PLT261: Hail
What code PLT261 covers, why the FAA tests it, and how to study Hail before your checkride.
Recall hail - characteristics / hazards
What this means for your checkride
Hail forms in thunderstorms when strong updrafts carry water droplets high enough to freeze, and repeated cycles add layers of ice until they grow too heavy and fall. Large hail is one of the most damaging thunderstorm hazards, and it can be thrown out the top and sides of a storm into apparently clear air miles away.
Hail can destroy an airframe in seconds, so the FAA tests how it forms and why it can be met well away from the visible storm.
Pilots think staying out of the cloud avoids hail. Strong updrafts can eject hail into clear air several miles from the storm, so wide avoidance, not just cloud avoidance, is required.
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.