Comments on: We don’t need no Stinkin’ Knowledge Test..

By: Bill Walker

Bill Walker — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 23:19:33 +0000

CATS and Lasergrade have abritrarily increased the fees that THEY charge, but none of the increase is shared with the agencies that administer the tests. We’re losing an excellent site in SE Alabama because the costs have increased but not the compensation.

By: Jim McSherry

Jim McSherry — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 19:47:40 +0000

Here’s another CFII who thinks that there should be some form of standardized, formal exam that encompasses at least the topics which are immediately appropriate to the rating being sought. I also see nothing terrible with two or three questions that are a bit “out there” (I recall a helicopter question on my Private ASEL test); just because you want to fly gliders now does not rule out the possibility of airships in the future.
My beef, and it seems to be shared by others, is the quality of the questions themselves. I have taught physics, chemistry and engineering classes at college and high school level for over thirty years; some of the questions I have seen in the course of several FAA knowledge tests would have never made the grade at a rudimentary training course on test design. Student teachers do a better job. The interpolation questions are one case in point; another is the weather questions which ask one to identify the outcome of a system, rather than giving a description of conditions and requiring a diagnosis of the system or expected trend. That’s what we have to do as pilots, assess the future probability, not “name the system”.
The hoops one must jump in order to verify a new test item are daunting, and the changes take time. But in the time I have been flying, there has been little change in the tests that I can see, or in the ones my students encounter.

By: Marty Fluharty

Marty Fluharty — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:22:11 +0000

I took the Sport Pilot Knowledge Test mid Feb. at a Laser Grade site. It was irritating that two of the questions were based on four seat airplanes. A light sport aircraft has only two. Gotcha questions should be removed – there were two. The quality of the charts was so poor that they were not readable. Thank goodness there was a grafts and charts book available.

My score was over 90 and I had studied for months, my instructor had grilled me each time I flew and I had practiced the Gleim computer tests. I learned a lot and some of it I know I’ll not use but it’s important. Having to study in order to do well on the test insured that I learned and I think I’ll be more ready for my checkride oral. The Sport test really needs to be cleaned up, more relevant to light sport aircraft and updated. Glad I made it before the price increase.

By: Bradley Spatz

Bradley Spatz — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 03:25:50 +0000

All tests have their problems and annoyances. And yes, some of those questions are just obstacles to master.

But the written and practical tests provide a good balance. Preparing for the written, if done in earnest, famliarizes students with the FARs, AIM, and standard texts — key references that will serve the “licensed to learn” pilot well. And this methodology will apply to learning new aircraft and systems, flight planning, etc. I think the written exam serves an important role.

By: Stephen Bell

Stephen Bell — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:56:29 +0000

I believe the knowledge test should be required for certification.

By: Rich

Rich — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:37:18 +0000

A written test absolutely should be required, and while I don’t think all of the questions are always great, it’s really not that far off the mark. Every vocation has some combination of rote memorization and actual learning and this is no different. It’s good for students to go through all the material three times: once while learning to fly, once again preparing for the written (near the end of training), and once more right before/during the checkride. Having a standard written test eliminates any instructor bias and helps make sure all the appropriate areas were covered adequately by the instructor, something instructors should appreciate (I do!). It’s a third party assessment of where a student is at and students should appreciate that as well.

As for the fee increase, yeah it’s a bummer, but it’s a drop in the buket when we talk about learning to fly.

Keep the test with minor revisions, but don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.

By: Larry Hoffman

Larry Hoffman — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 01:29:42 +0000

Studying and passing the knowledge test, to me, gave a good base to build on. As you stated, it would be grueling for the examiner to cover all of this on the oral exam. It also gives you and your instuctor areas that can be improved to make you a better pilot before you go for that check ride. We all know that the more that can be imbedded early in training, the better.

By: Jim

Jim — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 23:23:11 +0000

All governmental test that I have taken opt for the obscure, not the important information. The tests should- and to a point, do- test knowledge that the testee should know to be a safe pilot at the level he 0r she is testing. Unfortunately, as do most, if not all of the governmental tests that I have taken, the testee is tested more on his or her ability to second guess the test writer’s intent than on the content of the subject matter. BUT, after 35 plus years of taking governmental tests, and teaching the subject matter, I do not expect any changes any time soon.

By: JC Hyde

JC Hyde — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:45:17 +0000

I agree, the test needs to be rewritten to become relevant with respect to changes in current aircraft systems and the requirements to operate/navigate within new aerospace control structures… temp flight restricted areas and the permanet flt restricted areas. One thing that could help a great deal is for the FAA to provide the answers to the test, as well as where to find the relevant data used to determine the answer. In the Air Force, the aircraft master quesion file (containing 300-400 questions) also had the answers. If you needed to understand why an answer was the correct answer, you could go to the dash-1 and read the data. Very helpful in self study, and providing preparation for the oral examination.

By: Gary Eaton

Gary Eaton — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 00:53:56 +0000

Bruce,

It appears that nearly everone agrees that we need the stinkin”
knowledge exams.

My complaint is that the Exam for LTA Hot Air Balloons has far too
many questions that have no remote relevance to ballooning !