PLT473: Secondary Flight Controls
What code PLT473 covers, why the FAA tests it, and how to study Secondary Flight Controls before your checkride.
Recall secondary flight controls - types / purpose / functionality
What this means for your checkride
Secondary flight controls supplement the primary ones: flaps and leading-edge devices change lift and drag for takeoff and landing, trim tabs relieve control pressures, and spoilers or speed brakes reduce lift and add drag. They let the pilot fine-tune the airplane's configuration and control feel.
Secondary controls shape performance and workload, so the FAA tests what flaps, trim, and spoilers do.
Pilots treat trim as a way to steer. Trim relieves the steady pressure needed to hold an attitude; you still fly with the primary controls and trim off the residual force.
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.