flysooner9

Hey folks, first off i know obviously that everything in the oral book is fair game. However i was wondering if some of you out there could give me some advice on things that are a big emphasis. What can you almost always count on being asked? Also, i seem to always get extremely nervous for my oral tests, does anyone have any advice on how to stay relaxed?

NDCFI

know the systems on whatever plane you're flying. those are big.

mmaviator

systems, commercial reg(can/can't do). and for the relax thing have someone ask you questions(like test prep). good luck

250 or point 65

I think the key to figuring out what the emphasis areas are is to find someone who has had the DPE that you are going to have and ask. Obviously the questions won't all be the same and you can't just study those areas, but every DPE thinks that different areas are more important.

I have found that the biggest key to an oral is not to guess. If you do, whatever you guessed on will automatically be an area of emphasis and you will most likely get owned. As a check instructor I always told students before an oral that my job was to find the limit of their knowledge, so most likely they will get some questions that they don't know the answers to. You can't say "I don't know" to every question that comes up, but if you're confused, don't guess.

multipilot

I remember when I was preparing for my instrument ride, my instructor and I went into a briefing room to do some ground review a few weeks before the checkride. About 30 mins into it another instructor, who was bored I suppose, walked in and started asking me questions along with my instructor. Over the next hour 3 more instructors made their way in and all were throwing questions at me. After being grilled to death by five instructors, when the checkride came around the oral portion was cake.

Cubdriver

I always bought the ASA Oral Exam guides and worked through them. They are cheap and fairly thorough. You will need to know a lot about your airplane as the above person said. Most of that will be found in systems chapter of the POH for the airplane. Get familiar with the systems diagrams in the POH. A few weeks before my exam I printed out the schematics found there for electrical, hydraulic, vacuum, and pitot static systems and tacked them to the wall in my house. That helps bring them into a more tangible position for you. Don't forget the accessories like autopilot that are only found in the supplements also. I find that those accessories are well worth knowing something about, and your DE may think so too when he sees some obscure brand of autopilot, a fuel totalizer or an alitude alerter installed in your airplane. The more exotic it is the more likely he is to ask about it.

Riverside

pretty much the same things said on jetcareers.

AirlinePirate7

Relax dude... U should be fine. Know the first 22 pages of that orange ASA book by heart. Know the systems of you airplane. Weather to some DE are big, i know it was a big thing for mine. After that you go fly! it should last barely 40 mins if you zip it out.

Take it easy bro

AP7

heckler45

At least know the definitions of Common Carriage, Private Carriage and Holding out. Performance and limitations are a must and above all else know the systems of your aircraft inside and out! My DE wasn't big on weather but did want to know everything about an Airmet, Sigmet and Convective Sigmet. I was also asked to detail every Class of Airspace!

As far as staying relaxed, I can't really give any advice. I've been through so many orals over the last 15 years with the military, law enfocement and now flying but still haven't found a way to calm the jitters! I always come out of an oral thinking to myself, why in the hell was I so nervous. I guess it's just something you have to live with and is human nature!

Good luck!

snippercr

In addition to what was said above I offer the best advice I had for my CFI Oral. Admit if you do not know the answer or are not 100% sure but know where to FIND the answer. You dont have to know "FAR blah blah blah blah" but know approximately where to find it or which source to reference.

Also, do not be afraid to think. Some people think that they need to respond rapidly to each question and that hesitation shows sign of weakness. Give each question a good thinking so you give an appropriate response.

Also, most people have heard "If they ask the time, don't build a clock." On certain questions they ask, sometimes it may be advisable to give a more general answer and let them widdle it down to a specific question. Now that is not a good idea for some types of questions but it worked for me great on my CFI oral. For instance, on my CFI oral I was asked "Tell me about the airspaces" I said "There is class G which is close to the ground, Class E which is really every where else, class D which is like airport XYZ and has a tower, Class C which is like YXZ and has radar, Class B like NYZ and is for really big airports, and Class A which is for high altitude IFR airplanes." Then he asked me a few specific questions about each (equipment requirements for class C, normal dimensions for D etc).

For commercial I'll just reiterate the important things people said: Know what commercial pilots can and cannot due, plus the new systems (Prop, landing gear etc). The question he asked that I didnt know the answer to was "When do you need a high altitude endorsement" and I forgot when the airplane is CERTIFIED to a certain altitude, not just when you fly above that altitude.

Oh and I confused Vle and Vlo but I worked that out.

Good luck. Probably one of the easiest and shortest orals you'll take!