2024 PPL written test

[VoiceOfReason]

has anyone recently taken the private pilot written ?

I’m interested in knowing how much weather vs weight-balance vs VOR stuff etc

bonus points if you were a Sportys student and can opine about the test prep questions versus the ‘real test’

 

[mandm]

Asa prepware questions were very similar. You’ll get a selection of questions from a pool so who knows what exactly you’ll get.

 

[dmspilot]

I’m interested in knowing how much weather vs weight-balance vs VOR stuff etc

It's random from the entire pool. They don't select any particular number of questions from each topic. You could have 0 weight and balance questions or you could have 5.

edit: Seems this information is out of date.

 

[Aceman]

It's random from the entire pool. They don't select any particular number of questions from each topic. You could have 0 weight and balance questions or you could have 5.

100% this.

You have to study everything with equal weight.

I studied by taking practice test after practice test over and over again until I got familiar with the questions of the entire test.

 

[write-stuff]

Percentage of questions by topic is published in the PAR ACS. It's still the luck of the draw what questions you'll actually see. The FAA stopped publishing the questions/answers in 2008 so no one has a complete and current list. They are changing questions and answers agreesively these days, so don't try to memorize your way through the exam. Learn the material and it won't matter how questions are worded.

 

[VoiceOfReason]

^^ interestingly, Navigation is absent from the list. Certainly it will be focal somehow on the test

 

[Gess]

I took the test about three weeks ago and was annoyed there were no W/B or Density Altitude questions that required charts on my exam. I bought a dry-erase kit and drilled with those pretty tedious charts for takeoff/landing as well as the weight and balance zone charts and wasn't tested on it.

I passed by a wide margin anyway but I was perturbed at the mix of questions I was dealt.

+1 for the ASA questions, though I wish their testing system was a little 'smarter.' Maybe it is if you do the full course with them but I only used their question bank to supplement my Flight Insight ground school.

 

[ateamer]

Why is it such a problem to just get the ground school, study, and know the information? You’re becoming a pilot because you love aviation and want to be immersed in it, right? What’s the downside to digging in and learning as much as you can?

 

[Clip4]

has anyone recently taken the private pilot written ?

I’m interested in knowing how much weather vs weight-balance vs VOR stuff etc

bonus points if you were a Sportys student and can opine about the test prep questions versus the ‘real test’

FAA written knowledge tests are corrected to 100% by requiring you to get additional ground instruction and testing.

At the end of the written test you will receive a test report with the score and the knowledge codes you missed. Your CFI is required to give you additional instruction on those topic codes and endorse your logbook. Then the examiner for the practical test is required verbally test you about those codes during the practical test.

Get the books out.

 

[Gess]

Why is it such a problem to just get the ground school, study, and know the information? You’re becoming a pilot because you love aviation and want to be immersed in it, right? What’s the downside to digging in and learning as much as you can?

I studied, and I know the information. And I continue to study as there is always a next step to be achieved.

My gripe is that I dedicated a lot of time, several hours, and extra cost (in the form of special markers, transparencies, making charts, etc.) to drill on a skill that wasn't ultimately tested on the written exam. It's probably just luck of the draw. In my case, I had a choice between drilling on performance questions or re-reviewing other material. In hindsight, I wish I would have studied the other material even though I scored very well.

To answer your question, there is always an opportunity cost when there are limited resources. Dedicating time to retracing old ground and not even being tested on the material, instead of learning something new, is a tangible downside.

 

[Pilot_Neptune]

Percentage of questions by topic is published in the PAR ACS. It's still the luck of the draw what questions you'll actually see. The FAA stopped publishing the questions/answers in 2008 so no one has a complete and current list. They are changing questions and answers agreesively these days, so don't try to memorize your way through the exam. Learn the material and it won't matter how questions are worded.

View attachment 126859

I actually think this is misleading. 5-10% on accident reporting? No navigation? No airport operations, taxi, runway and all that? The ACS is a comprehensive list of everything you need to know but I wouldn't want a student to look at this and only study regulations, safe operations and then a a handful of other sections thinking that will get them a 70%.

