PLT213: Flight Characteristics
What code PLT213 covers, why the FAA tests it, and how to study Flight Characteristics before your checkride.
Recall flight characteristics - longitudinal stability / instability
What this means for your checkride
Longitudinal stability is the airplane's tendency to return to its trimmed pitch attitude after a disturbance, and it depends heavily on where the CG sits. A forward CG increases it; an aft CG reduces it, toward instability.
Longitudinal stability ties CG to handling and stall recovery, so the FAA tests how loading changes the airplane's pitch behavior.
Pilots think stability is fixed by design. It shifts with loading: the same airplane feels heavy and stable at forward CG and light and twitchy at aft CG.
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.