The FAA Written

The private pilot airplane knowledge test carries the test code PAR. Pilots call it the written. The FAA calls it the knowledge test in each of its own documents, and the FAA term is the term below. The FAA Airman Knowledge Testing Matrix prints the whole specification in one row: "TEST CODE: PAR. TEST NAME: Private Pilot Airplane. NUMBER OF QUESTIONS: 60. AGE: 15. ALLOTTED TIME: 2.0. PASSING SCORE: 70" 1. The FAA scores 60 questions.

The allotted time is 2.0 hours. The passing score is 70. Seventy percent of 60 is 42, so 42 correct answers out of the 60 scored questions is a pass. The score prints on the report the applicant carries to the checkride 2.

Each question is multiple choice. The FAA states the form: "The airman knowledge test consists of multiple-choice questions. A single correct response exists for each test question. A correct response to one question does not depend upon, or influence, the correct response to another" 3. The FAA's published PAR sample questions give three choices, lettered A, B and C.

A wrong answer to one question does not change the score of another question. A question you cannot start does not predict your result on the rest of the test.

The number of questions on the screen can be higher than 60. Unscored validation questions appear among the scored questions.

The 2.5 hours printed in the ACS

Appendix 1 of the Airman Certification Standards prints a different time. Its table reads "Test Code PAR. Test Name Private Pilot Airplane. Number of Questions 60. Age 15. Allotted Time 2.5. Passing Score 70" 4. That figure is out of date.

The Matrix revised April 24, 2023 carried a footnote recording the change: "Effective April 24, 2023, the Private Pilot Airplane (PAR) allotted test time will be reduced, from 2.5 hours, to 2.0 hours." 5. The Matrix revised October 22, 2025 prints 2.0 1. ACS-6C is dated November 2023 and still carries the old number.

The test center works from the Matrix. A student who plans a 2.5-hour sitting has 30 minutes less than planned, which is 30 seconds a question. Check the Matrix before the booking. The proctor follows the Matrix, and the FAA revises the Matrix more often than the ACS.

The minimum age for the PAR knowledge test is 15. The Matrix prints 15 in the AGE column of the PAR row 1. The test center checks it: "An applicant must present state or federal government-issued photo identification as proof they are at least the minimum eligibility age required for the requested knowledge test" 6.

A private pilot certificate requires a different age. Section 61.103 opens the eligibility list with it: "To be eligible for a private pilot certificate, a person must: (a) Be at least 17 years of age for a rating in other than a glider or balloon" 7. A pass on the knowledge test at 15 does not lower the age for the certificate. A 15-year-old who passes in June sits the checkride after the seventeenth birthday, and the test report must still be valid on that day.

Section 61.35 requires the test center to check the dates. The identification must carry a date of birth showing that the applicant "meets or will meet the age requirements of this part for the certificate sought before the expiration date of the airman knowledge test report" 8. A report is valid for 24 calendar months, and the certificate requires age 17. A student who tests on the fifteenth birthday holds a report that expires at the end of the month of the seventeenth birthday. That expiry leaves days rather than months for the checkride.

An applicant under 18 who does not hold acceptable identification must bring a parent or legal guardian. The Matrix requires that adult to present identification and to attest to the applicant's identity 6.

Where North Aero puts the test

North Aero students sit the knowledge test at the Phase 3 and Phase 4 boundary. Phase 4 is Checkride Week, and the checkride requires a passed knowledge test. Section 61.39 makes the order a rule: an applicant for a checkride must "Pass the required knowledge test" and "Present the knowledge test report at the time of application for the practical test" 9.

The subjects on the test are the subjects of Phases 1 through 3. The test therefore falls after the training in each subject.

A test center requires written authorization before the test. Section 61.35(a)(1) states the usual form: an applicant must have "Received an endorsement, if required by this part, from an authorized instructor certifying that the applicant accomplished the appropriate ground-training or a home-study course required by this part for the certificate or rating sought and is prepared for the knowledge test" 10. Section 61.103(d) is the paragraph that requires it for a private pilot 7.

One alternative to the endorsement exists. The Matrix accepts a "Certificate of graduation issued by an FAA certificated pilot school. (14 CFR § 61.71(a))" 11. A student at a Part 141 school can present the graduation certificate in place of the endorsement 12. A student under Part 61 needs the endorsement.

