PLT057: Hot Air Balloon Performance Chart
What code PLT057 covers, why the FAA tests it, and how to study Hot Air Balloon Performance Chart before your checkride.
Interpret information on a Hot Air Balloon Performance Graph
What this means for your checkride
A hot air balloon performance chart, often drawn as a nomograph, relates gross weight, temperature, altitude, and envelope volume so the pilot can find any one value when the other three are known. It shows how density altitude limits performance: on a hot or high day the air is less dense, so the same envelope produces less lift and the maximum weight it can carry drops. Pilots consult the chart during preflight planning to confirm the balloon can safely carry the intended load in the expected conditions.
Reading the chart correctly is how a pilot avoids overloading the balloon for the day's density altitude.
Warm afternoons are not just a comfort issue. A higher density altitude meaningfully reduces the weight the envelope can lift, even with the same fuel and volume.
Where to study it
A code on your test report is an area of deficiency. An authorized instructor must review it with you and endorse that review before you take the practical test, and the examiner may revisit it during the oral. Study it until you can explain it out loud, not just recognize the answer.