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AviationTurns to headings by instruments

Solely by reference to the instruments, you turn at standard rate to the headings the examiner gives you, holding altitude and speed and rolling out on the heading. It is Task D of Area VIII, Basic Instrument Maneuvers, in the FAA Private Pilot Airman Certification Standards, the checkride every private pilot flies.

Free to start

The steps

  1. Turn to the headings at a standard rate, hold altitude within 200 feet and airspeed within 10 knots, and roll out on the assigned heading within 10 degrees.

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.
  • Consistently exceeding the tolerances of the task, or not correcting promptly when you exceed them, is unsatisfactory.

To pass

  • Standard-rate turns, altitude within 200 feet, airspeed within 10 knots and the rollout within 10 degrees of the heading.
  • Know the flight instruments: their limits and errors, how they show the attitude, how they work and how to cross-check them, and the risks of losing control, when to ask for help or declare an emergency, collision, distractions, fixation and omission, instrument interpretation, flying by instruments only and trimming.
  • 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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