Learn: Private Pilot Oral exam questions

certification requirements

at least 17, speak/write/understand english, hold US student pilot license, hold 3rd class medical, receive flight and ground training, pass exams

privileges and limitations

as PIC you may not carry passengers for compensation or hire

high performance airplane

200+ horsepower

planes that need specific training and logbook endorsements:

high-performance, complex, high-altitude, and tailwheel

complex airplane

retractible gear, flaps, variable prop

requirements to remain current:

with 24 calendar months... flight review given in aircraft that pilot is rated in. To carry passengers.... 3 takeoffs and landings within 90 days

medical certificate expires (under age 40)

60th calendar month

medical certificate expires (over the age of 40)

24th calendar month

if pilot changes his/her email they have _____ days to notify FAA.

30 days

documents required on board of aircraft prior to flight:

Airworthiness certificate, Registration, Owners manual or operating limitations, Weight and Balance data

How does pilot determine if aircraft has Mode C transponder on aircraft?

by referencing the current weight and balance equipment list

Does aircrafts registration expire?

YES. 3 years + end of month

Who is responsible for making sure plane is maintained/airworthy?

The owner and operator

What records/documents should be checked to determine aircraft is good for inspections and airworthy?

All maintenance records and logs

Airworthiness certificate:

Issued by FAA after aircraft has been inspected & meets requirements, does NOT expire, must be displayed

The use of MELS:

allows for the deferral of inoperative items or equipment

required maintenance inspections:

Annual every 12 months, or every 100 hours

preventative maintenance:

simple or minor preservation operations and the replacement of small standard parts not involving complex assembly operations... ex) oil changes, hydraulic fluid refill

special flight permits:

may be issued for aircraft that doesn't currently meet airworthiness requirements but is still capable of safe flight

airworthiness directives:

AD's; medium the FAA uses to notify aircraft owners and other potentially interested persons of unsafe conditions that may exist because of deign defects, maintenance, or other causes under which the the product may continue to be operated.

Low pressure atmosphere:

inward, upward, and counterclockwise

High pressure atmosphere:

outward, downward, and clockwise

trough:

tough line; elongated area of relatively low atmospheric pressure. Low pressure and bad weather

ridge:

ridge line; elongated area of high atmospheric pressure. High pressure and good weather

isobars

line on a weather chart which connects areas of equal or constant barometric pressure

winds aloft

a forecast of specific atmospheric conditions in terms of wind and temperature at certain altitudes, typically measured in feet (ft) above mean sea level (MSL)

what causes winds aloft to flow parallel to the isobars?

The coriolis force

what does "dew point" mean?

temperature to which a sample of air must be cooled to attain the state of saturation

how do you determine the stability of the atmosphere?

Instability is likely when air near the surface is warm and moist

3 types of structural icing that can occur in flight:

clear ice, rime ice, and mixed ice

action you should take if you accidentally run into icing conditions:

leave the area of visible moisture --> descending to an altitude below the cloud bases, climbing to an altitude above the cloud tops, or turn to a different course

is frost dangerous?

Yes, the roughness of its surface spoils the smooth flow of air, causing a slowing of airflow and loss of some lift

factors that have to be present for a thunderstorm to form:

sufficient water vapor, unstable lapse rate, upward boost to start the storm process in motion

temperature inversion:

is an increase in temperature with height, a reversal of the normal decrease with height

two ways fog may form:

cooling of air to dew point, adding moisture to the air near the ground

what causes radiation fog to form?

the ground cools the adjacent air to the dew point on calm, clear nights

upslope fog:

forms as a result of moist, stable air being cooled adiabatically as it moves up sloping terrain --> quite dense and extends to high altitudes

wind shear:

the rate of change of wind velocity (direction or speed) per unit distance conventionally expressed as vertical or horizontal

why is wind shear a concern for pilots?

b/c unexpected changes in wind speed and direction can be potentially hazardous to plane operations at low altitudes

primary means of obtaining weather briefing?

individual briefing obtained from a briefer at AFSS and are tailored to your specific flight

types of weather briefings that are available from an AFSS briefer:

standard, abbreviated, outlook, and inflight

METAR:

hourly surface observation of conditions observed at an airport.... 2 types: routine and special

basic elements of METAR:

type of report, station, date/time, wind, visibility, runway visual range, sky conditions, temperature/dew, altimeter, remarks

types of weather observing programs available:

manual observations, Automated Weather Observating System (AWOS), Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS)

Radar Weather Reports

SD's; contains info about precipitation observed by weather radar

TAF:

terminal aerodrome forecast; concise statement of the expected meteorological conditions significant to aviation for a specified time period within 5SM of terminal

TAFs contain:

type of report, station identifier, date/time, valid period, forecasts (wind, vis, clouds, etc.)

FA:

aviation area forecast; forecast of specified weather phenomena covering a flight info region or other area designated by the meteorological authority.... use to determine forecast en route, issued 3 times a day

FA contain:

synopsis, clouds and weather, 12-18 hour outlook

convective SIGMET:

implies severe or greater turbulence, severe icing, and low-level wind shear. Hazardous to ALLLLL aircrafts, not just small ones.

