Real DPE scenarios. You make the call, the examiner reacts to every choice with the reasoning, and you finish with a risk-management debrief.
You're a new private pilot planning a 90 NM VFR cross-country to visit family. Departure is clear, but the destinati…
Day VFR is deteriorating faster than forecast. The horizon fades into haze and a lowering deck. Suddenly you realize…
On preflight you find the landing light inoperative. You'd planned a daytime local flight, no passengers. Can you go…
You're departing a high-density-altitude airport near gross weight in a light twin. Just after liftoff, gear still d…
Enroute on a 3-hour VFR cross-country, stronger-than-forecast headwinds have slowed your groundspeed. Your fuel math…
It's a hot afternoon at a high-elevation airport with a relatively short runway and trees off the departure end. You…
You've promised to fly two friends to a wedding 120 NM away and you're already running late. The route forecast is m…
You're about to depart on a day VFR cross-country in a typical vacuum-driven trainer. During run-up you notice the a…
You're on the final 75 NM of a night VFR cross-country. A precautionary mid-trip groundspeed check shows you've been…
It's the end of a 14-hour day. You drove three hours, skipped a real meal, and you're fighting a head cold with a de…
You're departing a 4,000-ft runway in a light twin on a warm day near gross weight. Just after liftoff, gear still d…
You're level in cruise in a non-known-ice airplane. You entered a cloud layer and notice a thin rime accumulation bu…
You're flying an instrument approach to your destination. The current weather is right at the published minimums and…
You're about to depart on a trip your passengers are counting on. On preflight you find that a position light is ino…
You're transitioning near a busy Class B airport on a VFR cross-country. You called Approach and gave your position …
You're number two for departure at a towered airport, behind a heavy jet that is rolling now. Tower clears you for t…
It's a hot summer afternoon at a mountain airport with a field elevation around 6,000 ft. The temperature is well ab…
You're IFR in solid IMC, en route on a cleared route, when you realize your radios have gone silent — you've had a t…
Cruising at 5,500 ft on a cool, humid, overcast day at a low cruise power setting, the engine begins to run rough an…
You arrive at your destination to find the wind 060 at 18 gusting 27, and the only runway is 15/33. Your logbook and…
You're departing a 4,000-ft-elevation airport on a warm day in a light twin near gross weight. Just after liftoff wi…
On an IFR flight at night, the only approach that lines up with a usable runway is a circling approach, with the win…
You're cruising at FL350 in a pressurized airplane when the cabin altitude warning horn sounds. The cabin altitude i…
You lost an engine earlier in the flight and are established on a single-engine approach, configured to land: gear d…
On a VFR cross-country, you missed your last checkpoint and haven't seen a landmark you recognize in several minutes…
You're loading three passengers and full baggage for a cross-country. A quick mental estimate feels 'about right' si…
You're VFR at 3,500 ft on a direct route that clips the edge of a Class B shelf. You've been talking to approach con…
You're a newly instrument-rated pilot in solid IMC on an airway. The ride is smooth, but you notice the attitude ind…
You're departing in a light twin at a comfortable weight. Shortly after liftoff, still low with the landing gear in …
On a commercial cross-country you're considering climbing to 13,500 ft to stay above some terrain and get a smoother…
You're filing IFR to a destination with an ILS. The destination forecast for a window from 1 hour before to 1 hour a…
You're on a VFR approach to your home field on a hot, humid afternoon. A building cumulonimbus is a few miles off th…
You're IFR in solid IMC, en route on a Victor airway. Your last clearance was 'cleared to KXYZ as filed, maintain 6,…
On a VFR cross-country over gently rising terrain, you decide to reprogram the GPS for a new destination and pull up…
You're VFR cross-country and your planned route takes you through a Class C airport's airspace and later clips insid…
You're cruising a light twin at 9,000 ft over mountainous terrain on a warm day. The airplane type's single-engine s…
You're the captain of a transport jet nearing your destination. The release listed a legal alternate and planned fue…
You're flying an instrument approach into a mountain airport on a bitterly cold day — the surface temperature is far…
It's a cold, clear afternoon and you're 90 minutes into a three-hour cross-country with the cabin heat running. Over…
You're departing a valley airport at 6,200 ft field elevation on a 34°C afternoon. Wind is 12 gusting 20 knots about…
You're IFR in solid IMC at 7,000, flying a GPS-direct route you filed this morning. Your navigator annunciates a los…
You're being paid to fly cargo in a single-engine airplane. At the ramp the shipper has staged noticeably more boxes…
