What you Need to Learn to get your Private Pilot License

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. Here is a summary of what you need to learn to get your private pilot license as per the Airmen Certificate Standard (ACS) which is going to be your ultimate resource for what you need to learn: 

• 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
• 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
• Postflight Procedures
• After landing, parking and securing