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PTS – Private

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Private Pilot, Student Pilot

Would it be within scope on a Private Pilot Practical Test for the Examiner to simulate partial or complete power failure on downwind for landing, i.e. require the Private Pilot applicant to successfully complete a 180' power off landing?    I personally believe its a good idea for any Private Pilot to know what to do in this situation and be able to apply it in practice, but this specific procedure is Commercial/CFI requirement and specifically not part of the Private PTS.  Is this right? The PTS Private Pilot standard for Emergency Operations (Task C, Part 2) includes 14 potential 'simulated emergencies', three of which the applicant must analyze and take appropriate action for.  Would 180' power out approach and landing be in-scope under this requirement?    

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1 Answers



  1. Kris Kortokrax on May 17, 2015

    Task B would seem to be a better example of what you are proposing. It doesn’t require the accuracy component of the Commercial task, but at the discretion of the examiner, it can terminate with a landing.

    As a flight instructor, you are not limited to teaching only the tasks that are outlined in the PTS. Feel free to teach this to your Private pilot students.

    I teach power off approaches to all my airplane students.

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