Consider this: One of the FAA's missions, as defined in the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act, is to develop minimum standards for pilot certification in the United States. This means the least possible knowledge and skill a person must have to be a pilot. The FAA publishes these minimum standards as the Practical Test Standards. These standards are those that the worst pilot in the country should be able to do at any time!

How does this minimum training show up on a practical test?
First, the applicant shows only a rote level of learning. This means they can parrot back answers to me as long as I ask questions similar to what they’ve had in their training. For example: “What are the weather minima for you to fly in Class E airspace?” Piece of cake ... below 10,000 feet, it’s 3 miles viz and the old 500-1000-2000 rule.

Now, during a discussion of your cross-country flight plan, the question might be, “What are the requirements for you to fly in Class E airspace?” Hmmm … maybe this one’s not so easy, but it’s the same question. Let’s see … no radio communications are normally required, often there’s no radar service available, transponders aren’t needed most places below 10,000 feet … well, let’s just go flying! “May you just go any old time?” I might add. Hmmm … what’s left … Ohh! silly me … you mean the weather!

Here’s an Instrument Rating example: “Is it legal to file an IFR flight plan to an airport with no instrument approach procedure?” Sure, no problem. “How will you get to the airport once you arrive in the vicinity?” Uh … well …

Or how about this one: “Under what conditions are you required to file an alternate airport on an IFR flight plan?” Everyone knows this, right? The old 1-2-3 rule: one hour before and after your ETA at your destination, the weather must be …, etc. The problem here is that this is the second part of the rule; what’s the first part? If part one isn’t satisfied, we never get to part 2. Ummm … well … “What condition must your destination airport meet?” You mean besides the weather? “Yes.” Hmmm … “How about the fact that it must have an instrument approach procedure?” Oh yeah, no approach procedure, automatic alternate regardless of the weather.

There’s a name for this kind of questioning: it’s called a “practical application of your aeronautical knowledge.” See the introductory pages of the PTS.

So, what happens in the air? How does this lack of airmanship or practical application of your aeronautical knowledge and skill show up?

Usually it begins with the smaller things, an incomplete cockpit preflight being a good example. A multiengine applicant recently did his walk-around inspection with the magnetos on … the airplane had been in for maintenance and (apparently) the mechanics left them on. This resulted in the shortest flight portion of a practical test on record (at least for me). Would you trust a pilot who did the external preflight with both mags on each engine still on?

Another way it shows up is by not recognizing when there’s been a failure of some piece of avionics, such as the VOR receiver. These can have peculiar failures that might show up as a large bearing error without having the ambiguity indicator come into view. If the applicant — or a pilot — isn’t paying attention, he or she can end up well off course and lost. This happened to an applicant just last week; remember that the PTS requires that one recognize equipment failures, which can be rather subtle. Backing up a VOR receiver with pilotage can prevent this.

How about airport traffic patterns? We have several uncontrolled airports near San Diego that are rather busy. Many students go there for takeoff and landing practice, but their CFIs don’t seem to have really taught them about pattern entries or spacing or proper radio calls or … well, you name it. On the practical test, if applicants don’t pay attention to what they’re doing, and what everyone else is doing, too, the patterns get messed up. Remember, if you scare the examiner, that’s a bad sign …

So, how to prevent all this?

Well, if you’re a student pilot (any kind … from working on your sport, recreational, or private certificate or something further along) and your instructor seems to be sticking only to the material in the PTS, or if your instructor tends to answer your questions with phrases similar to “you don’t need to know that” or “that’s not required on the flight test,” it’s time for you to make a change.

If you’re a CFI, you must be sure your students get the whole picture. Be sure they understand the relationships between various regulations and piloting skills and knowledge areas. These aren’t just things to be learned by rote! “What must you do to fly in class E airspace? Are you permitted to go any old time? VFR or IFR? Why or why not?”