If you are training for your private pilot certificate, one document quietly governs the whole finish line: the Airman Certification Standards (ACS). It defines what you have to know, what risks you have to manage, and what you have to be able to do to pass, on the written test, the oral, and the checkride. Download the official PDF below, then track every Task with our free ACS checklist.
This page covers the private pilot ACS specifically. For the full family of FAA tests and how the ACS works across every certificate, see our ACS and Checkride Prep guide.
Get the ACS right now: download the current Private Pilot Airplane ACS, FAA-S-ACS-6C (PDF) and its companion FAA-G-ACS-2 Companion Guide for Pilots (PDF), both free from the FAA. Want paper you can tab and annotate? See printed ACS and oral exam guides at PilotMall.
New to all this? The ACS is the standard you are ultimately tested against. If you are earlier in the journey, start with our Private Pilot License guide and come back when you begin ground school.
Private pilot ACS task checklist
Every Area of Operation and Task in FAA-S-ACS-6C, ready to check off as you master each one. Each Task has knowledge and risk management elements, and all but two (Spin Awareness and Night Operations) have skill elements, so the checklist tracks all three. Pick your class rating to see exactly the Tasks your checkride covers; your progress stays in this browser, and you can print it to review with your instructor.
Private pilot ACS task tracker
Check off the knowledge, risk management and skill elements of each Task as you master them. Your progress stays in this browser.
I. Preflight Preparation
- PA.I.A Pilot Qualifications
- PA.I.B Airworthiness Requirements
- PA.I.C Weather Information
- PA.I.D Cross-Country Flight Planning
- PA.I.E National Airspace System
- PA.I.F Performance and Limitations
- PA.I.G Operation of Systems
- PA.I.H Human Factors
- PA.I.I Water and Seaplane Characteristics, Seaplane Bases, Maritime Rules, and Aids to Marine Navigation
II. Preflight Procedures
- PA.II.A Preflight Assessment
- PA.II.B Flight Deck Management
- PA.II.C Engine Starting
- PA.II.D Taxiing
- PA.II.E Taxiing and Sailing
- PA.II.F Before Takeoff Check
III. Airport and Seaplane Base Operations
- PA.III.A Communications, Light Signals, and Runway Lighting Systems
- PA.III.B Traffic Patterns
IV. Takeoffs, Landings, and Go-Arounds
- PA.IV.A Normal Takeoff and Climb
- PA.IV.B Normal Approach and Landing
- PA.IV.C Soft-Field Takeoff and Climb
- PA.IV.D Soft-Field Approach and Landing
- PA.IV.E Short-Field Takeoff and Maximum Performance Climb
- PA.IV.F Short-Field Approach and Landing
- PA.IV.G Confined Area Takeoff and Maximum Performance Climb
- PA.IV.H Confined Area Approach and Landing
- PA.IV.I Glassy Water Takeoff and Climb
- PA.IV.J Glassy Water Approach and Landing
- PA.IV.K Rough Water Takeoff and Climb
- PA.IV.L Rough Water Approach and Landing
- PA.IV.M Forward Slip to a Landing
- PA.IV.N Go-Around/Rejected Landing
V. Performance Maneuvers and Ground Reference Maneuvers
- PA.V.A Steep Turns
- PA.V.B Ground Reference Maneuvers
VI. Navigation
- PA.VI.A Pilotage and Dead Reckoning
- PA.VI.B Navigation Systems and Radar Services
- PA.VI.C Diversion
- PA.VI.D Lost Procedures
VII. Slow Flight and Stalls
- PA.VII.A Maneuvering During Slow Flight
- PA.VII.B Power-Off Stalls
- PA.VII.C Power-On Stalls
- PA.VII.D Spin Awareness
VIII. Basic Instrument Maneuvers
- PA.VIII.A Straight-and-Level Flight
- PA.VIII.B Constant Airspeed Climbs
- PA.VIII.C Constant Airspeed Descents
- PA.VIII.D Turns to Headings
- PA.VIII.E Recovery from Unusual Flight Attitudes
- PA.VIII.F Radio Communications, Navigation Systems/Facilities, and Radar Services
IX. Emergency Operations
- PA.IX.A Emergency Descent
- PA.IX.B Emergency Approach and Landing (Simulated)
- PA.IX.C Systems and Equipment Malfunctions
- PA.IX.D Emergency Equipment and Survival Gear
- PA.IX.E Engine Failure During Takeoff Before VMC (Simulated)
- PA.IX.F Engine Failure After Liftoff (Simulated)
- PA.IX.G Approach and Landing with an Inoperative Engine (Simulated)
X. Multiengine Operations
- PA.X.A Maneuvering with One Engine Inoperative
- PA.X.B VMC Demonstration
- PA.X.C One Engine Inoperative (Simulated) (solely by Reference to Instruments) During Straight-and-Level Flight and Turns
- PA.X.D Instrument Approach and Landing with an Inoperative Engine (Simulated)
XI. Night Operations
- PA.XI.A Night Operations
XII. Postflight Procedures
- PA.XII.A After Landing, Parking, and Securing
- PA.XII.B Seaplane Post-Landing Procedures
Task list from the FAA Private Pilot for Airplane Category ACS, FAA-S-ACS-6C. Each Task's code (for example PA.I.A) matches the codes on your knowledge test report.
