# CH.VII.A — Pilotage and Dead Reckoning — Commercial Pilot Rotorcraft ACS

> CH.VII.A from FAA-S-ACS-16, including the official objective, references, notes, and 25 exact knowledge, risk-management, and skill descriptions.

Canonical HTML: [https://www.check-ride.ai/acs/rotorcraft/commercial-pilot/ch-vii-a](https://www.check-ride.ai/acs/rotorcraft/commercial-pilot/ch-vii-a)

Site reference: [https://www.check-ride.ai/llms.txt](https://www.check-ride.ai/llms.txt)

## Official Task context

- FAA document: Commercial Pilot for Rotorcraft Category Helicopter Rating Airman Certification Standards
- Identifier: FAA-S-ACS-16
- Published source date: November 2023
- Aircraft category: Rotorcraft
- Certificate or rating: Commercial Pilot
- Area of Operation: Area of Operation VII. Navigation
- Task: Task A. Pilotage and Dead Reckoning
- Task code prefix: CH.VII.A
- Official references: AIM; FAA-H-8083-2, FAA-H-8083-21, FAA-H-8083-25; Helicopter Route Charts, VFR Navigation Charts
- FAA source library: https://www.faa.gov/training_testing/testing/acs

## Official Task objective

To determine the applicant exhibits satisfactory knowledge, risk management, and skills associated with pilotage and dead reckoning.

## Knowledge elements

- **CH.VII.A.K1** — Pilotage and dead reckoning.
- **CH.VII.A.K2** — Magnetic compass errors.
- **CH.VII.A.K3** — Topography.
- **CH.VII.A.K4** — Selection of appropriate:
- **CH.VII.A.K4a** — a. Route
- **CH.VII.A.K4b** — b. Altitude(s)
- **CH.VII.A.K4c** — c. Checkpoints
- **CH.VII.A.K5** — Plotting a course, including:
- **CH.VII.A.K5a** — a. Determining heading, speed, and course
- **CH.VII.A.K5b** — b. Wind correction angle
- **CH.VII.A.K5c** — c. Estimating time, speed, and distance
- **CH.VII.A.K5d** — d. True airspeed and density altitude
- **CH.VII.A.K6** — Power setting selection.
- **CH.VII.A.K7** — Planned calculations versus actual results and required corrections.

## Risk management elements

- **CH.VII.A.R1** — Collision hazards.
- **CH.VII.A.R2** — Distractions, task prioritization, loss of situational awareness, or disorientation.
- **CH.VII.A.R3** — Unplanned fuel/power consumption, if applicable.

## Skills elements

- **CH.VII.A.S1** — Prepare and use a flight log.
- **CH.VII.A.S2** — Navigate by pilotage.
- **CH.VII.A.S3** — Navigate by means of pre-computed headings, groundspeeds, elapsed time, and reference to landmarks or checkpoints.
- **CH.VII.A.S4** — Use the magnetic direction indicator in navigation, including turns to headings.
- **CH.VII.A.S5** — Verify position within three nautical miles of the flight-planned route.
- **CH.VII.A.S6** — Correct for and record the differences between preflight fuel, groundspeed, and heading calculations and those determined en route.
- **CH.VII.A.S7** — Arrive at the en route checkpoints within three minutes of the initial or revised estimated time of arrival (ETA) and provide a destination estimate.
- **CH.VII.A.S8** — Maintain the selected altitude, ±100 feet and heading, ±10°.

## Difficulty methodology

Difficulty calibration is ongoing for this Task. Observed difficulty is a privacy-thresholded check-ride.ai mock-oral practice proxy, not an FAA practical-test pass or fail rate. Underlying sample sizes and the private reporting threshold are not published.

## Use in practice

A mock examiner can ask a pilot to explain the published elements, apply them to the configured aircraft and airport context, identify risks, and defend a decision. Practice prompts are not represented as actual FAA examiner scripts or predictions of the questions a candidate will receive.