Preparation for your Practical Test

Flight Instructors do a very good job teaching their students the intricacies of flight and good aeronautical decision making.  These instructors spend countless hours analyzing how well their students are performing both in their knowledge of aviation and ability to perform with the practical standards.  Only when the instructor feels the student is ready and all aeronautical experience requirements are met, will he allow them to apply for the practical test to earn their new privilege.

One of the keys to this preparation is the Practical Test Standards.  If you haven’t seen this document yet while going through the preparation for the practical test, you need to take a look at it.  This really is the cheat sheet on what the examiner is required to test on; everything from your aviation knowledge, to ability to fly the airplane, to other special areas of emphasis.

How many of the instructors have gone through the front sections of the PTS to show them what it means when a maneuver is acceptable to the examiner or when the examiner is forced to issue a notice of disapproval.

When I was going through my training back in the day, I wasn’t told about the boundaries the examiner has to stay within.  I was under the impression, they could pass or fail a student for anything they wanted.  I was on both the good end and the bad end of that.  Thinking back, there were some maneuvers that I completed that were well within the PTS standards and the examiner failed me while some were not and he didn’t say anything.  If I knew now back then, I would have had a leg to stand on when I disagreed with his decision.

Let’s take a look inside the PTS book to see what it says.  In the Introduction section, one of the very first things it says is that “Adherence to the provisions of the regulations and the practical test standards is mandatory for the evaluation of private pilot applicants.  On page six of the introduction, under the heading Use of the PTS tells the applicant they are required to be evaluated in ALL areas of the PTS, unless otherwise noted (the only PTS that allows this is the CFI PTS… that I know of). 

Page nine lists the responsibilities of the flight instructor.  If your instructor cannot give you the experience and aeronautical knowledge necessary in all areas of the PTS, it is time for a new instructor.  They are required to emphasize your performance in effective visual scanning, collision avoidance procedures, manufacturers procedures and special emphasis areas. 

Page ten lists the examiner responsibility during the practical test.  They are required to determine if the applicant meets the acceptable standards of knowledge and skill of each task with in the PTS.  If something goes wrong, the examiner may require the applicant to repeat the task in the interest of fairness although the examiner has the option to not allow a repeat of a task.

The heart of this blog is the next two sections. 

Satisfactory performance is defined by five things.

1. Perform the Tasks specified in the Areas of Operation for the certificate or rating sought within the approved standards
2. Demonstrate mastery of the aircraft by performing each Task successfully
3. Demonstrate satisfactory proficiency and competency within the approved standards
4. Demonstrate sound judgment and exercises aeronautical decision making / risk management
5. Demonstrate single pilot competence if the aircraft is type certificated for single pilot operations.

Unsatisfactory Performance is defined as these four things

1. Any action or lack of action by the applicant that requires corrective intervention by the examiner to maintain safe flight
2. Failure to use proper and effective visual scanning techniques to clear the area before and while performing maneuvers
3. Consistently exceeding tolerances stated in the objectives
4. Failure to take prompt corrective action when tolerances are exceeded

I really like number three and four.  In the many practical tests that I have taken apart in, the examiners expect nerves to play a part in the applicant exceeding the tolerances.  If the applicant exceeds them once and promptly corrects, it is not a failure.  If it happens twice, probably not.  Three times and you are starting to show consistent behavior to fly outside the standards and that would be unsatisfactory.  Lets take steep turns as an example, you roll into a 45 degree bank and forget to pull back on the yoke, you descend fairly quickly 150 feet below your assigned altitude.  If you stay there, it is a bust; but if you promptly correct and get back within standards it is OK.  If it happens again, well you are starting to show consistency. 

I’ve talked to many pilots who were stressed out over wondering what is acceptable or not to the examiner and what happens if they get outside of standards only once.  The answer is nothing.  The examiner will most likely pass you.  The criteria used is consistency and a lack of prompt corrective action.  The other good thing about the introduction to the PTS it clearly states that the tolerances are established for a good flying day.  If there is a lot of turbulence, you won’t be held to the same standard as when the air is calm.

Hopefully this takes some of the pressure of making yourself perform at your best.  That pressure may make you fly worse than before.  My advice, relax you know what to expect from the examiner and treat them like your very first passenger.

Commercial Pilot Privileges and Limitations Explained

One of the most confusing subjects for commercial pilot applicants is what they can do with respect to their commercial license and what they cannot do.  Is it permissible to fly a colleague in your airplane and charge him (or the company) for the flight?  What if the colleague (or company) provided the airplane?  Can they then pay your for your time?  Can I rent an airplane from the FBO and charge people to fly with me?  What are the rules?

The privileges and limitations of a commercial pilot are covered in §61.133 Commercial pilot privileges and limitations.

