Required Knowledge Private Pilot Students Need to Master in Training
How’s it going, pilots? This is Nick from Part Time Pilot. Be sure to subscribe if you haven’t already so you can get notifications for every new video that I make. Right now, I’m doing a playlist on all the stuff you need to know to get your pilot’s license, and then if you’ve already started, it’s the requirements you need to in order to finish getting your private license, the minimum hours required. For this video, the areas of proficiency. Also, I’m going to go through tips and tricks on uh how to save money and time in this playlist. So, if you haven’t subscribed, please do that. And then, as always, follow me on Instagram if you’re not. There’s a lot of free stuff on there. Really good content to help you study at part.time.pilot.
All right, so let’s get into the video. So, in this video, we’re going to talk about the private pilot required areas of proficiency. So, in previous videos, we talked about the minimum hours required. So you need 40 total hours under part 61. You need 35 under part one 41. And then you need 20 of those have to be dual, 10 have to be solo, stuff like that, right? So can you just fly those hours even if you’re not a good pilot? Like let’s say you have really bad landings every time, but you have the minimum hours. Can your instructor sign you off? The answer is no. Your instructor has to eval evaluate you and endorse you based off these areas of proficiency. And this comes from something called the Airman Certification Standards (ACS) for a Private Pilot. You can Google that and you can see this list in a little bit more detail. And honestly, if you want to prepare for a check ride, just go to the airman certification standards for private pilot. download that list and start going down the list and making sure you’re good at every single one of those and start checking them off because that is what they are going to test you on all those things in that list. All right, so that is the legend that you need to follow, the key that you need to follow for your private pilot check ride. All right, so let’s see what’s in it.
So, to endorse you, your instructor needs to ensure you’re proficient in each and every one of these. All right, so first we have pre-flight preparation. So, this is stuff like the pilot qualifications that you’ll need, the airworthiness, whether your aircraft is airworthy or not, your weather info, cross-country planning, airspaces, performance of your aircraft, limitations of your aircraft, operations of the systems on your aircraft, as well as the human factors that go into flying.
Next, we have pre-flight procedures. So this is like the pre-flight assessment of yourself and your aircraft, flight deck management, how you talk in the radio, your taxiing, engine starting, taxiing, and before takeoff checks. Okay, so pre-flight procedures.
Next, airport operations. This is stuff like communications with ATC and other aircraft, light signals, runway lighting systems, and then how you can fly in traffic patterns and your knowledge of traffic patterns.
Next on the list, takeoffs, landings, and go-arounds. So, you got to be able to fly in the traffic patterns. Now, you got to do each and every one of these standard takeoff landings and goounds. So that includes a normal takeoff and climb, normal approach and landing, short and soft field takeoff and climb, short and soft field approach and landing, confined area takeoff and max performance climb, confined area approach and landing, forward slip to landing, and go around rejected landings.
Okay, next we have performance and ground reference maneuvers. This is stuff like steep turns, rectangular patterns, S turns, and turns around a point. Go on to the next page, we got navigation. So this is pilotage and dead reckoning. navigation systems and radar surfaces. Stuff like VS, that sort of stuff. Magnetic compass, all that stuff. Diversions and loss procedures.
Next up, slow flights and stalls. So, this is everything to do with slow flight. So, maneuvering and slow flight, being able to fly slow and still maneuver. Power off stalls, being able to recover from them and how they work. Power on stalls, being able to recover from them and how they work. As well as spin awareness and how to recover from a spin.
Next up, we have basic instrument maneuvers. So, this is when your pilot’s going to put the hood on you, cover your eyes, and you’re going to be be able to perform these maneuvers just using your instrument. So, that’s straight and level flight, constant airspeed climbs and descents, turns to headings, recovery from unusual flight out attitudes. So, your instructor will take the wheel, he’ll put you in an unusual attitude, maybe pitch down, roll right, and then he says, “All right, look up at your instruments.” And just by using your instruments, you got to see, okay, so I’m in a pitch down and a roll to the right. So, what do I need to do to get us back at straight level? Those are unusual flight attitudes, radio communications, navigation systems, and facilities, and radar service. All that stuff you got to be able to do just by using your instruments.