AIRMET:

advisories of significant weather phenom that describe conditions at intensities lower than those which require issuance of SIGMETs, intended for all pilots.

types of AIRMETs:

Sierra-- IFR conditions, Tango--moderate turbulence and winds 30+ kts, Zulu--moderate icing and freezing heights

winds and temp aloft forecasts (FB)

computer prepared forecasts or wind direction/speed, temp at dif. locations/time/altitudes, provided 4 times daily

CWA

center weather advisories; aviation warning for use by aircrews to anticipate and avoid adverse weather conditions in the en route and terminal environments

current weather charts available at FSS used in flight planning:

surface analysis chart, weather depiction chart, radar summary chart, short-range surface prognostic chart, significant weather prognostic chart, etc.

surface analysis chart:

computer-prepared chart, provides ready means of locating pressure systems and fronts, every 3 hours

LIFR

low IFR; ceiling less than 500 ft and/or vis less than 1 mile

IFR

ceiling 500 to less than 1,000 ft and/or vis 1 to less than 3 miles

MVFR

marginal VFR; ceiling 1,000-3,000 ft and/or vis 3-5 miles

VFR

ceiling greater than 3,000 ft and vis greater than 5 miles; includes sky clear

radar summary charts:

computer-generated graphical display of a collection of automated radar weather reports (SDs), displays precipitation type/intensity/configuration/coverage/movement

short-range surface prognostic charts:

"progs"; portray forecasts of selected weather conditions at the times when the forecast conditions are expected to occur, surface to 24,000 ft

convection outlook chart:

Day 1: depicts areas forecast to have the potential for severe and non-severe (general) convention and specific severe weather threats during the next 3 days after

constant surface pressure:

any surface of equal pressure in the atmosphere is a constant pressure surface

constant pressure analysis chart:

upper air weather map, pilot can appx. the observed air temp., wind, and temp./dew spread along a proposed route

4 forces of flight:

lift, gravity, thrust, drag

what flight conditions results in the sum of the forces being equal?

straight & level, unaccelerated flight

airfoil:

device which gets a useful reaction from air moving over its surface --> LIFT! ex)wings, horizontal stabilizer, vertical stabilizer, props

angle of incidence:

the angle formed by the longitudinal axis of the plane and the chord of the wing, measured by angle the wing is attached to fuselage, fixed angle

relative wind:

the direction of the airflow with respect to the wing

angle of attack:

angle between the wing chord line and the direction of the relative wing, can be changed by the pilot

Bernoulli's principle:

pressure of a fluid decreases at points where the speed of the fluid increases --- w/ airflow; *airfoil of an aircraft is designed to increase the velocity of the airflow above its surface, thereby decreasing pressure above the airfoil

several factors that affect both lift & drag:

wing area, shape of the airfoil, angle of attack, velocity of the air, air density

torque effect:

Newtons 3rd Law; every action there is an equal and opposite reaction--- prop rotating in one direction and equal force trying to rotate plane in opposite direction

torque reaction of the engine and prop

the rotation of the prop to the right tends to roll or bank the plane to the left

torque effect of the prop slipstream

slipstream strikes the vertical tail surface on the left side pushing the tail to the right and yawing the plane to the left

load factor:

actual load supported by the wings divided by the total weight of the airplane

why is load factor important to pilots?

overload, stall at higher speeds

what situations may result in load factors reaching the max or being exceeded?

level turns, turbulence, speed

max safe load factors specified for normal aircraft:

Normal +3.8 to -1.52

what effect does an increase in load factor have on stalling speed?

as load factor increases, staling speed increases

maneuvering speed:

max speed at which abrupt control movement can be applied or at which the plane could be flown in turbulence w/o exceeding design load factor limits

maneuvering speed of an increase or decrease in weight:

maneuvering speed increases with an increase in weight and decreases with a decrease in weight

what causes an airplane to stall?

excessive angle of attack

spin:

defending in a helical path which flying at an angle of attack greater than the critical angle of attack --- if a stall doesn't occur than a spin can't occur

what causes a spin?

exceeding the critical angle of attack while applying excessive rudder or turning --- when one wing stalls before the other

how to recover from a spin:

PEAR --- power, elevator, aileron, rudder

adverse yaw:

nose pulls towards raised wing in a turn since it has more lift

what major problems can be caused by ground effect?

during landing, excesses speed causes you to float in ground effect --- in takeoff, reduced drag makes it seem capable of takeoff well below the recommended rotation speed

empty weight:

airframe, engines, and all items of operating equipment the are fixed & permanent + unusable fuel, hydraulic fluid, undrained oil

gross weight:

the max allowable weigh of both the airplane and its contents

useful load:

the weight of the pilot, copilot, passengers, baggage, useable fuel, and drainable oil

arm:

the horizontal distance in inches from the reference datum line to the center of gravity of the item

moment:

the product of the weight of an item multiplied by its arm, expressed in pound-inches

center of gravity:

the point about which an aircraft would balance if it were possible to suspend it at that point, expressed in inches from datum

datum:

an imaginary vertical plane or line from which all measurements of arm are taken, established by the manufacturer

weight x arm = ______

moment

weight = moment / _____

arm

arm (CG) = total moment / _______

total weight

when airplane is overloaded, what characteristics does the airplane show?

higher takeoff speed needed, longer takeoff run, reduced rate of climb and angle of climb, lower max altitude, reduced cruising speed, reduced maneuver speed, higher stalling speed, higher landing speed, longer landing roll