This course prepares the student to take the FAA private pilot knowledge examination. It includes elementary navigation, weather, federal aviation regulations, NTSB reporting procedures, radio procedures, AIM, advisory circulars, operating limitations, aircraft performance, principles of aerodynamics, power plants and systems, stall and spin awareness, ADM and judgment, preflight action and planning.
Prerequisites
AVF 111 or Chief Pilot approval.
Quarters Offered
Fall
Course Outcomes
Upon successful completion of the course, students should be able to demonstrate the following knowledge or skills:
- Apply aeronautical knowledge to the degree necessary to pass the FAA written test for Private Pilot - Airplane.
Institutional Outcomes
IO2 Quantitative Reasoning: Students will be able to reason mathematically
Course Content Outline
- The Practical Science of Flight
- The components of an Airplane?
- Why Airplanes Fly
- The Airplane in Flight
- Controlling the Airplane in Flight
- When the Wing Quits Flying
- Flight Instruments
- Categories of Airplane Instruments
- The Pitot-Static Instruments
- The Gyroscopic Instruments
- The self-contained Instruments
- Using the Flight Instruments Together
- The Powerplant and Its Systems
- Principles of Reciprocating Engines
- The Fuel System
- The Ignition System
- The Oil System
- The Electrical System
- The Propeller
- Power Plant Instrumentation and Controls
- Power Plant Operations
- Airplane Weight and Balance
- Principles of Weight and Balance
- Airplane Weight and Balance
- Sample Weight and Balance Problem
- Handbook Methods for Solving Weight and Balance Problems
- Weight, Balance, and the Art of Piloting
- Performance: Measuring and Airplane's Capabilities
- Handbook Performance Data
- Performance and the Atmosphere
- Takeoff Performance
- Climb Performance
- Cruise Performance
- Landing Performance
- Flying by the Book
- Airports, Airspace, and Local Flying
- Planning and Conducting a Local Flight
- Airport and Runway Markings and Identification
- Airports and Controlled Airspace
- Radio Communications Techniques
- Flying at Night
- Airports: Special Considerations
- Meteorology: A Pilot's View of Weather
- The Atmosphere Defined
- The Atmosphere in Motion
- Aviation Weather
- Clouds: Signposts in the Sky
- Air Masses and Fronts
- Weather and the VFR Pilot
- Using Aviation Weather Services
- The Sources of Weather Information
- The Preflight Weather Briefing
- Interpreting Weather Charts
- Using Weather Reports and Forecasts
- Using Weather Advisory Services
- Using Weather Services: Two Simulations
- Flight Information Publications
- Regulatory and Technical Publications
- Nonregulatory and Supplemental Publications
- Key Publications
- Using Flight Information
- Other Aviation Reading
- Basics of Air Navigation
- Methods of Navigation
- The Earth--A Navigator's Frame of Reference
- Aeronautical Charts--Representations of Reality
- The Art of Pilotage
- Dead Reckoning Navigation
- DR Flight Computers
- DR Electronic Flight Calculators
- Care of Navigational Tools
- Radio Navigation Aids
- Principles of Radio Navigation
- Overview of Radio Navaids
- VOR Navigation
- VOR Navigational Procedures
- Distance Measuring Equipment
- Automatic Direction Finding
- Area Navigation
- Radar-Assisted VFR Navigation
- Other Avionic Aids and Displays
- Flight Planning with Radio Navaids
- Composite Navigation: Going Cross-country
- Overview of Flight Planning Procedures
- Going Cross-country
- General Tips for Cross-country Flying
- The Physiology of Flight
- Effects of Flight on the Human Body
- Effects of Stress on the Human Body
- Oxygen-related Disorders
- Motion-related Disorders
- Overcoming Stress-related Disorders
- Determining your Fitness to Fly
Department Guidelines
Evaluation is by written examinations, consisting of quizzes, mid-term and final. Grading procedure includes attendance. Grades will be earned in accordance with the following standardized table Note *70% is lowest passing grade.
| 98-100% | 4.0 |
| 97% | 3.9 |
| 96% | 3.8 |
| 95% | 3.7 |
| 94% | 3.6 |
| 93% | 3.5 |
| 92% | 3.4 |
| 91% | 3.3 |
| 90% | 3.2 |
| 89% | 3.1 |
| 88% | 3.0 |
| 87% | 2.9 |
| 86% | 2.8 |
| 85% | 2.7 |
| 84% | 2.6 |
| 83% | 2.5 |
| 82% | 2.4 |
| 81% | 2.3 |
| 80% | 2.2 |
| 79% | 2.1 |
| 78% | 2.0 |
| 77% | 1.9 |
| 76% | 1.8 |
| 75% | 1.7 |
| 74% | 1.5 |
| 73% | 1.3 |
| 72% | 1.1 |
| 71% | 0.9 |
| 70% | 0.7 |