EASA & UK CAA · PPL(A) theory exam

PPL Principles of Flight exam

The aerodynamics behind every manoeuvre: lift, drag, stalls, stability, load factor, and propeller effects.

12questions
35 mintime limit
75%to pass

Syllabus

What the exam covers

Pocket Pilot teaches Principles of Flight in eight lessons, about 42 minutes of reading in all.

01
The Four Forces & Lift
9 min
Anatomy of an aerofoil · How a wing generates lift · The lift equation · Angle of Attack vs Pitch Attitude · The forces in climbs, descents and turns · Thrust required vs thrust available · Power vs thrust: a common source of confusion · Centre of pressure and centre of gravity · The PIC view in one sentence
02
Drag & The Power Curve
4 min
Parasite drag (form + skin + interference) · Induced drag · Aspect ratio · Total drag and the power curve · Key drag-related speeds
03
Stalls & Angle of Attack
5 min
What a stall actually is · The 1g and accelerated stall · What affects stall speed? · Washout: designing a gentle stall · Stall warning and recovery · The base-to-final turn: the deadliest stall
04
Spins
7 min
What is required to enter a spin · The four phases of a spin · PARE: the universal recovery · Spin awareness: POH categories · The deadliest spin: base-to-final · Cross-control stall: the spin precursor · Flat spin · Spin awareness: three habits to drill
05
Flaps & High-Lift Devices
3 min
What flaps actually do · The classic flap-extension trade · Types of flap · Pitch change on selecting flaps · Leading-edge devices · Practical: flap on go-around
06
Stability & Control
5 min
The three types of stability · Longitudinal stability (pitch) · Lateral stability (roll) · Directional stability (yaw) · The coupling: Dutch roll · Adverse yaw · Control authority and trim · Centre of pressure and centre of gravity
07
Turning Flight, Load Factor & Ground Effect
5 min
Why we bank · Load factor in a level turn · Standard rate turn · Slip and skid · The slip: useful, deliberate · Manoeuvring speed and structural limits · Ground effect
08
Propeller and Power Effects
4 min
1. Torque reaction · 2. Slipstream / spiral effect · 3. Asymmetric blade effect (P-factor) · 4. Gyroscopic precession · Compensating: the right rudder reflex · Critical engine on multi-engine types · Slipstream over the wing · Why propeller blades are twisted

Format

How the exam works

Principles of Flight 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 12 questions in 35 minutes, and you need 75% to pass, which is 9 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 Principles of Flight mock exam in Pocket Pilot has the same question count, time limit and pass mark, drawn from a growing bank of practice questions.

Sample questions

Try three exam questions

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

01 / 03
An accelerated stall occurs when the wing exceeds the critical angle of attack:
1. AOnly at speeds below normal stall speed
2. BOnly at high altitudes
3. CAt any airspeed when load factor is increased, for example in a steep turn
4. DOnly when flaps are extended
Show the answerHide the answer
Answer C. An accelerated stall happens whenever the wing exceeds its critical AoA, which can occur at any airspeed if the load factor (and therefore required CL) is high enough.
Source
EASA Subject 080 (the stall)
Lesson
Stalls & Angle of Attack
02 / 03
Flying on the 'back of the power curve' (below minimum-drag speed) is hazardous because, to maintain altitude as the aircraft slows further, the pilot must:
1. AApply more power, not less, because total drag is increasing
2. BApply less power, because drag is decreasing
3. CDo nothing, because the aircraft is stable there
4. DLower the nose only, with no power change
Show the answerHide the answer
Answer A. Below Vmd, total drag rises as speed falls (induced-drag dominated), so holding altitude needs more power, not less. Trying to 'stretch the glide' by pitching up here only increases the sink rate. The recovery is to lower the nose and add power.
Source
EASA Subject 080 (the power curve)
Lesson
Drag & The Power Curve
03 / 03
Adverse yaw experienced when rolling into a turn is caused by:
1. AThe rudder being deflected the wrong way
2. BThe fin stalling
3. CThe down-going aileron creating more lift, and therefore more induced drag, on the outside (rising) wing
4. DThe centre of gravity moving forward
Show the answerHide the answer
Answer C. The down-going aileron on the outside wing raises that wing's lift and its induced drag, dragging the nose toward the outside of the turn, opposite the direction of roll. This is adverse yaw, countered by leading the turn with rudder. Differential and Frise ailerons reduce it.
Source
EASA Subject 080 (turning flight)
Lesson
Stability & Control