PPL Meteorology exam

What the exam covers

Pocket Pilot teaches Meteorology in nine lessons, about 43 minutes of reading in all.

1. 01

   The Atmosphere & ISA

   7 min

   Composition of the atmosphere · Atmospheric layers · The International Standard Atmosphere (ISA) · Pressure with altitude · Lapse rates and stability: the theory · Temperature inversions · ISA deviations · Why density matters more than temperature

2. 02

   Pressure, Density & Altimetry

   3 min

   Pressure with height · Altimeter subscales · High pressure, low pressure, and the trap · Density altitude · The semi-circular cruising rule (refresher)

3. 03

   Wind & The Geostrophic Balance

   7 min

   Three forces on a moving parcel of air · Geostrophic wind (free atmosphere) · Surface wind: backing and decreasing · The global circulation · Cyclones and anticyclones · Local wind systems · Mountain wave · The jet stream

4. 04

   Clouds & Precipitation

   7 min

   The two cloud families · Cloud genera: the ten WMO types · Cumulus species: the development ladder · Accessory clouds · Stability and atmospheric lapse rate (refresher) · Mechanisms of lift · How precipitation forms · Precipitation types · Showers vs continuous precipitation · Visibility implications

5. 05

   Air Masses & Fronts

   4 min

   European air masses · The polar front and depressions · Cold front · Warm front · Occluded front · Stationary front · Reading the synoptic chart

6. 06

   Thunderstorms & Turbulence

   4 min

   The three ingredients · Lifecycle · Hazards inside (and near) a CB · Microbursts and wind shear · Squall lines · Mountain-wave turbulence · Clear-air turbulence (CAT) · Wake turbulence (not weather, but…)

7. 07

   Icing & Freezing Precipitation

   4 min

   Where ice comes from · Three types of airframe ice · What ice does to performance · Freezing rain · Carburettor / induction icing (refresher) · Frost on the ground · Avoidance strategy for VFR pilots

8. 08

   Visibility, Fog & Mist

   3 min

   Definitions · Five types of fog · Hill fog and scud running · Special weather codes in METAR · When to suspect fog

9. 09

   METARs, TAFs & Aviation Forecasts

   4 min

   Reading a METAR · Reading a TAF · Other VFR products · Trend forecasts (NOSIG, TEMPO, BECMG)

How the exam works

Meteorology is one of the nine PPL(A) theory exams. Each is a separate multiple-choice paper, sat at your school or at a test centre approved by your national aviation authority. This one has 16 questions in 50 minutes, and you need 75% to pass, which is 12 correct answers.

• You have four attempts at each subject before further training is required.
• You must pass all nine within 18 months of your first sitting, in no more than six sittings.
• Your passes then stay valid for 24 months, and your skill test must fall inside that window.

The Meteorology mock exam in Pocket Pilot has the same question count, time limit and pass mark, drawn from a growing bank of practice questions.

Try three exam questions

From the Pocket Pilot Meteorology question bank, each with the app's explanation and the source it cites.

1. 01 / 03

   Compared with the gradient (geostrophic) wind above the friction layer, the surface wind over land is generally:

   1. ABacked and decreased
   2. BVeered and increased
   3. CBacked and increased
   4. DVeered and decreased
   Show the answerHide the answer

   Answer A. Below about 2,000 ft, surface friction slows the wind and weakens the Coriolis force, so the pressure gradient force turns the wind towards low pressure. The result is a surface wind that is backed (anticlockwise) and reduced in speed relative to the gradient wind.

   Source

   EASA Subject 050 (surface wind and friction)

   Lesson

   Wind & The Geostrophic Balance

2. 02 / 03

   Encountering freezing rain in flight is a reliable indication that:

   1. AThe whole column of air below is well below freezing
   2. BYou are inside a cumulonimbus
   3. CThere is a warmer layer of air above you, with sub-zero air below it
   4. DThe freezing level is above 10,000 ft
   Show the answerHide the answer

   Answer C. Freezing rain forms when liquid rain falls from a warmer layer aloft into a sub-zero layer near the surface, then freezes on contact. It therefore signals a warm layer above colder air. Climbing into that warmer layer can stop the icing if you are sure it is there and reachable; otherwise turn back and descend into air above 0 °C.

   Source

   EASA Subject 050 (freezing rain)

   Lesson

   Icing & Freezing Precipitation

3. 03 / 03

   As a warm front approaches, the classic cloud sequence observed is:

   1. ACumulus, towering cumulus, cumulonimbus
   2. BStratocumulus, altocumulus, cirrocumulus
   3. CFog, stratus, cumulus
   4. DCirrus, cirrostratus, altostratus, nimbostratus
   Show the answerHide the answer

   Answer D. Warm-front cloud lowers and thickens in sequence: high cirrus first, then cirrostratus (halo), altostratus (sun as through frosted glass), and finally nimbostratus with hours of steady rain. The shallow 1-in-150 slope means the sequence starts several hundred miles ahead of the surface front.

   Source

   EASA Subject 050 (warm fronts)

   Lesson

   Air Masses & Fronts

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