As you prepare for your practical test, remember that the Designated Pilot Examiner (DPE) isn’t just evaluating your flying skills—they’re assessing your aeronautical decision-making (ADM), with weather at the forefront. On checkride day, the responsibility for determining if conditions are suitable falls squarely on you, the applicant. The DPE will expect you to independently analyze the weather and decide if it’s go or no-go for completing all required maneuvers. This isn’t a shared call; it’s your judgment under scrutiny, aligning with FAA standards that emphasize pilot-in-command (PIC) authority from the outset.
Under the Airman Certification Standards (ACS) for your certificate—whether Private Pilot, Instrument Rating, or Commercial—the weather must support safe execution of every task. For a Private Pilot checkride, that means VFR conditions with ceilings at least 3,000 feet AGL and visibility greater than 3 statute miles for most maneuvers, but you’ll need to factor in specifics like crosswind limits for takeoffs and landings, or calm air for stalls and slow flight. Instrument applicants must ensure IMC or simulated conditions are feasible without risking actual hazards like thunderstorms or icing. The DPE won’t dictate the decision; instead, they’ll ask you to brief them on your analysis, probing how you arrived at it.
Start with a comprehensive preflight briefing. Use an app to get quick data, but know the DPE wants to see depth: interpret METARs, TAFs, prog charts, and AIRMETs/SIGMETs for the entire test area. Consider winds aloft for steep turns, potential turbulence for ground reference maneuvers, and forecasts for any en route portions. If marginal, explain your risk assessment—perhaps delaying for improving trends or scrubbing if ceilings drop below ACS minima.
In my experience administering tests, applicants who defer solely to “the app says it’s good” often falter. Instead, demonstrate proactive ADM: obtain a phone briefing from 1-800-WX-BRIEF for context, review PIREPs, and cross-check multiple sources. If the weather deteriorates mid-test, you’ll need to recognize it and make a decision to not proceed, a discontinuance, if you cannot complete all required tasks with the weather that is occurring.
Know what you are going to need for ceilings to get your particular practical test done. A private can generally get done with 3500 AGL or higher ceilings, but a commercial ride that requires accelerated stalls or even a steep spiraling descent may require a much higher ceiling, 5000 AGL, 6000 AGL, or even 7000 AGL, depending on the plane you are using. Multi-engine rides definitely require recovery of many required maneuvers by a minimum of 3000 AGL, so 4000 AGL ceiling might be a good starting point to consider a minimum. Some multi-engine aircraft have manufacturer-dictated higher recovery altitudes. Know those, and ensure you can meet cloud clearances, visibility requirements, and all minimum altitudes before heading out on your flight portion of a practical test.
Ultimately, this expectation builds real-world safety habits. By owning the weather go/no-go decision, you prove readiness as PIC. CFIs, drill this in training—simulate checkride scenarios where students lead the decision. On test day, confidence in your analysis could be the difference between passing and disapproval. Weather isn’t forgiving; neither will a DPE on half-measures. The ACS standards don’t change for weather conditions.
