How hard is the Aviation Mechanic Powerplant written test?
The hardest FAA written there is. Fewer than two in three candidates pass, and the rate has fallen almost every year. It ranks 1st-hardest of 7 exams in this index.
The test at a glance
Four numbers that tell you what you are walking into.
Down 2.9 points vs 2023. 1st-hardest of 7.
Mean score of everyone who sat it in 2024.
Up 95% since 2020.
Aviator IQ's read of the pass rate.
100 questions70% to pass (70 correct)~2 hr at the testing centerBuilt from FAA-H-8083-32
How the A&P Powerplant is trending
Pass rate, average score, and test volume by year. Flip between them.
The lighter final bar is the preliminary 2025 figure, which the FAA has not yet finalized. Source: FAA Airman Knowledge Test statistics.
Our read on it
Open the volume tab and the story is obvious: the A&P Powerplant has surged. 17,572 people sat it in 2025 (still a preliminary count), up 139% from 7,353 in 2020. This is the aircraft-maintenance hiring boom in a single chart. Airlines and repair stations are short thousands of certified mechanics, pay has climbed, and A&P schools have expanded fast to feed the pipeline.
That growth changes who is in the room. When a field grows this quickly, most test-takers are new to it, and it shows: the pass rate has fallen to 64.4% and the average score sits at 73.1%. The exam did not get harder, the pool got greener. For you that is good news. A real study plan puts you well ahead of the first-timers treating a hot industry as an easy ticket in.
Where it ranks
Every dot is one FAA written test, placed by its pass rate. The A&P Powerplant is highlighted; the dashed line is the average across all 7.
The 10 questions people miss most
These are the topics that trip up the most A&P Powerplant candidates, written as example questions you can try. Answer each one for an instant breakdown of why the wrong choice is so tempting, then take a full A&P Powerplant practice test under real test conditions.
The correct order of the four strokes in a reciprocating engine is:
Aircraft piston engines use magnetos for ignition mainly because they:
Carburetor icing is most likely to form:
Excessively high cylinder head temperature can be caused by:
A constant-speed propeller holds a selected RPM by:
A rising oil temperature accompanied by a falling oil pressure most likely indicates:
In a dry-sump engine, the oil supply is stored in:
In a turbojet engine, the section that raises the pressure of incoming air before the burner is the:
A continuous-loop fire detection system senses a fire by detecting:
During a magneto check, switching to one magneto produces no RPM drop at all. This usually means:
Common questions
Other exams in the index
See how the A&P Powerplant compares to the tests candidates take alongside it.
Sources & data notes
- FAA Airman Knowledge Test Statistics (hub)Annual and quarterly Airman Knowledge Test volume, pass rate, and average score by test code. Last verified Sep 15, 2026.
- Airman Knowledge Test annual statistics, 2019 to 2025Per-exam volume, pass rate, and average score. Calendar-year reports 2019 through 2025 (2025 preliminary). Last verified Sep 15, 2026.
- Frequently Missed Knowledge Test ACS CodesFAA Safety Analysis Branch quarterly report: the most-missed ACS code per test code, with percent missed. Last verified Sep 15, 2026.
- Airman Certification Standards (ACS) documentsPlain-English topic and Area/Task definitions for each ACS code (Private FAA-S-ACS-6, Commercial FAA-S-ACS-7, Aviation Mechanic FAA-S-ACS-1). Part 107 (UAG) follows the PSI UAG Applicant Information Bulletin, the current test blueprint that supersedes the FAA-S-ACS-10 blueprint. Last verified Sep 15, 2026.
- Pass rates, volumes, and average scores are the FAA's published figures. Difficulty rankings and threat levels are Aviator IQ's analysis of that public data, not official FAA ratings.
- Aviator IQ is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or associated with the Federal Aviation Administration.
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