Jshutt64

I was kind of curious about something the other day and was hoping to get some insight into it.

If you score low on your knowledge test, will that make the oral portion of the practical harder?

When I did my private SEL, I scored an 80 on my knowledge test. My oral was over 2 hours long. When my buddy did it, he scored a 95 on his knowledge, and his oral was just over an hour.

Does this just have to do with the difference in examiner, or is there a relation between knowledge test score and difficulty of oral?

Senior Skipper

There may be some correlation, but I think it's more about the examiner. Some just like to talk a lot more than others.

whatthe6789

I think its more about different examiners... Some DPE's think that a high score on the written means you know your stuff. On the other hand, some DPE's use the written as a kind of list of things that you aren't very strong on, so if you do really well, they ask more questions to determine what you aren't strong on...

Slice

I'd tend to dig deeper if you can't ace or nearly so a test you already have the answers to...

flynwmn

there is no need for the knowledge test, 77 on the pvt, 75 on the ins, 95 on the comm, 100 on the FOI and 100 and the FIA. The knowledge test shows you spent a weekend on on exams 4 pilots. the practical test is all you should be tested on.

fjetter

One thing that the written does do is set a tone and a little bit of that first impression. Its human nature we can't help make first impressions. If I was meeting someone for the first time and was reviewing the paperwork and saw a 90%+ and a mid 70s% my first instinct is that the applicant with the 90+ will probably do better.

To the original poster it most certainly would have to do with a difference in examiners.

nyalex

I give stage checks at a part 141 school and can tell you that I usually look at their test scores, but that doesn't drastically change the contents of the oral exam. Typically if you did poorly on your test, you don't know as much as you should. The increased oral time is usually me trying to beat the answer out of a student or give them several hints. I also let students dig themselves quite a nice hole with wrong information. If we are talking about weather patterns and they get something incorrect and then they contradict themselves a few questions later, I will bring that up. They usually end up trying to piece together bits and pieces of information they don't have a good grasp on. 90% of the time that is the reason an oral takes longer with a poorly prepared student. For me at least, they are all expected to know the same amount of information.

Purpleanga

Has nothing to do with the test score. Even the examiners know that all you need is rote learning to pass the test, it's not a real gauge of your abilities. I got a very low score on my commercial like lower 70s because I crammed a day or two before. My initial commercial check ride was probably the easiest of them all. With that said, honestly, if you got anything below a 90 on these tests you probably crammed before. All my CFIs were in the high 90s but it's because I spent about a week for each.

Photon

I've had a FAA examiner look at my knowledge test, and say "well that will make it easier" when she saw it was a high score.
It's up to every examiner, but it can't hurt!

For myself, I only studied for 2 days for each of my FAA writtens. Worked perfectly for me

wrxpilot

I'm kind of a perfectionist, so I always studied pretty hard for my writtens (like really studied, not memorize the answers over the weekend studying). As a result, I always did well and was able to show up to the oral with a strong test score. It helped set the tone for the checkride, which is obviously beneficial.

But I really don't think it's going to affect the duration and intensity of the oral, as there are so many other factors at play. After just a couple of minutes, the examiner will be able to determine if you know your stuff or if you're just trying to skate through. If you are one of those guys that memorized the answers but are thin on knowledge, expect a long, brutal exam. On the other hand, I've found from my own experiences and that of my students that if one walks into an oral well prepared, you will likely have an enjoyable experience. Examiners LOVE well prepared candidates, and will spend most of the oral relaying educational war stories and other tidbits of knowledge learned through their many years of experience. Plus, if you blow the examiner away on the oral, they will WANT to pass you. So if you screw something up on the practical test (which we all do, trust me), they'll probably give you a second chance.

Besides, I'm assuming you're going into this since you like it. Why wouldn't you want to study? When I was working on my ratings, I was reading about aviation 24/7 and asking all kinds of questions. If you're really interested in aviation and cracking the books, the knowledge tests are going to be easy.