Then you have emergency operations. So, stuff is emergency descents, emergency approach and landing, simulated systems and equipment malfunctions. That’s stuff like pedtostatic malfunctions, vacuum pump malfunctions, stuff like that. Emergency equipment and survival gear. You know, what type of emergency equipment should you have on board? What do you have on board and how to use it? Engine failure during takeoff before VMC simulated. Engine failure after liftoff simulated and approach and landing with an inop engine simulated.
All right, a couple more. Night operations. So, this is the preparations that go into night flying as well as night flying. How does it change from day to night? Stuff like how your eye eyes work, how to scan at night versus in day, how to avoid bright white lights, airport lighting systems, stuff like that under night operations. Then you have post-flight procedures. This is after landing, parking, and securing your aircraft. You can’t forget that. You don’t want to have a great check ride and then you get back and you just toss the keys to the owner and leave. And the examiner is just sitting there like saying, “Okay, well, you didn’t safely park and secure the airplane, so you fail.”
So, all the way to the end postflight procedure all the way to securing your airplane. All right. So, if you guys want, you know, take some screenshots here, use this to study or what I would do if I were you, go to Airman, just Google Airman Certification Standards, ACS for private pilot, and it’ll take you right there. I’ll actually put a link down below in the description so you guys can find that. And then this is the holy grail. This is what you need to know for your check ride. So I hope you guys learned a lot. If you have any questions, please comment below. If you haven’t subscribed, you got to do that. And if you’re not following me on Instagram, you’re really missing out. So do that and I’ll talk to you guys for my next video. All right. See you.
TLDR
The following major subjects are required knowledge for Private Pilots:
- Preflight Preparation
- Preflight Procedures
- Airport Operations
- Takeoffs, Landings and Go-Arounds
- Performance and Ground Reference Maneuvers
- Navigation
- Slow Flight and Stalls
- Basic Instrument Maneuvers
- Emergency Operations
- Night Operations
- Postflight Procedures
In order to give you an endorsement for the FAA Practical Checkride, your instructor not only has to ensure that you meet the minimum hour requirements we talked about here but he/she also must ensure that you are proficient in a specific list of maneuvers, procedures and knowledge. So if you are not proficient in all these areas by the time you meet your minimum hour requirements, your instructor should and WILL NOT endorse you.
You wouldn’t want them to endorse you without knowing this stuff anyways because you’ll just end up paying for, stressing over and failing your Checkride. The examiners entire purpose is to make sure the FAA is not accepting new pilots that like the skill or knowledge to keep themselves and others safe while flying. Below is a summary of what you need to learn to get your private pilot license per FAR 61.105 (14 CFR § 61.105 – Aeronautical Knowledge., 2025). These are also outlined in the Airmen Certificate Standard (ACS) which is going to be your ultimate resource for what you need to learn:
- Aircraft Systems
- Pitot-static system, vacuum system, fuel system, electrical system, flight control system, communications and engine
- Preflight Preparation
- Pilot qualification, airworthiness, weather info, cross country planning, airspaces, performance, limitations, operation of systems and human factors
- Preflight Procedures
- Assessment, flight deck management, engine starting, taxiing and before takeoff checks
- Weather Theory
- Air masses, fronts, atmospheric stability, wind, hazardous weather, pressure, temperature and density
- FAA Regulations
- Hemispherical Rule, National Airspace, Seatbelts & Harnesses, Fuel Requirements, Formation Flight, Dropping Objects, Airworthiness Requirements, Required Equipment, Pilot in Command, Pilot Currency, Medical Certificates, etc.
- Airport Operations
- Communications, light signals, runway lighting systems and traffic patterns
- Takeoffs, Landings and Go-Arounds
- Normal TO & climb, normal approach and landing, short and soft-field TO and climb, short and soft-field approach and landing, confined area TO and max performance climb, confined area approach and landing, forward slip to landing and go-around/rejected landings
- Performance and Ground Reference Maneuvers
- Steep turns, rectangular pattern, s-turns and turns around a point
- Navigation
- Pilotage and dead reckoning, navigation systems and radar services, diversions and lost procedures
- Slow Flight and Stalls
- Maneuvering in slow flight, power-off stalls and spin awareness
- Basic Instrument Maneuvers
- Straight and level flight, constant airspeed climbs and descents, turns to headings, recovery from unusual flight attitudes, radio communications, navigation systems and facilities and radar services
- Emergency Operations
- Emergency descent, emergency approach and landing (simulated), systems and equipment malfunctions, emergency equipment and survival gear, engine failure during takeoff before Vmc (simulated), engine failure after liftoff (simulated) and approach and landing with an inoperative engine (simulated)
- Night Operations
- Night Preparations & Scanning Techniques
- Human Factors
- Hypoxia, CO poisoning, illusions, self-assessment, hazardous attitudes, etc.
