > You’re flying in Class E airspace during the day in good weather. The aircraft’s alternator fails. What effect would this have on the aircraft? Is this an emergency? Other than that, it was a straight-forward conversation. I did most of the talking, I think. My flight plan was nose-on, but he barely looked at it. The flight itself was awesome. The winds were calm, sky clear, and visibility \>10SM, so you literally can’t ask for better weather. After a steep turn, he said I performed it to “commercial standards” and afterward, he told my instructor that it was one of the better checkrides he’s been on and that I know my stuff “well beyond Private level”. He even said “We normally don’t do the debrief with all these people around, but there’s nothing you did wrong. It was all perfectly good.” I messed up two things, but he didn’t even notice them. I didn’t raise the flaps on the short-field landing and I didn’t add power on the soft-field until well after touchdown. When I told him after the ride, he said it didn’t really matter because some people teach not to raise the flaps, lest you accidentally hit the landing gear lever, and that he didn’t think any power would matter to a C-172 on a soft-field landing. He just said he grades results, not technique, and I did that just fine. So…look at me, the private pilot! ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2011, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-study-for-the-private-pilot-oral-exam/606325/34 "2011-12-22T23:22:09Z")
Congratulations!! ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2011, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-study-for-the-private-pilot-oral-exam/606325/35 "2011-12-23T07:41:09Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > \ > > **So…look at me, the private pilot!** Mazel Tov! Now, when are you going to take all your SDMB buddies out for a pleasure cruise? ETA: **Asimovian,** are you next? ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2011, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-study-for-the-private-pilot-oral-exam/606325/36 "2011-12-23T08:03:44Z")
Way to go! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-study-for-the-private-pilot-oral-exam/606325.md?page=1)