The number and the card

An FAA Tracking Number comes before the booking. The Matrix states the requirement first: "Airman applicants, WHO DO NOT ALREADY HAVE AN FTN, should establish an FTN, by creating a profile in the Integrated Airman Certification and Rating Application (IACRA) System, PRIOR TO taking an FAA Airman Knowledge Test. This FTN is printed on the applicant's Airman Knowledge Test Report (AKTR)" 13. The FTN identifies you in IACRA, and the FAA test registration system requires one before you can book 14.

Section 61.35(a)(3) requires identification carrying the applicant's photograph, signature and date of birth 8. The Matrix adds one item. It requires identification that includes "photo, date of birth, signature, physical, residential address", and it names a post office box, a rural route and a flight school address as unacceptable 6.

You take the test at a PSI center. The FAA contracts the testing to PSI. The ACS Companion Guide gives the route in two steps: obtain the FTN through IACRA, then "create an account with the FAA's contracted testing vendor, PSI, a professional testing company which operates hundreds of test centers" 14. PSI also "provides sample tests for registered users on their website" 14. Sit a sample test before the real test, because the PSI software is unfamiliar and the test has a time limit.

Part 61 names the Airman Certification Standards by edition. Section 61.14 incorporates it by reference: "FAA-S-ACS-6C, Private Pilot for Airplane Category Airman Certification Standards, November 2023; IBR approved for § 61.43 and appendix A to this part" 15. Naming the document in Part 61 fixes the edition the rules adopt.

The ACS names the elements the knowledge test evaluates. It states that "Knowledge and risk management elements are primarily evaluated during the knowledge testing phase of the airman certification process", and it encourages applicants "to use the ACS when preparing for the airman knowledge tests and practical tests" 16.

Each knowledge element in the ACS carries a code. The code PA.I.A.K1 reads in four parts:

• PA for the private pilot airplane ACS
• I for Area of Operation I
• A for Task A inside that Area of Operation
• K1 for the first knowledge element of that Task.

The FAA's published sample questions print a code beside each question. A sample question you answer wrong names the element to read.

Use the codes as the study plan. Each Task in the ACS lists its knowledge elements, its risk management elements and its skill elements, and gives the FAA references behind them. Working an Area of Operation element by element covers the knowledge test and the oral at the same time, because the same list governs both.

Three evaluations, not one

Certification measures you three times:

• the knowledge test, which primarily evaluates the knowledge and risk management elements
• the ground portion of the checkride, where an evaluator asks about those same elements out loud
• the flight portion of the checkride, where an evaluator observes the skill elements.

The same ACS governs each evaluation. A knowledge element you answer wrong in June is an element an evaluator can ask you about in September.

The questions that do not count

Some questions on the test are not scored. The Matrix says which and why: "Any of the tests, described in this Matrix, may include validation questions, which are questions used to accumulate data for statistical analysis of test question validity and performance." The Matrix states three more facts:

• validation questions "are NOT scored, and do NOT count for or against the applicant's final test score"
• the listed number of questions "does NOT include validation questions"
• the listed allotted time "includes the time required to respond to validation questions" 17.

A validation question looks like a scored question. You cannot tell the two apart, so answer each question at the same standard.

The test center prints a report before you leave the building. The FAA describes it: "Upon completion of the knowledge test, the test center issues a printed Airman Knowledge Test Report (AKTR) to the applicant, which documents the applicant's test score and lists a code for any questions answered incorrectly. The applicant should retain the original AKTR" 2. For PAR the codes are ACS codes 18.

Your evaluator reads those codes. The FAA continues in the same paragraph: "During the oral portion of a practical test, the evaluator reviews the AKTR, and assesses any noted areas of deficiency" 2. The minimum elements an evaluator must test from each applicable Task include "any elements in which the applicant was shown to be deficient on the knowledge test" 16.

The endorsement that certifies the retraining

An instructor must certify the retraining. The pre-checkride endorsement in 61.39(a)(6) certifies three things, and the third names the knowledge test: the applicant "Has demonstrated satisfactory knowledge of the subject areas in which the applicant was deficient on the airman knowledge test" 19. A missed question therefore costs a conversation with an instructor and a signature, whatever the score was.