- Postflight Procedures
- After landing, parking and securing
In the Part Time Pilot Online Ground School we cover every subject in the Airmen Certificate Standards (ACS) but have organized them in a way that is most efficient for learning and retention. Students can really benefit from a structured syllabus like this because it allows a student to lay the ground work and foundation needed with first principle fundamentals before getting into more detailed and nuanced subjects that often confuse students when they don’t have this structure.
For example, many ground schools will teach students weather and the relationship of atmosphere and the altimeter prior to teaching the student fundamentally how their flight flight instruments and altimeter work. Because of this, students are always confused as to why their altimeter acts a certain way with changes in temperature and pressure. But, if they were to understand how the altimeter works, it would be rather easy to understand what was happening to the instrument when the atmosphere changes.
Part Time Pilot also offers our students printable PDF calendars to keep track of their studies. Our online system will of course keep track in our grading and report features but this printable PDF allows for students to keep themselves accountable while studying. This can be a struggle for a lot of students who go the online ground school/self-study route. Our PDF calendars are tailored for how much time you can dedicate to studying each day and on every day of the calendar it lists the lessons you should strive to complete each day. These calendars make the overwhelm of all this content seem much more achievable and rewarding.
The number 1 way to ensure your success in becoming a pilot is by properly managing your time & money
And the easiest way to properly manage your time & money is by doing ground school before it’s too late and ACTUALLY understanding the material
5 years ago I saw NO ONE mentoring unsuspecting students on the traps in flight training that was costing them $1000s
This is why I created the Part Time Pilot Online Ground Schools
The ground schools were created with these ideas at the heart of our mission statement:
- Mentoring students from start to finish
- Providing content that saves time & money & provides a deep understanding
What is the Best Online Ground School?
Over the years, I have seen 1000s of student pilots go through ground and flight training. I have heard their complaints and their praises about what makes a good ground school experience.
I have taken that knowledge, included it with my own experience becoming a pilot, an instructor, and an aerospace engineer, and created the Ultimate Buyer’s Guide for student pilots looking for the best ground school option.
The guide breaks down the best options across several categories, including the best for affordability, the best for visual learners, the best for mobile users on the go, and more.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Here are some frequently asked questions about the topic of the required knowledge needed to become a private pilot:
The amount of time it takes to finish an Online Ground School is up to you, the student. Each online ground school is required to teach you all the knowledge from the Airmen Certificate Standards from the FAA. This document details all the knowledge, skills and areas of proficiency required to achieve a pilot certificate.
The amount of time it will take you to finish learning all the required content depends on how quickly you learn and how much time you can dedicate each day to studying. On average, is takes students about 3 months to complete online ground school with some students completing it in as quickly as 1 month and others taking 6 months to even a year.
Part Time Pilot provides each of our students with study tracking calendars they can download to keep track of their progress. There are different calendars based off of how much time a student can dedicate each day to studying (30 min, 1 hour or 2 hour) and each calendar shows the lessons the student should complete each day to stay on track.
Ground school can be completed a variety of ways as long as you receive an endorsement from a certified instructor who validates you have completed the required studies. This can be done in one of the following ways:
- 1-on-1 Lessons with Instructor
- This is the most expensive option as it costs $40-$80 per hour to pay the instructor for 30-50 hours of training
- In-Person lecture class
- Typically held at flight schools or colleges this can cost anywhere from $400 to $1200 or more and requires you to sit through lectures once or twice a week for several weeks on location
- Online Ground School
- The most popular option due to the flexibility of being able to study anywhere at any time and still receive certified instruction and endorsements. Online Ground Schools like Part Time Pilot can provide the best of online training and 1-on-1 instruction
- Typically $200 to $400
- Self-Study
- Can be cheaper than online ground school but still requires you to purchase an endorsement and test prep material. Difficult for students who want questions answered and a structured syllabus, test prep, lessons and study aids in one place.
Online Ground School contains a structured syllabus of all the required knowledge a student must learn in order to earn a pilot certificate. Every online ground school is different as some provide mostly test prep content in the form of practice tests and flash cards while others contain mostly written or video lessons to teach the subjects. Some, contain both comprehensive lessons AND test prep. If you are looking for an online ground school, you want to make sure that it contains both lessons and test prep so you don’t have to spend more money.
