Just took my first FAA test. It was the ground tests for the private pilot license. In order to get the private pilot license, you must first take the FAA ground test. If passed, the student pilot then takes the oral test with an FAA examiner. He or she will ask you questions about flying and you answer them. However, you can’t use notes, books, or any other medium as an aid to the orally given questions. It has to be knowledge that you’ve learned while studying. Lastly, the student pilot will take the practical, or the flying test, with either the same, or a different examiner. If the examiner deems the student pilot safe and confident, he or she will give you the license.
The first test, or the written test, is what I just took. Overall, it wasn’t that hard. However, being in a part 141 flight school, the ground school has given me tests where the questions are the exact same FAA questions that are on the written test. So I had an idea of what the questions looked like, and how the FAA phrased things before I even saw the first question. The FAA uses the same questions over and over again. I believe there are around 1,000 questions (While going for different licenses, there are different sets of questions) for the private pilot course. What was weird, to me at least, is that the test was administered on a computer. I met with the FAA examiner, we went into a classroom with computers, and he brought the test up on one of the screens for me. The tests consisted of 62 multiple choice questions. 60 of them were graded, while 2 of them didn’t count. I didn’t know which ones didn’t count, nor do I have a good idea why the FAA decided to put two void questions on the exam. The test took me about 55 minutes, but I had an hour and a half to complete it.
The questions which took the longest were the weight and balance, performance, and navigation questions. I had to do either math, use the tiny print on charts, or use the wiz-wheel, respectively, to find the answers. Other than that, questions included all areas of aviation. Luckily, there were only 2 or 3 questions on the test about regulations. I always have had a hard time with regulation questions, because they don’t have much to do with flying. Regulations are more or less the rules pilots must follow. And example is, “when should a battery on an ELT (Emergency Locator Transmitter) be replaced.” The answer is either after one half the battery life has been used, or after one cumulative hour of use. It’s easy to see that this question has nothing to do with actually flying an airplane.
I waited the 15 minutes while the test was graded, and then submitted to the FAA. In order to pass, students must get a minimum of 75%. Fortunately, I was nowhere close to that. I got a 96% and was congratulated by the examiner. Next up is the oral test, but that’s taken when I’m ready to do the practical and finally get my first, or many, pilot wings.
The first test, or the written test, is what I just took. Overall, it wasn’t that hard. However, being in a part 141 flight school, the ground school has given me tests where the questions are the exact same FAA questions that are on the written test. So I had an idea of what the questions looked like, and how the FAA phrased things before I even saw the first question. The FAA uses the same questions over and over again. I believe there are around 1,000 questions (While going for different licenses, there are different sets of questions) for the private pilot course. What was weird, to me at least, is that the test was administered on a computer. I met with the FAA examiner, we went into a classroom with computers, and he brought the test up on one of the screens for me. The tests consisted of 62 multiple choice questions. 60 of them were graded, while 2 of them didn’t count. I didn’t know which ones didn’t count, nor do I have a good idea why the FAA decided to put two void questions on the exam. The test took me about 55 minutes, but I had an hour and a half to complete it.
The questions which took the longest were the weight and balance, performance, and navigation questions. I had to do either math, use the tiny print on charts, or use the wiz-wheel, respectively, to find the answers. Other than that, questions included all areas of aviation. Luckily, there were only 2 or 3 questions on the test about regulations. I always have had a hard time with regulation questions, because they don’t have much to do with flying. Regulations are more or less the rules pilots must follow. And example is, “when should a battery on an ELT (Emergency Locator Transmitter) be replaced.” The answer is either after one half the battery life has been used, or after one cumulative hour of use. It’s easy to see that this question has nothing to do with actually flying an airplane.
I waited the 15 minutes while the test was graded, and then submitted to the FAA. In order to pass, students must get a minimum of 75%. Fortunately, I was nowhere close to that. I got a 96% and was congratulated by the examiner. Next up is the oral test, but that’s taken when I’m ready to do the practical and finally get my first, or many, pilot wings.