But as you stated no one has access to the questions and anyone that says they do is lying. They made a bunch of updated in spring of 2023 where they stopped asking questions that had MULTIPLE calculation steps. So this removed a lot of cross-country planning questions or questions involving a calculation plus an interpolation.

However, that doesnt mean you wont get any of those. Since then it is a total random selection of questions covering all subjects

 

[VoiceOfReason]

UPDATE: while I have whined openly about the Sportys lack of taught content vs. their very own practice tests, I did learn a lot by simply taking the practice tests over and over and then testing using their 'missed questions' function until all the questions looked familiar.
By that time, I was getting 90-s on the tests. Other than VOR's- which **** me off and are frustrating to learn cuz we all know its going away.
Anyhow-- you're talking to a lifetime C student here now 57 years old.

I passed with a 95 and it took me 20 minutes max. no math problems whatsoever. Good amount of questions on tailwhind/crosswind stuff. Lots of regulatory about basicMed requirements, and reporting requirements about various incidents and convictions.

I'm relived its done and -- ready for advice about how to start preparing for oral and check ride. I'd imagine there's other threads on that

Thanks everyone for the counsel above.

 

[guest user]

Other than VOR's- which **** me off and are frustrating to learn cuz we all know its going away.

Not the point of either your post or the thread, but I would like to point out that VORs are not going away. A lot are, but the plan is to keep a minimum amount of VORs running to still make it a viable navigation system. This is important as GPS outages have and do occur. Sometimes planned, sometimes not. So having that functionality and knowing how to use it has value.

https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ato/service_units/techops/navservices/gbng/vormon

Congrats on the 95, btw.

Let us know how the checkride goes.

 

[VoiceOfReason]

^^ all correct I'm sure, and I need a better attitude about VOR

I race offshore sailboats and in 30 years and over 30k offshore miles I've never experienced a GPS outage but that would be a trip ! You can find me with the paper charts, compass and divider going old-school as I often get teased about. its a dying art in the marine world but- I like the foundational knowledge...

 

[guest user]

I race offshore sailboats and in 30 years and over 30k offshore miles I've never experienced a GPS outage but that would be a trip !

Over land it will usually be military training related. They no doubt try to contain it to their little piece of dirt, but it does affect the civilian side some. There will usually be a post or two here on PoA about the 'children of the magenta line' not having a clue how to switch to VOR navigation and depending on ATC to give them vectors until they get out of the outage area.

 

[flyingtexas]

I took the test about three weeks ago and was annoyed there were no W/B or Density Altitude questions that required charts on my exam. I bought a dry-erase kit and drilled with those pretty tedious charts for takeoff/landing as well as the weight and balance zone charts and wasn't tested on it.

I passed by a wide margin anyway but I was perturbed at the mix of questions I was dealt.

+1 for the ASA questions, though I wish their testing system was a little 'smarter.' Maybe it is if you do the full course with them but I only used their question bank to supplement my Flight Insight ground school.

i think you came out a winner. that expertise you drilled on will serve you well in your flying career......just don't forget it!

 

[Racerx]

I thought I read the test is now 65 questions but 5 may be unscored and used for future testing?

 

[write-stuff]

I thought I read the test is now 65 questions but 5 may be unscored and used for future testing?

They've been including unscored extra questions for quite a while. It used to be 3, but they upped them to 5.

 

[write-stuff]

I actually think this is misleading. 5-10% on accident reporting? No navigation? No airport operations, taxi, runway and all that? The ACS is a comprehensive list of everything you need to know but I wouldn't want a student to look at this and only study regulations, safe operations and then a a handful of other sections thinking that will get them a 70%.

Hopefully, people aren't shooting for a 70% to begin with.

 

[NorthEast Ohio]

Hopefully, people aren't shooting for a 70% to begin with.

Why not? In the FAA book a 70% is a PASS. Take the “W” and go home victorious.
If you scored in the high 90s, that simply tells me you have mastered the FAAs -illogical- testing logic
Things like: out of date questions, irrelevant questions, questions with more than one correct answer, questions with no correct answers, trick questions.

