Flight test standards

Minimum Age for PPL

17 years old.

Medical Requirement for PPL

Category 3 Medical Certificate.

Ground School Requirement

Minimum 40 hours of PPL Ground School.

PPAER Exam Passing Mark

60% in each of the 4 mandatory subject areas and 60% overall.

Total Flight Time Requirement

45 hours total time.

Dual Instruction Requirement

17 hours total, including 3 hours cross

Solo Practice Requirement

12 hours total, including 5 hours cross

Solo Long Point Distance

150 NM total distance with 2 landings at points other than departure.

PPL Privileges

PIC or Co-pilot of an airplane of a class/type endorsed; PIC of an Ultra-light.

Flight Test Candidate Eligibility

Photo ID, valid medical, 35 hours flight time, and a recommendation letter.

Recommendation Validity

Written recommendations for flight tests are valid for 30 days.

Pilot-In-Command Status

The Examiner is considered the PIC during the flight test.

Ground Items

Tasks performed prior to the pre-flight inspection, such as Documents, Performance, and Weight & Balance.

Air Items

Exercises performed with the aircraft, including taxiing and flight maneuvers.

Repeating a Flight Test Item

Only allowed for safety discontinuance (Go-around), examiner distraction, or misunderstanding.

Pass Mark (Total Score)

A mark of 62 (approximately 50%) is required to pass.

Partial Re-test Trigger

Failure of 1 or 2 air items.

Complete Re-test Trigger

Failure of a 3rd air item OR more than 5 items marked "1" or "2"

4-Point Scale (Mark 4)

Performance is well executed considering existing conditions.

4-Point Scale (Mark 2)

Performance is observed to include major errors.

Minor Deviation

A variance in precision that does not exceed a specified limit.

Major Deviation

Exceeds a specified limit or repeated minor deviations without stability.

Critical Deviation

Repeated non-adherence, failure to correct major errors, or doubling a limit.