Twenty-four calendar months

The report expires. Section 61.39(a)(1)(i) requires the applicant to pass the knowledge test "Within the 24-calendar-month period preceding the month the applicant completes the practical test" 9. The period runs in calendar months. A test passed on June 3 stays valid through June 30 two years later.

The next paragraph of 61.39 requires the applicant to "Present the knowledge test report at the time of application for the practical test" 9. Bring the report to the checkride.

Failing

An applicant who fails the knowledge test can take it again. Section 61.49(a) sets the two conditions for a retest: "The necessary training from an authorized instructor who has determined that the applicant is proficient to pass the test" and "An endorsement from an authorized instructor who gave the applicant the additional training" 20. Bring the failed report as well. The Matrix requires an applicant retesting after failure "to submit the applicable AKTR (whether valid or expired) indicating failure" 11.

The flight of N5243E

On July 4, 2023, at 1357 Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 172N landed at French Valley Airport in Murrieta, California, and took off again from the landing roll. The airplane climbed to about 60 feet, rolled inverted, and struck an industrial building 0.3 nautical miles from the approach end of runway 18. The pilot died. His three sons received serious injuries. He received his private pilot certificate 15 days earlier, on June 19, 2023, and the NTSB records the day as "the pilot's first flight following his practical test" 21.

The family planned a day of scenic flights. The pilot flew his wife and one of their four children first, and that flight ended normally. His wife and that son got out. The other three sons boarded, and the pilot flew the same route again 21. The accident flight was the second of two flights, and the pilot carried passengers on both.

The landing

The approach looked wrong to a witness on the ground. He described it as "squirrely" and said the flaps appeared to be fully extended. The airplane touched down about 1,000 feet from the approach end of runway 18 21.

The son in the front right seat described the landing as normal. He told his mother afterwards that "the airplane landed normally, but during the landing roll he heard a 'pop,' and the airplane began to shake. He then observed his father's demeanor change as he began to panic and then advanced the throttle again" 21. The investigation could not identify the source of the sound. It also could not determine why the pilot took off after a touchdown he planned as a full stop 21.

The go-around

Surveillance video recorded what followed. The airplane "touched down on the runway, rolled for about 1-2 seconds, then departed the runway surface and immediately entered a climb in a nose-high attitude as it drifted left of the runway centerline. After the airplane reached about 60 ft above ground level, it began to settle and subsequently entered a left-wing-low attitude" 21.

The witness watched the flaps. The airplane "was still configured with full flaps as it slowly climbed toward a group of buildings at a high angle of attack. As the airplane neared the group of buildings, its wings rocked back and forth, and the flaps started to retract" 21. Investigators found the flap selector up, and the actuator position was consistent with fully retracted flaps 21.

Two handbooks prescribe a different go-around. The Cessna's normal procedures state that "a balked landing should be conducted at maximum power with flaps at 20° and 55 kts indicated airspeed", and the Airplane Flying Handbook warns that "A sudden and complete retraction of the flaps could cause a loss of lift resulting in the airplane settling into the ground" 21.

The NTSB found no mechanical fault. Its probable cause was "The pilot's exceedance of the airplane's critical angle of attack during takeoff, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall and loss of control. Contributing to the loss of control was the pilot's sudden retraction of the flaps" 21.

What the record already said

The pilot's training took three years. He started at one flight academy in July 2020 and flew about 35 hours there with seven different instructors. He moved to a second school in September 2020, and logged about 7 hours between November 2020 and July 2021. He flew no hours between August 2021 and August 2022. From September 2022 he flew 2 to 6 hours a month until the month of the checkride. He finished with 65.3 hours 21.

One of the pilot's instructors named the exact weakness to the NTSB. The report records that "the pilot had trouble advancing the yoke to keep the airplane's nose down during go-arounds", and that "the pilot had a habit of configuring the airplane with excessive nose-up trim for landing" 21. The accident flight was a go-around from a nose-high attitude, and the pilot did not lower the nose.

The evaluator saw a satisfactory go-around on the checkride. The evaluator's notes record four items:

• a normal takeoff and landing
• a full stop, then short-field and soft-field work
• a slip
• a go-around at the same airport.

The pilot "completed each task satisfactory" 21.

Where the chain could have been broken

Four decisions would each have ended the day without an accident.

