AA.IV.C — Specific Flight Characteristics
AA.IV.C for the Airline Transport Pilot Airplane ACS: official objective, references, and 4 exact knowledge, risk-management, and skill descriptions.
FAA-S-ACS-11A, November 2023. This study page does not replace the current FAA publication or an examiner's plan of action.
Official task context
| Certificate or rating | Airline Transport Pilot |
|---|---|
| Aircraft category | Airplane |
| Area of operation | Area of Operation IV. In-flight Maneuvers |
| Task | Task C. Specific Flight Characteristics |
| Task code prefix | AA.IV.C |
| Official references | FAA-H-8083-2, FAA-H-8083-3, FAA-H-8083-25; FSB Report (type specific); POH/AFM |
| FAA document | FAA-S-ACS-11A — Airline Transport Pilot and Type Rating for Airplane Category Airman Certification Standards |
| FAA source library | Open the official ACS library |
Official task objective
To determine the applicant exhibits satisfactory knowledge, risk management, and skills associated with flight and performance characteristics unique to a specific aircraft type.
What the ACS code means
- AA identifies the ACS standard family used for this Airline Transport Pilot Airplane document.
- IV identifies In-flight Maneuvers, the Area of Operation.
- C identifies Specific Flight Characteristics, the Task within that Area.
- K, R, and S identify knowledge, risk-management, and skill elements. The number selects the item; a trailing lowercase letter identifies a listed sub-element.
Knowledge elements
| ACS code | Official description | How a mock oral can probe it |
|---|---|---|
| AA.IV.C.K1 | All specific flight and performance characteristics associated with the aircraft. | Explain the element, apply it to a scenario, and connect the answer to current references or aircraft information when relevant. |
Risk management elements
| ACS code | Official description | How a mock oral can probe it |
|---|---|---|
| AA.IV.C.R1 | Specific flight and performance characteristics, their effects, and applicable procedures. | Work through a scenario by identifying the hazard, evaluating the risk, and explaining a practical mitigation or decision. |
| AA.IV.C.R2 | Distractions, task prioritization, loss of situational awareness, or disorientation. | Work through a scenario by identifying the hazard, evaluating the risk, and explaining a practical mitigation or decision. |
Skills elements
| ACS code | Official description | How a mock oral can probe it |
|---|---|---|
| AA.IV.C.S1 | Use proper techniques, checklists, and procedures to enter into, operate within, and recover from specific flight situations, as applicable. | Describe the procedure, interpretation, or decision process that can be discussed during an oral. Physical aircraft performance remains part of the practical test. |
Difficulty data
Difficulty calibration is ongoing for this Task. A difficulty estimate is published only with a sufficiently large, privacy-preserving first directly recorded assessment sample. Any observed difficulty comes from Checkride AI mock-oral practice assessments and is a practice-data proxy, not an FAA practical-test pass or fail rate.
Difficulty calibration remains ongoing until an item clears the private reporting threshold. Percentages, when available, describe the share who needed review on their first directly recorded assessment. Underlying sample sizes are never published, and historical final states are not backfilled into this measure.
Official task notes
- See Appendix 3: Aircraft, Equipment, and Operational Requirements & Limitations for information related to this Task.
How to use this in a mock oral
A mock examiner can ask you to explain the published elements, apply them to the configured aircraft and airport scenario, identify risks, and defend a decision. The prompts are practice scenarios; they are not claimed to be actual FAA examiner scripts or a prediction of the questions you will receive.
Related ACS tasks
- All Airline Transport Pilot Airplane ACS tasks
48 task-level resources from FAA-S-ACS-11A.
- AA.IV.B — Recovery from Unusual Flight Attitudes
Area of Operation IV. In-flight Maneuvers
- AA.V.A — Partial Flap Configuration Stall Prevention
Area of Operation V. Stall Prevention
- AA.IV.A — Steep Turns
Area of Operation IV. In-flight Maneuvers