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7 Answers

Is the Private Pilot oral open book?

Asked by: 2871 views Private Pilot

Is the oral exam for private pilot open book if the student cannot remember the answer to a question and needs to reference the FAR's, the chart, the POH or his or her notes?

If this is at the discretion of the DPE, does the DPE need to inform the student prior to the day of the exam if they will not be allowed to use any materials other than what's in their own memory?

Thanks!

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7 Answers



  1. John Scarry on Jan 24, 2022

    Yes. You shouldn’t need to refer to any materials but if something slips your mind you are allowed to look it up. You can use the FAR/AIM and FAA books. From what I’ve read they frown on using commercial publications as sources.

    https://www.askacfi.com/33192/allowed-resources-for-ppl-checkride.htm

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  2. Bryan on Jan 24, 2022

    As the other post John linked to says, “open book” is totally misleading. If you have to look up every answer, you will likely fail the checkride.

    For example, if the DPE asks what equipment is required for the flight they asked you to plan and it takes you 10 minutes to find 91.205 in the regs before you can give any answer at all, you’re in trouble. But if you can answer with your acronym (ATOMATOFLAMES + FLAPS) and know 91.205 off the top of your head as the place to look if you aren\’t sure about a specific instrument or piece of equipment, you’re golden.

    You might get away with one or two “lookups” but you should know the material well enough to know exactly where to look for what you need.

    The DPE might tell you what you can and cannot use prior to the checkride but they don’t have to. The DPE won’t stop you from using materials published by the FAA, but they can fail you if you don’t know the material well enough to give timely answers or if you rely on a resource other than your own notes or FAA publications.

    In my opinion, relying on “it’s an open book test” as a strategy for a checkride is unwise. The fact that you can use the FAA published resources should be viewed as an emergency safety net only.

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  3. stillkicking on Jan 24, 2022

    The issue has more to do with the use of ANY reference materials for the exam.

    My personal experience was I could refer to the FAR regs, to the POH, or to some notes I had made on the day of the exam. Not for every answer but on occasion when I was stuck.

    However, a fellow I know got into the exam room and was told, after he paid the DPE, no reference materials would be allowed, period. He failed.

    Now, if that’s the DPE’s choice I feel that should have been explained when he/she was hired… not the day of the exam after he forked over his money.

    Comments?

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  4. Mark Kolber on Jan 24, 2022

    I’d like to give that DPE an oral. I bet I can get a whole bunch of wrong answers out of him! Your experience is the same as most. You are expected to know certain things without looking them up. Looking up VFR cloud clearances while you are in the air heading toward clouds won’t cut it. But knowing and demonstrating you know where to look to determine whether your airplane is airworthy if equipment is inop makes sense so you won’t fail by thinking a certain horrible mnemonic about burning red fruit has all the answers,

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  5. Russ Roslewski on Jan 25, 2022

    The oral SHOULD be “sort-of” open book. When I did primary instruction, I told my students that there are basically two types of questions/knowledge:

    – things that you might need to know in flight – like the cloud clearance requirement stated above, or requirements to enter Class B/C/D, or right-of-way rules. These you need to know without looking them up, because you’re not going to break out the book in flight.
    – things that you might need to know on the ground – like what a weather symbol means, what the floor of a MOA is, what the tire pressure should be, etc. Those you should be allowed to look up, because in real life you could actually just look them up.

    But of course, even with the “ground items”, if you’re looking up every single one of these that the DPE asks, you’re going to seem unprepared and that certainly doesn’t inspire confidence in your abilities. Furthermore, it’s going to make the checkride really loooooong.

    Most DPEs I’ve had and seen seem to pretty much be looking for the answer they want. Once they hear it, they’ll move on. Whether that question takes 10 seconds (because you know the answer) or 10 minutes (because you have to look it up) to answer, it’s just one question…

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  6. Jeff Baum on Feb 05, 2022

    The Test being Open Book is correct. As a DPE, I brief the applicants that the “Test is Open Book. You may look up any answer that you wish, You may not look up every answer.” They may use any reference material to which they would normally have access during a flight. The POH/AFM mis always available. The documents on their iPad are available. The Sectional Legend use for certain items on the chart? No problem. But No, Google is NOT available, nor may they “phone a friend” and they don’t get a shout out!

    Russ put it well. I’m looking for overall knowledge for the level of certificate sought. If I ask, “What is the minimum oil quantity allowed for takeoff?” and the applicant says; “Ah, I’m pretty sure that it is 6 qts. But, I’d look it up in the POH.” I have them look it up. This shows a good level of knowledge, and a level of knowledge about where to find information.

    If, on the other hand, not knowing something which they should know (What color are runway edge lights?) and want to look it up, makes me really question their level of knowledge. Now I will dig a lot deeper on a subject. Was that a mental hiccup, or do they really not know? Grabbing a reference quickly does show knowledge. Leafing through page after page, hoping that they will see the answer doesn’t. The same with trying to look up answers. The occasional use of materials, no problem. Constantly wanting to look up answers… that’s a problem.

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  7. RogerRoger on May 19, 2022

    I have a question for you. I just took a private pilot oral exam and failed. I was extremely surprised as I went into the exam very confident. My DPE refused to let me use the FAR/AIM. He said I was not allowed to take out any books. I spent a lot of time memorizing regulation numbers, highlighting, etc. with the understanding that it would be open book. Had I know it would have been closed book, I would have prepared an entirely different way. Just curious as to your thoughts.

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