Private Pilot oral
Performance & weight and balance — private pilot oral exam questions
The examiner gives you a loading — four people, bags, full fuel — and a set of conditions, and asks you to run the weight and balance and the takeoff and landing performance for real, using this airplane’s POH.
They are checking that you can actually use the charts (not a rule of thumb), that you understand what moves the CG and why it matters, and that you know how density altitude changes the numbers.
The follow-up: "it is now 20 degrees hotter and we are near gross — does it still work?" — and what you would offload or change if it does not.
Questions you’ll get
- 1Here is our load. Run the weight and balance. Are we in the envelope for takeoff and for landing?
- 2What happens to handling and stall behavior with an aft CG? A forward CG?
- 3Use the POH to find our takeoff distance over a 50-ft obstacle for today’s conditions.
- 4Define density altitude and pressure altitude. Compute both for this airport right now.
- 5It is now 95 °F. Re-run the takeoff numbers. What is your decision?
- 6How does weight affect stall speed, climb rate, and glide distance?
- 7We burn fuel from the mains in flight. Which way does the CG move, and does that help or hurt us?
- 8What is the maximum demonstrated crosswind component, and what does "demonstrated" mean?
Walk in ready
Do a full weight and balance and a performance workup for your actual checkride airplane and airport before the ride, and bring the worksheet. Know which POH page each number lives on so you are not flipping under pressure.
More PPL oral topics
PilotPrep is a study aid. It is not the FAA, it doesn’t replace your CFI or an endorsement, and practicing here doesn’t guarantee passing the practical. These are representative questions, not a script the examiner follows — always defer to your instructor and the current ACS and FARs.