CH.IV.A — Vertical Takeoff and Landing
CH.IV.A for the Commercial Pilot Rotorcraft ACS: official objective, references, and 16 exact knowledge, risk-management, and skill descriptions.
FAA-S-ACS-16, 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 | Commercial Pilot |
|---|---|
| Aircraft category | Rotorcraft |
| Area of operation | Area of Operation IV. Hovering Maneuvers |
| Task | Task A. Vertical Takeoff and Landing |
| Task code prefix | CH.IV.A |
| Official references | 14 CFR part 91; AC 90-95; FAA-H-8083-2, FAA-H-8083-21, FAA-H-8083-25; POH/RFM |
| FAA document | FAA-S-ACS-16 — Commercial Pilot for Rotorcraft Category Helicopter Rating 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 vertical takeoff and landing from a hover.
What the ACS code means
- CH identifies the ACS standard family used for this Commercial Pilot Rotorcraft document.
- IV identifies Hovering Maneuvers, the Area of Operation.
- A identifies Vertical Takeoff and Landing, 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 |
|---|---|---|
| CH.IV.A.K1 | Elements related to a vertical takeoff to a hover and landing from a hover. | Explain the element, apply it to a scenario, and connect the answer to current references or aircraft information when relevant. |
| CH.IV.A.K2 | Effect of wind on flight control inputs. | Explain the element, apply it to a scenario, and connect the answer to current references or aircraft information when relevant. |
| CH.IV.A.K3 | Effect of weight and balance and various centers of gravity. | Explain the element, apply it to a scenario, and connect the answer to current references or aircraft information when relevant. |
| CH.IV.A.K4 | Ground effect. | 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 |
|---|---|---|
| CH.IV.A.R1 | Loss of tail rotor effectiveness (LTE). | Work through a scenario by identifying the hazard, evaluating the risk, and explaining a practical mitigation or decision. |
| CH.IV.A.R2 | Dynamic rollover. | Work through a scenario by identifying the hazard, evaluating the risk, and explaining a practical mitigation or decision. |
| CH.IV.A.R3 | Ground resonance. | Work through a scenario by identifying the hazard, evaluating the risk, and explaining a practical mitigation or decision. |
| CH.IV.A.R4 | Powerplant failure during hover. | 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 |
|---|---|---|
| CH.IV.A.S1 | Complete the appropriate checklist(s). | Describe the procedure, interpretation, or decision process that can be discussed during an oral. Physical aircraft performance remains part of the practical test. |
| CH.IV.A.S2 | Comply with air traffic control (ATC) or evaluator instructions and make radio calls as appropriate. | Describe the procedure, interpretation, or decision process that can be discussed during an oral. Physical aircraft performance remains part of the practical test. |
| CH.IV.A.S3 | Maintain powerplant and main rotor (Nr) speed within normal limits. | Describe the procedure, interpretation, or decision process that can be discussed during an oral. Physical aircraft performance remains part of the practical test. |
| CH.IV.A.S4 | Ascend to and maintain recommended hovering altitude, and descend from recommended hovering altitude in headwind, crosswind, and tailwind conditions, without drift. | Describe the procedure, interpretation, or decision process that can be discussed during an oral. Physical aircraft performance remains part of the practical test. |
| CH.IV.A.S5 | Maintain recommended hovering altitude, ±1/2 of that altitude within 10 feet of the surface, if above 10 feet, ±5 feet. | Describe the procedure, interpretation, or decision process that can be discussed during an oral. Physical aircraft performance remains part of the practical test. |
| CH.IV.A.S6 | Maintain position within 2 feet of a designated point with no aft movement. | Describe the procedure, interpretation, or decision process that can be discussed during an oral. Physical aircraft performance remains part of the practical test. |
| CH.IV.A.S7 | Descend vertically to within 2 feet of the designated touchdown point. | Describe the procedure, interpretation, or decision process that can be discussed during an oral. Physical aircraft performance remains part of the practical test. |
| CH.IV.A.S8 | Maintain specified heading, ± 10°. | 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
- Note: Task D must be tested in addition to the other Tasks if the applicant supplies a helicopter with wheel-type landing gear.
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 Commercial Pilot Rotorcraft ACS tasks
51 task-level resources from FAA-S-ACS-16.
- CH.III.C — Traffic Patterns
Area of Operation III. Airport and Heliport Operations
- CH.IV.B — Hover Taxi
Area of Operation IV. Hovering Maneuvers
- CH.IV.C — Air Taxi
Area of Operation IV. Hovering Maneuvers
- CH.IV.D — Taxiing with Wheel-Type Landing Gear
Area of Operation IV. Hovering Maneuvers
- CH.IV.E — Slope Operations
Area of Operation IV. Hovering Maneuvers