It is also recommended that you find one that provides an endorsement upon completion of the course for your FAA written exam and provides lifetime access to the course. Life happens and a good pilot is always maintaining their knowledge. In order to see a comparison of the Top Online Ground Schools in the US in a single chart comparing them in terms of price, student reviews and features, you can click here.
Here is a summarized list of the training requirements for a Private Pilot, broken down into knowledge and flight. For all flight skill and knowledge requirements please refer to the Airmen Certificate Standards (ACS):
Knowledge Requirements:
- Ground Instruction: You must receive comprehensive ground training from an authorized instructor (or complete an FAA-approved home-study/online course). This covers essential aeronautical subjects including:
- Aircraft Systems
- Preflight Preparation
- Preflight Procedures
- Weather Theory
- FAA Regulations
- Airport Operations
- Takeoffs, Landings and Go-Arounds
- Performance and Ground Reference Maneuvers
- Navigation
- Slow Flight and Stalls
- Basic Instrument Maneuvers
- Emergency Operations
- Night Operations
- Human Factors
- Postflight Procedures
- Knowledge Test: After receiving an endorsement from your instructor, you must pass a computerized FAA Private Pilot Airman Knowledge Test with a score of 70% or better.
Flight Requirements (Minimums under Part 61):
- Total Flight Time: A minimum of 40 hours of logged flight time is required.
- Dual Instruction: At least 20 hours of flight training with an authorized instructor, including:
- 3 hours of cross-country flight training.
- 3 hours of night flight training (including one cross-country flight over 100 NM total distance and 10 takeoffs/landings to a full stop).
- 3 hours of instrument flight training (using instruments only).
- 3 hours of flight training in preparation for the practical test within the preceding 2 calendar months.
- Solo Flight: At least 10 hours of solo flight time, including:
- 5 hours of solo cross-country flight.
- One solo cross-country flight of at least 150 NM total distance, with full-stop landings at a minimum of three airports, and one segment of the flight being at least 50 NM straight-line distance.
- Three solo takeoffs and landings to a full stop at an airport with an operating control tower.
- Practical Test: After receiving an endorsement from your instructor, you must pass a practical flight test (checkride) with an FAA examiner, demonstrating proficiency in all required maneuvers and knowledge.
The basic knowledge of pilots revolves around the following subjects:
- Aircraft Systems
- Preflight Preparation
- Preflight Procedures
- Weather Theory
- FAA Regulations
- Airport Operations
- Takeoffs, Landings and Go-Arounds
- Performance and Ground Reference Maneuvers
- Navigation
- Slow Flight and Stalls
- Basic Instrument Maneuvers
- Emergency Operations
- Night Operations
- Human Factors
- Postflight Procedures
The following major subjects are required knowledge for Private Pilots:
- Aircraft Systems
- Preflight Preparation
- Preflight Procedures
- Weather Theory
- FAA Regulations
- Airport Operations
- Takeoffs, Landings and Go-Arounds
- Performance and Ground Reference Maneuvers
- Navigation
- Slow Flight and Stalls
- Basic Instrument Maneuvers
- Emergency Operations
- Night Operations
- Human Factors
- Postflight Procedures
This is relative to each student’s own unique experience. Private Pilot training can be very hard for some but very fun and easy for others. In fact, Private Pilot training for myself was much harder than it needed to be because I made so many stupid mistakes. It is actually how I started Part Time Pilot. Part Time Pilot is created for the sole purpose of making Private Pilot training easier, less stressful and more affordable for student pilots.
One of the ways we do this is with our free email course “How to Become a Pilot and Save Money” which tells students the step by step process of how to prepare for and navigate a success private pilot training journey. Another way we do this is with our Online Ground School which provides students the super important knowledge foundation and a guarantee that they pass their exams with new-age tools like audio lessons, interactive AI, simple examples and more. The time and money we save student pilots is what makes us the #1 rated Online Ground School in America according to student pilots.
No. There are many great pilots who are not traditionally good at math. All mathematical equations and formulas in aviation have an alternative procedure that you can learn rather than an equation. For example instead of calculating crosswinds and headwinds using trig functions you can instead follow a procedure on a chart. However, being good at math does have its perks and can make understanding things like the fundamentals of aerodynamics easier.
