PLT407: Experience Requirements
What code PLT407 covers, why the FAA tests it, and how to study Experience Requirements before your checkride.
Recall regulations - experience / training requirements
What this means for your checkride
Each certificate and rating has minimum aeronautical experience. For the private pilot airplane certificate that is at least 40 hours of flight time, including at least 20 hours with an instructor and 10 hours solo, with specific cross-country, night, and test-preparation requirements. The minimums are floors; most applicants need more.
Meeting the experience requirements is a prerequisite for the practical test, so the FAA tests the required hours and their breakdown.
Applicants treat 40 hours as typical. It is a regulatory minimum; the national average to earn the certificate is well above it, and endorsements confirm the specific experience is met.
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.