What is the ACS?
The Airman Certification Standards is the FAA’s official document that lays out the completion standards for a certificate or rating. For the private pilot certificate in an airplane, that document is FAA-S-ACS-6 (current edition FAA-S-ACS-6C, effective May 31, 2024), paired with its companion, FAA-G-ACS-2.
Think of the ACS as the single source of truth that connects your three tests: the knowledge test (the written) draws its questions from the knowledge areas in the ACS; the oral exam is the examiner verifying those same knowledge and risk-management elements out loud; and the flight test measures your skills against the tolerances printed in the ACS.
Pursuing a different certificate? The ACS applies to nearly every FAA test. See every FAA ACS test explained, covering the instrument, commercial, and flight instructor standards too.
ACS vs. the old PTS
Older material refers to the PTS (Practical Test Standards). The ACS replaced the PTS for private pilot in 2016. The PTS focused almost entirely on skills. The ACS keeps those skill standards but adds two things to every task: aeronautical knowledge and risk management. If a source still says PTS, it predates this change and may be out of date.
How the ACS is structured
The ACS is a simple hierarchy. Areas of Operation are the big phases of flight. Tasks are specific subjects within an Area. Each Task is broken into elements of up to three types: Knowledge (K), Risk Management (R), and Skill (S). Every Task has K and R elements, but two (Spin Awareness and Night Operations) have no S elements. Each element has a unique code, and those codes are how everything ties together.
Reading an ACS code: PA.I.B.K1 breaks down as PA (Private Airplane), I (Area of Operation I, Preflight Preparation), B (Task B, Airworthiness Requirements), K1 (Knowledge element 1). Your knowledge-test report lists the codes you missed, so you can take that report straight to your instructor and review exactly those elements before the oral.
The Private Pilot Airplane Areas of Operation
- Preflight Preparation
- Preflight Procedures
- Airport and Seaplane Base Operations
- Takeoffs, Landings, and Go-Arounds
- Performance Maneuvers and Ground Reference Maneuvers
- Navigation
- Slow Flight and Stalls
- Basic Instrument Maneuvers
- Emergency Operations
- Multiengine Operations (multiengine applicants only)
- Night Operations
- Postflight Procedures
How the ACS ties your three tests together
One standard, three checkpoints. Knowledge elements show up on the written and the oral. Risk-management elements show up on the oral and in the airplane. Skill elements are demonstrated on the checkride, within the tolerances the ACS prints. Because your knowledge-test report hands you the ACS codes of anything you missed, you walk into checkride prep with a precise list of weak spots.
How to study with the ACS
- Get the official ACS and read the introduction. It explains exactly how you will be evaluated.
- Use it as a syllabus map. As you cover a topic, read its Task and the K, R, and S elements to gauge the depth expected.
- After your written, work the codes you missed with your instructor before the oral.
- Self-test against the skill tolerances on every flight, not just the checkride.
- Drill risk management out loud: for each Task, ask what could go wrong and how you would mitigate it.
Study the ACS the right way
What you'll need
Everything you need from your first lesson to your checkride, all from PilotMall.com.
Where to get the official ACS
The FAA publishes the ACS free. These are the current documents, direct from faa.gov:
- Private Pilot for Airplane Category ACS (FAA-S-ACS-6C), PDF. Effective May 31, 2024. This is the document you are tested against.
- ACS Companion Guide for Pilots (FAA-G-ACS-2), PDF. Explains how the standards are applied, including the testing procedures the FAA moved out of the ACS itself. Read this alongside the ACS, not instead of it.
- ACS Knowledge Test Table: Correct Allotted Times, PDF. An FAA correction: the knowledge test table in FAA-S-ACS-6C prints the wrong time limit for the private pilot airplane test, and this sheet gives the right one, 2.0 hours for 60 questions.
- The FAA’s complete ACS library. Go here for the instrument, commercial, and flight instructor standards.
A lot of students still want paper. Tabbing and annotating a printed copy, then flipping to a task in front of your examiner, beats scrolling a PDF on a phone. The printed FAA-S-ACS-6C with the FAA-G-ACS-2 companion included is available from PilotMall, along with oral exam guides and checkride test-prep books. Whichever format you use, confirm you are holding the current edition before your checkride.
Frequently asked questions
What does ACS stand for?
Airman Certification Standards, the FAA document defining the knowledge, risk management, and skill standards you must meet for a certificate or rating.
Is the ACS the same as the PTS?
No. The ACS replaced the Practical Test Standards for private pilot in 2016 and adds explicit knowledge and risk-management standards to the skill standards the PTS covered.
Which ACS applies to the private pilot certificate?
For airplanes it is FAA-S-ACS-6, currently edition 6C (effective May 31, 2024), along with its companion guide FAA-G-ACS-2.
How many Tasks are in the private pilot ACS?
FAA-S-ACS-6C has 12 Areas of Operation and 61 Tasks across the four airplane class ratings. 45 of those Tasks, in 11 Areas, apply to a single-engine land (ASEL) applicant, because the multiengine and seaplane Tasks do not. The checklist on this page filters the Tasks by class rating.
Is the ACS free?
Yes. The FAA publishes it free as a PDF: download FAA-S-ACS-6C here. Printed copies are also available if you prefer paper.