 

[Aceman]

Why is it such a problem to just get the ground school, study, and know the information? You’re becoming a pilot because you love aviation and want to be immersed in it, right? What’s the downside to digging in and learning as much as you can?

I don't see anything wrong with it. I learned on my own at my own pace and did very well on the test. One will still have to keep current regardless of what you score on the test. I am still rereading material I did study months ago and getting better insight now that I have the license and fly on my own.

 

[MauleSkinner]

He oral.Why not? In the FAA book a 70% is a PASS. Take the “W” and go home victorious.
If you scored in the high 90s, that simply tells me you have mastered the FAAs -illogical- testing logic
Things like: out of date questions, irrelevant questions, questions with more than one correct answer, questions with no correct answers, trick questions.

With the bonus hat you get to demonstrate knowledge of those specific topics on the oral.

 

[AeroLudite]

re: Sporty’s test prep….
While preparing for my last CFI renewal I came across a link to a Sporty’s site that allowed you to take a 10 question quiz from the CFI database.
I was surprised that after taking the quiz 8 times that the questions began repeating. That wasn’t the big surprise. It’s that the suppposed correct answer was WRONG! In two of the questions.The only one I remember now is regarding Class “G” airspace. (The other was W&B iirc)
I contacted Sporty’s and brought them to their attention. The attendent wanted to argue with me so I read him the actual regulation! He then relented. (1mi and clear of clouds, day time; 3,152 night time- same as Class E).
To their credit, I’ve seen that they have changed the answer to reflect the FAR. My concern is how many more do they have? I’ve never before used their products, and doubt I ever will. I’ve used Gleim and never have found a discrepancy (except those in the FAA’s database) I also find that the Gleim much more closely resembles the FAA materials.
When I took the FAA Private Pilot written in 1977, it was a 100 questions. No calculating devices except an E6B and plotter. Most applicants failed on the first attempt. As many as 10% of the test questions had a WRONG answer as the correct choice!
It was Kershner and Gleim that made them clean up their act after the Freedom of Information Act made them release their database for public access.
The test was otherwise quite thorough…
I had a student that was rather challenged by the written test. He had a particularly hard time with NDB’s and VOR’s. By the 4th time he took the test, he said that 50 of the questions had VOR somewhere in it!
His coworkers now call him “Captain”….

 

[write-stuff]

Why not? In the FAA book a 70% is a PASS. Take the “W” and go home victorious.

70% isn't victorious, it's barely passing. Which 30% of aviation knowledge isn't necessary?

 

[TommyG]

Miss the days when you could just memorize the questions. Did that for all my tests, and passed the tests with high scores.

 

[Half Fast]

Anything that is not time-critical during a flight. Non-critical items can be looked up as necessary.

I got a question about reporting requirements after an arrest for growing marijuana. I have to say that this was about as irrelevant to flying as something can be.

Yeah, my PP exam had, IIRC, three questions on DUIs and reporting them. Why a pilot should need to have such information committed to memory is known only to the drunks who wrote the exam questions.

 

[Baked Potato]

As a Sporty's 'student' I may have chosen a different provider if I did all over again. I was initially looking for something that worked as well on my phone as my PC. It does do that well at least. Here is one of the practice questions that I ended up asking them about. Their answer was basically to choose the 'best' answer even if it is factually incorrect.



To their credit, I did find this very statement in the book Stick & Rudder, but it was in the chapter where the author predicted (in 1944) that the rudder would be eliminated in GA aircraft, a la Ercoupe.

 

[JScarry]

Not to be pedantic, but the Ercoupe has a rudder coupled with the ailerons. It doesn’t have rudder pedals.

 

[Baked Potato]

Not to be pedantic, but the Ercoupe has a rudder coupled with the ailerons. It doesn’t have rudder pedals.

Yes, in the last sentence I meant to say "rudder pedals".

 

[write-stuff]

Anything that is not time-critical during a flight. Non-critical items can be looked up as necessary.

