Answers to the ACS

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Answers to the ACS Answers to the ACS is your solution to the FAA Airman Certification Standards.

10/16/2026

Your engine can fail on its own or have to be shut down for some reason, such as a fire. Regardless, you no longer have thrust and will have to perform a power-off landing.

This is a required maneuver on a Private or Commercial Pilot Airplane checkride and is found in Area of Operation IX, Task B, Emergency Approach and Landing (Simulated) in the Private and Commercial Pilot Airplane ACSs.

First, establish best glide. Then select a suitable landing area considering your altitude, wind, terrain, obstructions, and available glide distance.

Once you’ve selected somewhere to land, the job becomes energy management. Plan and continually adjust your flightpath to reach the landing area while running the appropriate checklist.

An engine-out landing is ultimately an exercise in managing a finite amount of energy all the way to touchdown.

See the complete Private and Commercial Pilot Checkride Video Series in the Answers to the ACS app.

10/14/2026

An emergency descent is for situations where you need to get down now.

This is a required maneuver on a Private or Commercial Pilot Airplane checkride and is found in Area of Operation IX, Task A in the Private and Commercial Pilot Airplane ACSs.

In a typical small, unpressurized airplane, an in-flight fire is one of the few emergencies that requires an emergency descent.

First perform your memory items then run the appropriate checklist. If that didn’t put the fire out, initiate the emergency descent.

Why the 30–45 degree bank? The ACS requires it to maintain positive load factors when initiating the descent. Banking lets you get the nose down quickly without pushing over into negative G. It also reduces your vertical component of lift to increase your descent rate.

A descending spiral is the simplest way to demonstrate the maneuver, but an emergency descent is not a steep spiral. In this case I reverse bank angle as necessary to keep moving toward more favorable landing areas rather than letting the maneuver dictate where I end up.

In the case of an engine fire, once the fire is extinguished, the emergency isn’t over - you now have a power-off landing to deal with.

Continued Friday.

See the complete Private and Commercial Pilot Checkride Video Series in the Answers to the ACS app.

08/14/2026

In this video the DPE proposes a common scenario in which I am landing behind a Cessna Citation and how I would identify, assess, and mitigate the risks involved with wake turbulence.

Risk Element 2d for all takeoff and landing tasks in the Private and Commercial Pilot Airplane ACS covers wake turbulence.

Identify: Wake turbulence can cause loss of control and/or an unusual attitude i.e. “flipping you over.”

Assess: This has the potential to result in a catastrophic (fatal) accident, so it needs to be taken seriously.

Mitigate: The goal is to stay above the Citation’s flightpath and touch down beyond where it touches down. This is because wake turbulence in the form of wingtip vortices sinks and spreads out.

Most jets typically fly a 3-degree glideslope, so a PAPI or some other visual glidepath system can provide a reference for staying above their flightpath. They also often touch down around the aiming point markings, so this is what you can expect, but watch where they actually touch down and make a mental note of it.

This is a practical example of applying risk management and the kind of decision-making DPEs want to see on a checkride.

08/12/2026

On our way to Cleburne, the DPE asks where I got the radio frequencies I’m planning to use.

In the Private and Commercial Airplane ACS, this is under PA/CA.III.A.K1 - How to obtain appropriate radio frequencies.

My answer: the sectional chart. For what I need at Cleburne, it has the frequencies right there. If I were going into a larger airport and needed more frequencies, I’d go to the Chart Supplement.

Then the DPE asks me a follow-up question, does a sectional have ground control frequencies on it?

On-the-spot I wasn’t sure, so I looked on the sectional chart and confirmed that it doesn’t.

That’s fair game on a checkride. You’re expected to know a lot, but you’re also expected to know how to use the resources available to you. If you’re unsure of something that can reasonably be verified, verify it instead of bluffing.

08/11/2026

On our way to our uncontrolled touch-and-go airport for the checkride, the DPE asks me about my planning for entering the traffic pattern. In the Private and Commercial Pilot Airplane ACS this is found in PA/CA.III.B.K2, Traffic pattern selection for the current conditions.

I’ve already gotten the weather. The wind favors Runway 15. Runway 15 uses right traffic, and we're approaching from the east.

So I have two plans:

If the pattern isn't busy, I'll cross midfield at traffic pattern altitude and enter the right downwind directly. Old school and simple.

If the pattern is busier, I'll use the newer FAA-recommended teardrop entry by crossing midfield 500 feet above TPA, flying clear of the pattern, descending, and coming back around for a 45-degree entry.