(a) Privileges —(1) General. A person who holds a commercial pilot certificate may act as pilot in command of an aircraft—

      (i) Carrying persons or property for compensation or hire, provided the person is qualified in accordance with this part and with the applicable parts of this chapter that apply to the operation; and

      (ii) For compensation or hire, provided the person is qualified in accordance with this part and with the applicable parts of this chapter that apply to the operation.

Right up front, it becomes apparent that to be compensated we will need to look into another part of this chapter.  The chapter is 14 CFR.  The get a better picture of what a commercial pilot can and cannot do is covered in 14 CFR Part 119.  Luckily for us, 119.1 specifies what a commercial pilot can and cannot do.  §119.1   Applicability.

(d) This part does not govern operations conducted under part 91, subpart K (when common carriage is not involved) nor does it govern operations conducted under part 129, 133, 137, or 139 of this chapter.

(e) Except for operations when common carriage is not involved conducted with airplanes having a passenger-seat configuration of 20 seats or more, excluding any required crewmember seat, or a payload capacity of 6,000 pounds or more, this part does not apply to—

(1) Student instruction;

(2) Nonstop Commercial Air Tours ….

(3) Ferry or training flights;

(4) Aerial work operations, including—

       (i) Crop dusting, seeding, spraying, and bird chasing;

       (ii) Banner towing;

      (iii) Aerial photography or survey;

      (iv) Fire fighting;

      (v) Helicopter operations in construction or repair work (but it does apply to transportation to and from the site of operations); and

      (vi) Powerline or pipeline patrol;

(5) Sightseeing flights conducted in hot air balloons;

(6) Nonstop flights conducted within a 25-statute-mile radius of the airport of takeoff carrying persons or objects for the purpose of conducting intentional parachute operations.

(7) Helicopter flights conducted within a 25 statute mile radius of the airport of takeoff if— …

(8) Operations conducted under part 133 of this chapter or 375 of this title;

(9) Emergency mail service conducted under 49 U.S.C. 41906; or

(10) Operations conducted under the provisions of §91.321 of this chapter.

What does common carriage mean?  We have this definition from a seemingly trustworthy site.  http://defitions.uslegal.com

Common carrier refers to a person or entity in the business of transporting goods or people for hire, as a public service. A private carrier, in contrast, is employed to transport good for people for specific needs on an individual case basis. For example, city buses are a common carrier, as opposed to a private carrier such as a moving company which is hired on a one-time basis. A common carrier runs according to a regular schedule on a designated route.

Under common law rules, a common carrier is generally liable for all losses which may occur to property entrusted to his charge in the course of business, unless he can prove the loss happened in consequence of the act of God, or of the enemies of the United States, or by the act of the owner of the property.

In AC 120-12A another definition for common carriage appears

There are four elements in defining a common carrier; (1) a holding out of a willingness to (2) transport persons or property (3) from place to place (4) for compensation. This “holding
out” which makes a person a common carrier can be done in many ways and it does
not matter how it is done.

The FARs define what is not common carriage in §110.2 Definitions

When common carriage is not involved or operations not involving common carriage means any of the following:

(1) Noncommon carriage.

(2) Operations in which persons or cargo are transported without compensation or hire.

(3) Operations not involving the transportation of persons or cargo.

(4) Private carriage.

Finally, we get to the definition of Noncommon carriage in the same FAR.

Noncommon carriage means an aircraft operation for compensation or hire that does not involve a holding out to others.

There is only one last thing to discuss, again in AC 120-12A  the definition of holding out shows up:

A carrier becomes a common carrier when it “holds itself out” or to a segment of the public, as willing to furnish transportation within the limits of its facilities to any person who wants it.

 

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It becomes quickly apparent that a commercial pilot can for compensation or hire pilot an aircraft with persons or property on board as long as it does not fall into the category of common carriage.  Typically, the scenario is if the pilot is contracted to fly a personal aircraft for an owner than it does not fall under common carriage.  The owner is most likely not advertising that he has an airplane that he is willing to rent.  There are situations where the owner can be reimbursed for a flight and the operation still fall under Part 91.  (See Private Carriage). 

The other typical scenario is where the pilot offers his services and airplane to the public for compensation or hire.  In this case, it is undoubtedly common carriage and a 135 certificate is required. 

It is my belief, that if you perform an operation under one of the exclusion to Part 119.1 you can provide your services and an airplane.   How many students would we lose if they had to purchase an aircraft to get flight training?  If the operation does not fall under one of those exclusions more research is going to be necessary.

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In the end, the commercial pilot needs to take a step back on any new operation and ask himself whether or not it is legal.  Does it fall into the common carriage definition or “a holding out” definition?  If there is any doubt, the best advice is to contact the local FSDO for their interpretation of the operation.  If you want to read some legal interpretations on holding out and common carriage please feel free to do so.