I got a question about reporting requirements after an arrest for growing marijuana. I have to say that this was about as irrelevant to flying as something can be.

So most of the regulations are unnecessary for pilots. Got it.

 

[robin ardoin]

 

[Clip4]

I studied, and I know the information. And I continue to study as there is always a next step to be achieved.

My gripe is that I dedicated a lot of time, several hours, and extra cost (in the form of special markers, transparencies, making charts, etc.) to drill on a skill that wasn't ultimately tested on the written exam. It's probably just luck of the draw. In my case, I had a choice between drilling on performance questions or re-reviewing other material. In hindsight, I wish I would have studied the other material even though I scored very well.

To answer your question, there is always an opportunity cost when there are limited resources. Dedicating time to retracing old ground and not even being tested on the material, instead of learning something new, is a tangible downside.

You took at test with questions from a bank of 8000 questions. Maybe you would have rather had a test that lasted 8 hours with 240 questions so your effort wasn’t wasted.

 

[robin ardoin]

You took at test with questions from a bank of 8000 questions. Maybe you would have rather had a test that lasted 8 hours with 240 questions so your effort wasn’t wasted.

^^^^^ I'll take the 60 for $100 Alex.....all day long and twice on Sunday. I've taken many 250+ question test in my academic career and post training board licensing exams. Take the 60 and be gleeful that you were only asked a small fraction of what you had to learn.

 

[JScarry]

I got a question about reporting requirements after an arrest for growing marijuana. I have to say that this was about as irrelevant to flying as something can be.

Do you remember what the correct answer was? Because I am not aware of any FAR that requires reporting an arrest involving marijuana unless it involves operation of a motor vehicle while impaired.
If you get a medical that is not Basic Med you need to report convictions for misdemeanors or felonies on the MedXpress form but not arrests.

 

[Gess]

You took at test with questions from a bank of 8000 questions. Maybe you would have rather had a test that lasted 8 hours with 240 questions so your effort wasn’t wasted.

The discussion was about the distribution of topics tested, not the overall quantity of questions.

 

[Clip4]

The discussion was about the distribution of topics tested, not the overall quantity of questions.

It’s not a Written Topic Test. The 60 question / 2 hour test prohibits a representative distribution of all the knowledge involved with the various handbooks, ACs, chart supplements, charts, FAR/AIM and operational procedures. The result is the applicant has to study a wide variety of knowledge.

 

[xenadu]

Honestly the written test is nothing but a fool/non-serious dilettante filter. The fact that it is multiple choice, only 60 questions, asks things that any sane person would lookup, etc is proof of that. Its main worth is making most of us students go through some sort of ground school instruction and become familiar with some of the books and what they contain so we know where to go for learning and to answer specific questions. By the time you go to take the test both the student and the FAA have already gotten most of the value out of the exercise.

To actually test something like pilotage on a written test would need teaching staff to grade essay answers which is more time consuming and introduces lots of subjectivity. Asking what an underlined radio frequency inside a flight service box on the VFR chart means is pedantic and doesn't prove you can plan a flight route whatsoever. The first few times you flip to the appendix or instructions that clearly tell you what it means - something anyone can do at their own leisure.

The system depends on your CFI, DPE, and personal responsibility to determine if you are capable of being a pilot. If you want to play Maverick no amount of multiple choice written testing is going to help you.

 

[robin ardoin]

@xenadu I realize it is only your first post but in time you will come to understand that it is OK to let your true feelings show; no need for sugar coating here.

Seriously though, a great first post.

 

[dmspilot]

Asking what an underlined radio frequency inside a flight service box on the VFR chart means is pedantic and doesn't prove you can plan a flight route whatsoever.

It is a demonstration of being able to read and interpret the chart legend, which is provided to you on the test. And knowing whether a frequency can be used to talk to FSS might be important someday. Just because you can't imagine why, doesn't mean it's pedantic.

 

[Racerx]

70% isn't victorious, it's barely passing. Which 30% of aviation knowledge isn't necessary?

Maybe the basic med stuff you can easily look up. Ok, that might only be 1%