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AviationSoft-field takeoff and climb
From grass, sand or snow, you roll onto the runway without stopping, move the weight from the wheels to the wings as soon as you can, lift off at the lowest speed and accelerate in ground effect. It is Task C of Area IV, Takeoffs, Landings, and Go-Arounds, in the FAA Private Pilot Airman Certification Standards, for the airplane classes listed below.
Free to startScenarios
- Airplane single-engine land (ASEL).
The steps
- Complete the appropriate checklists.
- Make radio calls as appropriate.
- Verify the assigned or correct runway.
- Determine the wind direction, with or without visible wind indicators.
- Position the flight controls for the existing wind, if applicable.
- Clear the area, keep the control inputs, taxi into takeoff position and line up on the centerline without stopping, while you advance the throttle smoothly to takeoff power.
- Confirm takeoff power and the engine and flight instrument indications.
- Set and hold a pitch attitude that moves the airplane's weight from the wheels to the wings as fast as possible.
- Lift off at the lowest possible airspeed and stay in ground effect while accelerating to VX or VY, as appropriate.
- Set a pitch attitude for VX or VY, as appropriate, and hold the selected airspeed +10/-5 knots in the climb.
- Configure the airplane after a positive rate of climb is verified, or as the manufacturer says.
- Hold VX or VY, as appropriate, +10/-5 knots to a safe maneuvering altitude.
- Keep directional control and the right wind-drift correction through the takeoff and climb.
- Comply with noise abatement procedures, as applicable.
Safety rules that stop the station
- Any action, or lack of action, that makes the examiner step in to keep the flight safe is unsatisfactory.
- Not clearing the area with a proper visual scan before and during the maneuver is unsatisfactory.
- Consistently exceeding the tolerances of the task, or not correcting promptly when you exceed them, is unsatisfactory.
To pass
- A rolling start without stopping, the weight off the wheels early, lift-off at the lowest speed and VX or VY +10/-5 knots to a safe altitude.
- Know how the atmosphere and the wind change takeoff and climb performance, VX and VY, the right configuration, and the risks of the takeoff path, crosswind, windshear, tailwind, wake turbulence, the takeoff surface, a rejected takeoff, an engine failure in the climb, collision, low-altitude stalls and spins, and distractions. Also ground effect, the weight transfer from the wheels to the wings and the left-turning tendencies.
- Missing the standard on this task fails the task and its area of operation.
Official source
Federal · FAA Private Pilot ACS
Private Pilot for Airplane Category Airman Certification Standards (FAA-S-ACS-6C)
The FAA publishes the Private Pilot Airman Certification Standards free: every task of the checkride with its knowledge, risks and tolerances.
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