PLT116: AIM and Publications
What code PLT116 covers, why the FAA tests it, and how to study AIM and Publications before your checkride.
Recall aircraft general knowledge / publications / AIM / navigational aids
What this means for your checkride
General airman knowledge includes the FAA publications a pilot uses: the Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM) for procedures and airspace, the Chart Supplement for airport data, NOTAMs for current changes, and advisory circulars. Together they explain how the system works and how to operate in it.
Knowing which publication holds which information is part of preflight and staying current, so the FAA tests the role of the AIM and related references.
Pilots treat the AIM as regulatory. It is the FAA's official guide to procedures and good operating practice, but the binding rules are in 14 CFR, so the two are used together.
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.