The point isn't to have one traffic pattern entry memorized and use it every time. It's to understand the options, evaluate the present traffic and conditions, and adapt your plan accordingly.

On a checkride, you may need to articulate the plan. A DPE can't evaluate every piece of your decision-making simply by observation - they may ask questions along the way to make sure you understand why you're doing it.

08/07/2026

PA.II.F.S1 (Review takeoff performance) refers to the takeoff briefing.

But you might not realize that by reading the element at face value, so where does it come from?

The legacy PTS described the expectation more fully: “Reviews takeoff performance such as airspeeds, takeoff distances, departure, and emergency procedures.”

Basically: What’s your plan?

What airspeeds will you fly? Is the runway longer than the calculated takeoff distance? How will you depart the area? And what will you do if the engine fails?

Cirrus helped popularize the structured takeoff-emergency briefing for single-pilot, single-engine airplanes by defining actions around clear decision points such as before rotation, after rotation with runway remaining, below a predetermined altitude, and above it.

This is an example of how Answers to the ACS goes above and beyond canned answers and acronyms by stating where the answer came from, what they actually mean, and how to apply them.

See the complete Private and Commercial Pilot Checkride Video Series, as well as our manuals, in the Answers to the ACS app.

08/05/2026

Risk elements for in-flight tasks can be evaluated by observing the applicant’s actions or oral questioning.

Here PA.II.D.R1 (Activities and distractions) is evaluated by asking how I would mitigate the risks of distractions and division of attention during taxi.

Once an applicant has demonstrated satisfactory knowledge and proficiency, examiners will often take a moment to reinforce the point with practical context or experience. Here, Josh follows up with an incident where distractions during taxi led to an avoidable mishap.

See the complete Private and Commercial Pilot Checkride Video Series in the Answers to the ACS app.

08/04/2026

Oral questioning continues into the flight portion of the checkride.

This is because the examiner has to evaluate at least 1 knowledge and 1 risk element in addition to all skill elements for each task. So some of these will inevitably get asked during the flight.

Here we see how PA.II.D.K3 (Airport markings, signs, and lights) could be evaluated - by asking what various airport signs indicate.

See the complete Private and Commercial Pilot Checkride Video Series in the Answers to the ACS app.

07/31/2026

Here we see two simple questions that may be asked during the preflight that many applicants aren’t prepared to answer:

Why are you checking the primary flight controls?

Not just because they are obvious - primary flight controls are legally required for the airplane to be airworthy. The fact that they are not contained in the acronym TOMATO FLAMES highlights a common misconception: it is not a full list of required components.

How do you know what needs to be checked during the preflight?

The manufacturer’s POH/AFM is the source of truth. Using a third-party or homemade checklist is perfectly acceptable, and many pilots and operators do this for efficiency. But you must verify that checklist against POH/AFM and understand any differences or omissions.

These aren’t made up or trick questions. They are directly tied to PA.II.A.K3 (which items should be inspected, the reasons for checking each item, and how to detect possible defects) and PA.II.A.S1 (what constitutes an ‘appropriate checklist’).

Don’t just walk around the airplane touching things. Know what you’re checking, why you’re checking it, and where the procedure came from.

See the complete Private and Commercial Pilot Checkride Video Series in the Answers to the ACS app.

07/30/2026

Per PA.I.H.S2, you must perform a fitness for flight assessment and present this to the examiner. Here, Josh Minze, owner of Fort Worth Flight school and our acting DPE, asks for mine. This is where IMSAFE comes in:

Illness: A fever is an obvious no-go. But even a little congestion can be painful and might result in ear block.

Medication: If you’re taking any medication, make sure it’s acceptable for flying (i.e. no sedating antihistamines) and abide by any waiting periods.

Stress: A checkride is a major source of stress. Acknowledge it honestly.

Alcohol: 8 hours bottle to throttle, and don’t be hung over.

Fatigue: You’re probably cramming the night before the checkride, but do your best to get good sleep and make a realistic assessment of your fatigue level on the day of.

Eating: Make sure you’ve eaten and are hydrated. Some sources state ‘emotion’ for the E, but this is included in stress and would leave IMSAFE without a check for nourishment which is critical.

Before asking whether the airplane is ready, make sure YOU are ready too.

See the complete Private and Commercial Pilot Checkride Video Series in the Answers to the ACS app.

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