• What the instructor knew. An instructor who sees a weakness can name that weakness to the student. Training to a standard on the day of a test and having a habit are two different things, and the record held both.
• The first day of flying after the checkride. The pilot carried passengers on both flights of that day. A first flight alone, or with an instructor, costs one hour.
• The landing roll. A sound during a landing roll is a reason to stop on the runway. The airplane had 6,000 feet of runway and touched down 1,000 feet in.
• The go-around itself. The handbook figure is flaps 20 degrees and 55 knots at maximum power. Retracting the flaps fully at 60 feet is outside that procedure, and the NTSB named that retraction as a contributing factor.

The knowledge test measures what a pilot knows on one morning. The checkride measures what a pilot can do on one afternoon. Neither measures what a pilot does 15 days later with three children aboard.

The last sentence of a stem carries the question. FAA stems often open with a scenario and end with the question. The text above that last sentence is data, and the data is useful only after you read the question. Read the last sentence first, then read the rest of the stem.

An example from the FAA's own published sample questions reads: "Maintenance records show the last transponder inspection was performed on September 1, 2014. The next inspection will be due no later than". The first sentence is data. The second sentence asks for a date.

Two words in a stem change the answer. "Minimum" and "maximum" separate the correct choice from a distractor that gives the opposite limit of the same rule. Read those two words before you compute.

The figures come from one book

Each figure on the test comes from a supplement the proctor gives you. FAA-CT-8080-2H is the supplement for PAR, and the Matrix names it at the head of the Recreational and Private Pilot table 1. The supplement holds six kinds of item:

• the sectional chart excerpts
• the Chart Supplement pages
• the weight and balance tables and graphs
• the crosswind component graph
• the landing distance graphs
• the time conversion table 22.

The sample questions cite it by figure number, in the form "(Refer to FAA-CT-8080-2H, Figure 32.)" 22. Download the supplement and work from the real pages. The downloaded supplement has the same print quality, scale and detail as the copy on the day of the test.

Work the figure, not your memory of it. The FAA's test taking tips include two instructions about figures: "Examine graphs and notes that pertain to the question", and "Request and mark a printed copy of any graph while computing answers, if needed" 23. Ask the proctor for the printed copy and draw the entry lines on it. A line you draw stays on the page while you read the answer off the other axis.

Compute before you read the choices

Work the answer first, then look at the three choices. The FAA tells applicants to "Understand that since only one answer is complete and correct, the other possible answers are either incomplete or erroneous" 23. A wrong choice is usually the answer a common mistake produces, such as true course instead of magnetic course, or gallons instead of pounds. If you read the choices first, a choice that matches your mistake can confirm the mistake.

Choose the answer closest to your computation. The FAA writes performance questions to ask for an approximate value, in stems such as "Determine the approximate landing ground roll". A plotter, a flight computer and the FAA's own method give slightly different results, so a number that falls between two choices is normal.

Answer each question. The FAA scores an unanswered question as wrong, and a guess costs nothing more than a blank. The FAA's test taking tips end with the instruction to "Answer all the questions before time allotted for the test expires" 23.

Answer from the current rule. The same list of tips tells applicants to "Answer each question in accordance with the current regulations and guidance publications" 23. The FAA scores each question against the current regulation. An old textbook figure is not the standard, and neither is a number a pilot gave you at the airport.

The time

Two hours divided by 60 questions is two minutes a scored question. Unscored validation questions sit inside the same two hours, so the real budget is under two minutes. A question that takes six minutes uses the time of three other questions, so mark it and return to it later. The FAA gives the same advice and the software supports it: "Mark difficult questions for later review in order to use the available time efficiently" 23. The tutorial before the test shows you where the marking control is 14.

What each test measures

The knowledge test measures precise recall of numbers. The oral portion of the checkride measures understanding of mechanisms. Study the numbers for the knowledge test and the mechanisms for the checkride, because both examine the same ACS element.

The FAA warns against memorizing questions. It states that the goal "is for applicants to devote their efforts to mastering the fundamental aeronautical knowledge necessary for safe operations in the National Airspace System (NAS) rather than to memorizing specific questions and answers", and that a student must "focus on mastering the fundamental concepts – not only to pass the knowledge test, but also to ensure that you have acquired the knowledge needed to be a safe and competent pilot" 24. The FAA does not publish its live questions, and test preparation companies write the commercial question banks 24.