Built around the FAA ACS.
The Airman Certification Standards are the FAA's blueprint for your checkride — the precise knowledge, risk management, and skill a Designated Pilot Examiner uses to decide whether you pass. Pilot Computer is built on that same blueprint, so every question Maverick asks ties back to a real ACS code.
What is the ACS?
The Airman Certification Standards replaced the old Practical Test Standards. They organize the certificate into Areas of Operation, each broken into Tasks, and each Task into three kinds of element a DPE evaluates. The oral portion of the checkride is where the examiner works through the knowledge and risk-management codes — asking, following up, and probing until they're satisfied you meet the standard.
Knowledge
What you must understand — regulations, systems, aerodynamics, weather theory, and airspace. These are the facts a DPE probes during the oral portion of the checkride.
Risk Management
How you identify, assess, and mitigate hazards — from fatigue and weather to aircraft limitations and external pressure. The ACS treats sound aeronautical decision-making as testable, not optional.
Skill
What you must demonstrate in the airplane to the published tolerances — airspeeds, altitudes, headings, and procedures held within ACS limits during the practical flight test.
The 12 Areas of Operation
The Private Pilot — Airplane ACS is organized into twelve Areas of Operation. Some are settled almost entirely on the ground during the oral; others are demonstrated in the air. We've flagged each so you know where it lives on your checkride.
- IOral
Preflight Preparation
The heart of the oral exam — the ground knowledge that proves you can plan and legally conduct a flight before the engine ever starts.
- Pilot & aircraft certificates and required documents
- Airworthiness, inoperative equipment, and AROW
- Weather products, sources, and go/no-go decisions
- Cross-country planning, performance, and weight & balance
- IIOral + Flight
Preflight Procedures
Inspecting and preparing the aircraft, then operating it safely on the ground. Knowledge is checked orally; the actions are demonstrated in the airplane.
- Preflight inspection and required equipment
- Engine starting, taxiing, and runway incursion avoidance
- Flight deck management and before-takeoff checks
- IIIOral + Flight
Airport & Seaplane Base Operations
Communicating and moving safely in the airport environment — radio work, light-gun signals, and flying a correct traffic pattern.
- Radio communications and ATC phraseology
- Light-gun signals and runway/taxiway markings
- Traffic pattern entry, spacing, and wind correction
- IVFlight
Takeoffs, Landings & Go-Arounds
Normal, short-field, and soft-field takeoffs and landings, the forward slip to a landing, and the rejected landing or go-around — flown to ACS tolerances.
- VFlight
Performance & Ground Reference Maneuvers
Demonstrating precise aircraft control — steep turns and ground reference maneuvers that show you can divide attention and correct for wind.
- VIOral + Flight
Navigation
Finding your way by pilotage, dead reckoning, and navigation systems — plus diverting to an alternate and recognizing when you are lost.
- Pilotage, dead reckoning, and chart reading
- VOR, GPS, and ATC radar services
- Diversion planning and lost procedures
- VIIFlight
Slow Flight & Stalls
Maneuvering during slow flight and recognizing and recovering from power-off and power-on stalls, with spin awareness covered on the ground.
- Stall aerodynamics, recognition, and recovery
- Spin awareness, entry, and avoidance
- VIIIFlight
Basic Instrument Maneuvers
Controlling the airplane by reference to instruments alone — straight-and-level, climbs, descents, turns to headings, and recovery from unusual attitudes.
- IXOral + Flight
Emergency Operations
Handling the unexpected — a simulated emergency approach and landing, system and equipment malfunctions, and knowing your survival and emergency gear.
- Emergency descent and approach/landing procedures
- Systems, equipment, and electrical malfunctions
- Emergency, survival, and signaling equipment
- XFlight
Multiengine Operations
Engine-inoperative procedures and VMC demonstration — applicable only to multiengine airplanes. Not evaluated on a single-engine private checkride.
- XIOral
Night Operations
Night equipment, lighting, physiology, and illusions. On a daytime single-engine practical test this is evaluated entirely through oral questioning.
- Night vision, illusions, and physiology
- Required lighting, equipment, and currency
- XIIFlight
Postflight Procedures
After-landing, parking, and securing procedures — and, for seaplanes, docking, mooring, and anchoring. The flight isn't over until the aircraft is safely put away.
How Pilot Computer maps to the ACS
We didn't bolt the ACS on after the fact — it's the skeleton of the whole experience. Maverick runs your mock oral against the same codes a DPE uses, so your practice and your checkride speak the same language.
Coded to the standard
Every question Maverick asks is tagged to a specific ACS code — an Area of Operation, Task, and the exact knowledge or risk-management element it tests. You always know why you're being asked.
Weak-area targeting
Miss a code and Pilot Computer remembers. Future sessions weight your weak Areas of Operation more heavily, so practice concentrates where you're least ready — not where you're already strong.
Coverage you can see
Track your progress across all oral-relevant Areas of Operation. See which codes you've demonstrated, which still need work, and walk into your checkride knowing the standard is met.
Practice an ACS-aligned mock oral.
Sit down with Maverick and work through the same Areas of Operation your examiner will. Real questions, real follow-ups, scored against the real standard.
Pass your oral or your money back
Pilot Computer is an independent study tool and is not affiliated with, authorized, or endorsed by the Federal Aviation Administration. The Airman Certification Standards are an FAA publication; references here are for educational alignment only. Always train under the guidance of a certificated flight instructor and consult the current FAA ACS and regulations.