You're VFR at 2,500 ft MSL beneath a Class B shelf whose floor is 3,000 ft MSL. Terrain ahead rises to about 1,800 f…
You're departing a 6,000-ft elevation airport on a hot afternoon in a light piston twin. The runway is 5,000 ft with…
Two hours into a four-hour leg at cruise, the fuel synoptic shows the left tank several hundred pounds lower than th…
A pilot you're flying with tells you he's current for the IFR flight you're about to make together. He completed an …
Your student has flown three consistent, safe patterns this morning, including a clean go-around. The presolo knowle…
You're 55 nautical miles into a 130-nautical-mile cross-country at 6,500 feet when the engine begins running noticea…
A business owner you've flown with tells you he's found a clean arrangement: he'll 'dry lease' a Bonanza from its ow…
You have 65 hours and a six-week-old private certificate. Three friends want you to fly them to a lake 140 nautical …
Late winter morning. You're instrument rated and current, flying a normally aspirated single with no ice protection …
Cruise at 8,500 feet in a normally aspirated light twin, day VMC, 45 minutes from your destination. The left propell…
You're the CFII in the right seat on an IFR training flight in actual instrument conditions. Your student is holding…
You're the captain of a transport-category airplane descending into a northern airport. The dispatch landing calcula…
You're planning an IFR flight to an airport whose only instrument approach is an ILS. The destination forecast is ri…
You're returning from a local flight to your home Class D airport on a humid summer afternoon. Ten miles out the vis…
A pilot you've never met books a flight review. He's flown about six hours in the last two years, all in the pattern…
You're departing a 2,400-foot grass strip after an overnight stay. The grass is wet with heavy dew, the morning is a…
You're 40 minutes from your destination on a VFR cross-country when a Convective SIGMET is issued for a developing l…
You're instructing a private pilot student practicing slow flight. The student, distracted while looking outside, le…
You're giving multi-engine instruction in a light piston twin with no published V1. During the takeoff roll, well be…
At cruise altitude on a long IFR flight, you notice an acrid smell, static discharges dancing across the windshield,…
You are flying an ILS in IMC at a busy field. ATC vectors you to intercept the localizer close in, and you are clear…
At a towered airport you are cleared to taxi to Runway 27 via Alpha. Alpha crosses Runway 18/36 before reaching your…
On a daytime VFR cross-country you pass your ETA for the second checkpoint and do not see it. Ground features do not…
A pre-solo student, eager to finish, asks you to endorse him for solo flight this week. His crosswind landings are i…
You are about to fly a friend's airplane to a fly-in breakfast. While checking the logbooks, you see the last annual…
You are single-pilot IFR in solid IMC, light turbulence, 40 minutes from the destination. ATC gives you a full rerou…
On a night VFR cross-country over sparsely lit terrain, you notice a burning-insulation smell and a thin haze behind…
You are a first officer on a four-leg day. Your hotel rest was legal, but a fire alarm and noise left you with about…
Day VFR, climbing through 2,500 ft AGL after takeoff. A large bird strikes the windshield, which cracks and is smear…
You are planning a VFR cross-country. The direct route passes through a charted restricted area. The chart lists hou…
You pick up an IFR clearance by phone at an airport without a tower. The clearance has a void time of 30 minutes fro…
You are a passenger in a single-engine airplane with no flight experience. The pilot, a friend, slumps and does not …
It is a clear, calm night and you are about to depart on a short cross-country in a single-engine airplane. The airp…
You are about to fly two paying passengers on a cross-country in a complex single. The fuel receipt says the airplan…
You are flying a complex single on a busy afternoon. ATC has just asked you to keep your speed up and extend the dow…
You are flying a single-engine airplane VFR with one passenger. The sky ahead is a solid layer with its tops at abou…
You are on a left downwind at a non-towered airport on a clear afternoon. You hear another pilot announce a straight…
You have a local flight with a friend planned this morning. You woke up with a stuffy nose and a mild headache, and …
You are planning a flight in a four-seat single-engine airplane with three friends, each with a bag, on a warm after…
You are giving instrument instruction with a student in actual IMC in a single-engine airplane at 5,000 feet. The st…
It is a cold morning. After priming, you engage the starter and the engine coughs. You see flames at the engine cowl…
You are on a night approach to a lighted runway at a small airport. It is a moonless night, there are no lights on t…
It is a clear, cold morning. You are late for a flight with a friend. When you walk around the airplane, there is a …
You are on an IFR flight plan in VMC above a layer at 8,000 feet, 25 miles from your destination. The destination ME…
