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Is 83% ok on private pilot exam or should I retake for higher score?

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Private Pilot, Student Pilot

I took the FAA Private Pilot (PAR) written knowledge exam today and scored 83%. Should I retake for higher score or will the FAA DE examiner give me a hard time on the oral exam later on?

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3 Answers



  1. Lucas on Jan 20, 2013

    Dear Ben
    The reality is that the oral will be no different weather you score 100% or 70%. A pass is a pass.
    Also if you take the exam again it will say Take 2 on it, as if you actually failed it once (=not good).
    The important thing is that you review the material on the codes you failed on the test.

    Look at the bottom of your written report and you will see some codes such as: PLT003. PLT005, PLT189, etc.
    This would mean you would have to review:
    Calculate aircraft performance – center of gravity
    Calculate aircraft performance – density altitude
    Recall carburetor – effects of carburetor heat / heat control

    For a full list of the subject codes and their meaning click on the following link directly from the FAA.

    http://www.faa.gov/training_testing/testing/airmen/media/learningstatementreferenceguide.pdf

    Cheers Lucas

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  2. Jim F. on Jan 20, 2013

    Yeah, don’t retake. There’s really nothing to be gained, but some to be lost. First off, it will cost you another good chunk of change. Save that to pay for an hour of flying after your checkride. And even though it is graded as a percent, it’s essentially a pass/fail test. Aside from what Lucas said, if you happen to get a lower score on your second try, that’s the one that counts. It’s not the highest score that’s official, but the latest score.

    As Lucas already said, just go back and review/learn what you missed, because that’s what the examiner will pay special attention to on your oral.

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  3. Ben on Jan 20, 2013

    Thanks! I will review the areas I missed. Mostly compass related questions and so forth.

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