Instrument Rating Study Guide: Aircraft Flight Instruments & Navigation Equipment Instrument flying requires pilots to control and navigate the aircraft without relying on outside visual references. That makes understanding your flight instruments and navigation equipment—and recognizing when the information becomes unreliable—critical. For the Instrument Rating ACS, you should understand how the equipment operates, what information [...]

Instrument Rating Study Guide: Cross-Country Flight Planning IFR cross-country planning is more than entering a departure and destination into an EFB and following the magenta line. An instrument pilot needs to understand the entire flight before departure—the route, weather, altitude, fuel, procedures, aircraft performance, alternates, and available options if the original plan changes. For the [...]

Instrument Rating Study Guide: Weather Information For an instrument pilot, checking the weather is not only determining whether the ceiling and visibility are legal. A complete IFR weather picture should answer: What conditions will affect this flight from departure to destination—and what is my plan if those conditions change? The Instrument Rating ACS expects applicants [...]

Commercial Pilot ACS Study Guide: Emergency Equipment and Survival Gear A successful emergency landing may only be the beginning of an emergency. If the aircraft comes down in a remote area, over water, or in extreme weather, the crew and passengers may need to remain safe until help arrives. For a commercial pilot, emergency preparation [...]

Commercial Pilot ACS Study Guide: Systems and Equipment Malfunctions A systems or equipment malfunction does not always announce itself as an obvious emergency. Sometimes the first indication is a warning light, abnormal gauge reading, unusual sound, failed instrument, or piece of equipment that simply stops working. At the commercial pilot level, the goal is to [...]

Commercial Pilot ACS Study Guide: Emergency Descent An emergency descent is used when a situation requires the airplane to lose altitude as quickly as practical while remaining within aircraft limitations and maintaining positive control. For a commercial pilot, this maneuver is about more than producing a high descent rate. It requires sound judgment, proper configuration, [...]

Commercial Pilot ACS Study Guide: Spin Awareness A spin develops when an airplane is stalled and yaw is present, creating an aerodynamic imbalance between the wings that results in autorotation. For commercial pilots, spin awareness is less about memorizing a recovery acronym and more about understanding how a spin develops—and recognizing the conditions early enough [...]

Commercial Pilot ACS Study Guide: Accelerated Stalls Accelerated stalls challenge one of the most common misconceptions about stalls: that they only happen when an airplane gets too slow. An airplane can exceed its critical angle of attack at any airspeed and in any attitude. When additional load is placed on the wings during a turn, [...]

Commercial Pilot ACS Study Guide: Power-On Stalls Power-on stalls place the airplane in a demanding combination of high power, increasing pitch attitude, decreasing airspeed, and increasing angle of attack. They are designed to represent conditions that could develop during takeoff, initial climb, or a go-around if the pilot allows the airplane's energy and attitude to [...]

Commercial Pilot ACS Study Guide: Power-Off Stalls Power-off stalls simulate situations where an airplane may unintentionally approach a stall while operating at reduced power, particularly during the approach and landing phase of flight. At the commercial pilot level, this maneuver is about more than performing a recovery. The pilot should understand why the stall develops, [...]