PLT164: Airspeed
What code PLT164 covers, why the FAA tests it, and how to study Airspeed before your checkride.
Recall airspeed - effects during a turn
What this means for your checkride
In a level turn, tilting the lift vector means you need more total lift to hold altitude, which raises the load factor and therefore the stall speed. The steeper the bank, the higher the stall speed, which is why a tight, uncoordinated turn close to the ground is dangerous.
The rise in stall speed with bank angle is behind the classic base-to-final stall, so the FAA tests whether you connect angle of bank, load factor, and stall speed.
Pilots think stall speed is a single fixed number. It is only true at one G and wings level; in a 60 degree bank the load factor is 2 and the stall speed climbs about 40 percent.
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.